Merrily We Live

Plot synopsis:
Grosvenor (Alan Mowbray), the Kilbournes' butler, discovers at breakfast that the family silver has been stolen by the latest tramp, Ambrose, whom Emily Kilbourne (Billie Burke) had taken under her wing as the chauffeur, in her latest attempt to reform fallen and destitute men, much to the exasperation of the rest of the family. A distressed Emily swears off taking in any more tramps, to the delight of the rest of the family. However, later in the morning, Wade Rawlins (Brian Aherne) appears at the doorstep. His car had broken down; when he got out, it rolled off a cliff. He wants to use the telephone, but is instead immediately adopted by Emily Kilbourne, despite the rude efforts of Grosvenor and Emily's daughters Geraldine "Jerry" (Constance Bennett) and Marion (Bonita Granville). Further attempts to convince Mrs. Kilbourne to get rid of this latest tramp are blissfully ignored.
Rawlins, appointed as the new replacement chauffeur is set up in the servant's quarters. He is overheard talking to himself while cleaning up by Grosvenor and suspected to be crazy. Jerry and Marion see the spruced up tramp looking the perfect gentleman and Jerry likes it when he later brushes off Jerry's arrogant wannabee boyfriend, Herbert Wheeler (Phillip Reed). They now have second thoughts when their father, Henry Kilbourne (Clarence Kolb), who has returned from work tells Emily that he is putting his foot down and orders that they get rid of the new tramp the next day.
A comedy of errors, nighttime interludes with drunken family behavior, the arrogant boyfriend making a move at Jerry, follows with the rescue of the damsel in distress who has also somehow misplaced her keys where some delightful flirting ensues, resulting in Jerry falling in love with Wade. Marion also expresses a crush on Wade. The next day, Emily Kilbourne, despite orders to get rid of Wade, trains him to be a footman at the important dinner party that evening for Senator Harlan (Paul Everton). That evening, through a contrived prank by Marion, Rawlins is accidentally invited to the important dinner party for Senator Harlan, who takes quite a liking to him, as does his daughter Minerva (Ann Dvorak).
The next morning, the family finds Rawlins occupying the guest room. It is impossible to throw him out, as it is discovered that he is now a confidant of Senator Harlan and his daughter's target of affection. Jerry is consumed with jealousy, as she sees Minerva flirting with Rawlins at golf later that morning. After a fudge-making spat with Jerry, Rawlins takes the rest of the day off on an errand. The car he wrecked turns out to be a loan. He goes to pay for it, but the car has been found and the police inform the car's owner that Rawlins is assumed to be dead. The man leaves to identify his car. Thus, when Rawlins arrives, the owner's assistant George (Willie Best) thinks he is a ghost. The Kilbournes believe Rawlins has left for good, much to Jerry's dismay after waiting up to reconcile with him.
The next morning at breakfast, the newspaper reports the death of E. Wade Rawlins, the "noted novelist", from a car crash, much to the shock and dismay of the family, the cook and the maid. When Rawlins reappears, very much alive, Jerry is immensely relieved.

Tags: comedy

Review:
Quirky characters and a delightful cast including Billie Burke and Constance Bennett.
A highly intelligent tramp' is hired to become chauffeur for an eccentric, wealthy family.MERRILY WE LIVE is a prime example of a tremendously funny screwball comedy which has become undeservedly obscure with the passage of time.
The production values are excellent and the film's free spirit is perfectly encapsulated by the opening shot in which the principal cast marches arm-in-arm along the estate's long driveway while the credits and title song role.Suave, sophisticated and just a wee bit naughty, British Brian Aherne is the perfect match for crisply cool blonde Constance Bennett.
In one of her best roles, dithering Billie Burke, as Miss Bennett's utterly out-of-touch mother, is a complete joy.
Ensconced in the kitchen, tough-talking Patsy Kelly is the family's cook with a strong yen to stir-up some romance with handsome Aherne.Impressively agile Clarence Kolb is Miss Burke's grumpy husband.
Ann Dvorak is a senator's headstrong daughter who usually gets what she wants and what she wants now is Aherne.Even the smaller character roles can be fun: watch for Sidney Bracey as a sour-faced temporary butler & Willie Best as a very frightened country store janitor..
Though Billie Burke was Oscar nominated as the ditzy society matron mother, her performance here is no better than it was the year before in TOPPER or five years before in DINNER AT EIGHT (now THAT was an award-worthy turn!).
What a splendid cast: Constance Bennett in fine form; Brian Aherne at his best - called upon to be elegant, dashing and charming, he accomplishes all three.
Then we have the inimitable Patsy Kelly as a kitchen maid, the underused Ann Dvorak as a predatory Senator's daughter who lusts after Aherne, Bonita Granville as a wild, irrepresible teenage daughter, and last but not least Alan Mobray as the snooty butler being undermined by one indignity after another; his double takes are hilarious.
