Merrily We Live ***** (1938, Constance Bennett, Brian Aherne, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray) – Classic Movie Review 7205

Zany families were quite the thing in the Thirties. In My Man Godfrey (1936), a zany family hires a tramp to be a butler. But here in Merrily We Live (1938) a tramp (really a famous writer) is hired by a zany family to be a chauffeur.

It was nominated for five Oscars: Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Billie Burke), Best Cinematography (Norbert Brodine), Best Art Direction (Charles D Hall), Best Sound, Recording (Elmer Raguse) and Best Music, Original Song (‘Merrily We Live’ by Phil Charig music and Arthur Quenzer lyrics).

Brian Aherne stars as the famous writer Wade Rawlins, in director Norman Z McLeod’s appealing 1938 screwball comedy Merrily We Live, with lively handling and amusing performances, especially the delightfully dithery Oscar-nominated turn from Billie Burke as the dizzy society matriarch, Mrs Emily Kilbourne, who hires the hero, and from Alan Mowbray as the supercilious butler, Grosvenor.

Main top billed star Constance Bennett is also on good form as Billie Burke’s daughter Jerry, whom Aherne’s Wade soon falls for. Producer Hal Roach rewarded Bennett for her personal success in Topper by reuniting her with director McLeod, screenwriters Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran, and actors Billie Burke and Alan Mowbray. And she went on to do the first Topper sequel, Topper Takes a Trip (1938).

Merrily We Live may be less well known than My Man Godfrey but it is a really rather splendid example of the Thirties screwball romantic comedy.

Also in the cast are Patsy Kelly, Ann Dvorak, Tom Brown, Bonita Granville, Marjorie Rambeau and Clarence Kolb.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7205

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