Solid screwball comedy with a great cast: Constance Bennett, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray, Patsy Kelly, and young Bonita Granville.
Unlike "Ninotchka" (1939), with its witty innuendos and tight screenplay, "Merrily We Live" is a wacky, completely irreverent screwball comedy, similar to the style of "Philadelphia Story" (1940)or "Bringing Up Baby" (1938).
Billie Burke is brilliant, Brian Aherne a handsome and charming rogue, and Constance Bennett lovely and amusing.
Brian Aherne is a hobo taken in by Billie Burke to be a family chauffeur in "Merrily We Live," also starring Constance Bennett, Alan Mowbray, Bonita Granville, Tom Brown, and Clarence Kolb.
The film is basically the same story as "My Man Godfrey" but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's funnier, though "Godfrey" had the serious undertones (and William Powell) that this movie completely lacks.
Unfortunately for "Merrily We Live," it came out at a time when the screwball comedy had had its day.
She definitely was playing a woman in her twenties, but given that Burke was 53, Tom Brown (the son) was 25, and Granville was 15, the ages work out, and those age gaps exist in families.
The cast seems like they had a good time making this movies and Hal Roach had a knack for producing these almost slap stick movies, with just enough flare to keep them funny and not stupid, as so many are in the 90's and 2000's.
Would love to purchase a DVD or VHS but, don't know where to get it.The story line is terrific!The characters are proficient!Wonderfully written.Brilliantly directed.If you ever have the chance to watch this movie, don't pass it up!.
Then Wade Rawlins (Brian Aherne) who just LOOKS down and out enters her life and she invites him in and he starts to change the whole family...for the better.The plot IS predictable but this is still a very funny screwball comedy.
The entire cast is up for it--Burke is just great and received an Oscar nomination for her performance; Aherne is just OK; Constance Bennett is wonderful as Jerry who falls for Rawlins and Alan Mowbray has some very funny sequences as the family butler.
Billie Burke sets the tone at her most endearing and ditzy best, the glamorous Constance Bennett and Brian Aherne have great chemistry and comedic instincts, Ann Dvorak exudes sex appeal, Clarence Kolb is the quintessential grouch but loving Dad who does some remarkable drunken and pratfall stunts at the age near 65, Bonita Granville is the mischievous and sassy daughter bouncing all over playing pranks, Patsy Kelly is perfect as the sarcastic cook, and Alan Mowbray is at his best role of butler but losing the stiff upper lip many times.
"Merrily We Live" is the remake of the 1930's movie "What A Man!" based on the 1920's book "The Dark Chapter" by E.
J. Rath and its derived play by Courtenay Savage.Ignore anybody who claims this movie copies the mediocre "My Man Godfrey".
In fact the Godfrey movie is a rip off with many scenes from at least four pre-1936 movies which starred Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray, and Constance Bennett.
Enjoy "Merrily We Live" for what it is - the best and original remake of "What A Man!" and it stands out as a iconic film classic..
Considering how across-the-board dazzling the film is, I hate to single out anyone, but Clarence Kolb, who plays the always exasperated "pater familias," and whom we have all seen in dozens of movies, here displays a mastery of physical comedy that is singularly impressive and downright hilarious..
Unlike GODFREY, most of the insanity is concentrated into the mother (played by Billie Burke)--though as the film progresses, you come to realize they're all touched!
As for Burke, her stupid schtick wears thin at the beginning of the film (making you wonder why the other family members haven't killed her).
Additionally, the rest of the family's dialog was great as well--showing that the writers were really hitting their mark.The film is about Burke's bizarre habit of bringing home hobos to rehabilitate them, though in many ways they were treated more like pets or toys than people.
As the film progresses, like Godfrey, Aherne is obviously more than just a man down on his luck--leading to a dandy conclusion.The film has excellent and well-paced direction, wonderful writing and an excellent ensemble cast.
Brian Aherne plays a charming and good looking role and easily gives up on his first intention, and allows himself to be hired as a chauffeur by the eccentric matron of the household.
Mobray's character is constantly resigning due to the hiring practices of the lady of the house, played by Billie Burke, who believes in practicing what she preaches - which leads to hiring anyone who comes to the house hungry and homeless.
Her misplaced kindness results in upsetting the entire household, and Aherne arrives at the moment all other members of the household have decided that no more tramps will be hired at least without good references.Her grumpy and totally practical minded spouse, wants the new Chauffeur kicked out of the house.
The cast seems a little defensive about their threadbare lines, with uncharacteristic mugging from Constance Bennett, a disoriented Brian Aherne, and Alan Mowbray dangerously close to the limit.
The Hal Roach studios, the folks that gave us Harold Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy, set up and deliver some genuinely astonishing and successful slapstick, with 64-year-old Clarence Kolb coming close to stealing the picture with his drunken encounter with a staircase and a nicely evolved battle with a kitchen door.Don't expect Ben Hecht- or George Oppenheimer-level dialog here.
Screwball comedy directed by Norman Z McLeod the man behind several Marx Brothers and WC Fields films is pure silliness.
I love that the film is populated with a bunch of great characters that you care about and stick with you after the movie ends.
Constance Bennett, Brian Aherne and Billie Burke.
A quickie knock-off of My Man Godrey (1936) and reunion of director Norman McLeod with several Topper (1937) stars, Merrily We Live is an OK comedy with bursts of brilliance thanks to a top-notch cast.
In this film as well as the first two Topper films, there always seem to be those long dull stretches while you just wait for someone to do something.Constance Bennett stars as the rich girl who lives with her daffy parents--Billie Burke and Clarence Kolb--along with her siblings--Bonita Granville and Tom Brown-- and some servants--Alan Mowbray, Patsy Kelly, and Marjorie Kane.The mother is always taking in tramps (forgotten men) and making them butlers or chauffeurs.
Far too many similarities between this film and My Man Godfrey, including a cold-water dowsing of the female star.Merrily We Live boasts some really good performances by the entire cast.
especially Billie Burke (Oscar nomination), Kolb, Mowbray, Granville, and Brian Aherne.
Shabbily dressed Wade Rawlins (Brian Aherne), whose car has just rolled backwards of a cliff, shows up at the Kilbourne estate just wanting to use the phone but ends up Mrs. Kilbourne's latest project.
Emily's oldest daughter Jerry (Constance Bennett) first dislikes Rawlins as she feels he is just using her mother like the others, but later she finds herself falling for him as he earns her trust and her friendship.
However, it does seem strange that no member of the family ever wonders what this guy's story really is enough to look into it or even question him about it.Since this is a Hal Roach production, there is plenty of slapstick and sight gags, including a running gag of the dinner chimes that keep falling apart every time the butler rings them and the family trying to use ladles as eating utensils after Rawlins' predecessor has run off with the family silverware.If you have 90 minutes to kill and want to watch a movie that's lots of fun and has little conflict and no bad guys, I'd recommend this one..
It's full of heavy hitters from Patsy Kelly to Alan Mowbray (who was in Godfrey) to Constance Bennett and Billie Burke.
Very familiar plot to "My Man Godfrey" regarding butlers in upper class society.Oscar nominee Billie Burke is a complete ditz in this film.
As an upper class matron, she can't remember much and cracks such lines as to the chauffeur: "Do you drive?" To a U.S. senator: "The last time I visited Washington it was for a coronation."Her eldest daughter played with a sexy sarcasm, by Constance Bennett appears much older than her 2 movie siblings-Bonita Granville and Tom Brown.
In most scenes, she looks like their parents!The plot really gets going when the butler, who is about to be fired (Brian Aherne) is mistaken for one of the dinner guests and becomes romantically entangled with the visiting senator's daughter.
I don't think I can say any more about this film than skip it unless you are a fan of Bennett or Burke or Aherne, or you feel obliged to view every screwball comedy made during the Golden Era of Hollywood..
Although "Escuela" does not have subtitles (I am learning Spanish so I needed that), it is still enjoyable to watch, and I liked Pedro Infante's bum better than Brian Ahern's.Just thought fans of screwball comedy might like to know, and to check this out if they can find it.
She mistakes novelist Brian Aherne for a homeless tramp and hires him to be the family's chauffeur; he's happy to do it since that means flirting with Burke's eldest daughter, Constance Bennett.
The plot is just a throwaway--it seems written around the wisecracks--however Aherne and Bennett have good chemistry (he leans heavily on his slick charm, while her blithe performance helps disguise the fact her character never makes much sense).
The movie had me in stitches with practically each scene and of course you had a hopefulness the main male lead would fall for Constance Bennett.
The youngest daughter was played very skillfully.The wife, Billie Burke, was of course hysterical(as she always is.) as was the husband, Tom Brown and I am surprised I have never seen his name mentioned in conjunction with the hilarity of the film.
Despite the best efforts of such accomplished scene stealers as Billie Burke and Alan Mowbray, Aherne dominates the movie with seemingly effortless ease and even manages to transcend the fleeting impression of a photographed stage play that some of the other players – particularly Clarence Kolb – give us from time to time.
Except for Billie Burke, who is so good as the flighty mother, we miss her when she's not on the screen.Enter Brian Aherne whose car broke down and he only wants to use the phone at the closest location.
Reminiscent of My Man Godfrey and costarring Bonita Granville and Clarence Kolb, this non-stop comedy is too good to miss..
This one is decidedly less successful than OUR MAN GODFREY or HARD TO GET (Dick Powell/Olivia de Havilland) or even FOUR'S A CROWD.Once again, it takes potshots at the rich--specifically BILLIE BURKE who is head of a loony household.
CONSTANCE BENNETT is Burke's lovely daughter so we know where this plot device is going.BONITA GRANVILLE has another one of her bratty roles to play as she torments butler ALAN MOBRAY.
By the time it's over, you're either having a ball at the expense of this loony family or judging the film to be excessively over baked nonsense that hardly stands up to close inspection.You know which side I'm on.Summing up: Predictable screwball mess, it wastes the talents of a fine cast..
Clarence Kolb was an inspired choice, and is great in every scene, and Brian Aherne plays deftly off of Constance Bennet.
And of course Bonita Granville and Billie Burke and Alan Mowbry and Patsy Kelly each contribute their own choice bits.
Constance Bennett is so good, as is Allen Mowbray playing the much put-upon butler.
One of my favorite lines - when the little sister points to the family's two Great Dane dogs who have the run of the house - 'This is "Hey You"and this is "Get off the Couch"!' Billie Burke does, as usual, a good job of playing the ditsy mother.
about this movie is how at times Merrily We Live only makes sense in terms of its references to other screwball comedies, not in reference to its own plot.
Scatterbrained society matron (Billie Burke) hires a man named Rawlins (Brian Aherne) to work as her family's chauffeur.
Enjoyable knock-off of My Man Godfrey also stars Constance Bennett, who was originally supposed to star in that film before the part was given to Carole Lombard.
Brian Aherne, Billie Burke, and Ann Dvorak are all good.
Frazzled butler Alan Mowbray (as Grosvenor) try to get rid of Mr. Aherne, but ditsy matriarch Billie Burke (as Emily) insists he stay on as chauffeur.
It provided Ms. Burke with a well-deserved "Academy Award" nomination for a variation of the fluttery supporting character she often played.****** Merrily We Live (3/4/38) Norman Z.
McLeod ~ Brian Aherne, Constance Bennett, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray.
"Merrily We Live" is a lesser-known screwball comedy that shares much in common with "My Man Godfrey." Rich society family takes in bum and finds out he's not who they think he is.
This one starts out with verve and energy, sags a bit in the middle, and then rebounds at the end with some truly funny physical comedy.Brian Aherne stars as the "bum" and Constance Bennett as the oldest daughter and love interest, but it's Billie Burke (Oscar nominated as the ditzy matriarch) and Clarence Kolb as the dad who get the lion's share of the film's laughs.
Billie Burke does her best to rescue this dated screwball movie.
The plots of screwball comedies often ramble all over the place as does this one.Constance Bennett has top billing, and she is good as Jerry Kilbourne.
But Billie Burke and Brian Aherne carry the film, with major contributions by Alan Mowbray and Clarence Kolb.
Burke was nominated for an Oscar as best supporting actress for this film.
Alan Mowbray, always a delight as a butler or man servant in comedies, has one of his largest roles here.
I always like to see these films where the whole family is a tad...let's say different.A wealthy family of oddballs lives in a nice house and the wife, played by Billy Burke, has a habit of taking "forgotten men" into their home and trying to rehabilitate them.
Mix in the stern stubborn grouchy patriarch Henry Kilbourne(Clarence Kolb), precocious daughters Jerry(Constance Bennett) and Marian (Bonita Granville),and son Kane(Tom Brown) Kilbourne.
Billie Burke plays the screwball matriarch to the 9's.Pasty Kelly is charming as the maid.
In comparing the respective actors of the two films, William Powell, as Godfrey, probably has a slight edge over Brian Aherne, as the vagrant Wade Rawlins.
Billie Burke steals the show in this essential screwball comedy.
McLeod, and written by Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran, all of whom were responsible for Topper (1937) the year before, this essential screwball comedy also features Constance Bennett, Billie Burke, and Alan Mowbray.
Eric Hatch, who wrote "Godfrey", worked with McLeod, Jevne and Moran on "Topper".Brian Aherne plays a writer mistaken for a "forgotten man" (a tramp) and "hired" by a ditzy wealthy woman philanthropist (Burke) after her seventh "project" made off with the family silver.
Her beautiful blonde daughter (Bennett), and practically every other female within range (like the family maid, played by Patsy Kelly), falls for the handsome stranger while the family butler (Mowbray) and her husband (Clarence Kolb) try to get rid of him.
For herself, Bennett inhabits her character Jerry Kilbourne much better in this film than she did her role in Topper (1937), which came off as a poor (wo)man's version of Carole Lombard.
Virtually all of the film's "laughing out loud" moments involve Burke's character, like the scene where she's "training" Rawlins how to serve, before her dinner party.
During this subsequent dinner party, Aherne's character, thanks to the Senator Harlan's daughter's (Dvorak) interest in him, makes the transition from the Kilbourne's chauffeur to their guest..