This is a movie that has a lot to say about 'modern' relationships, drinking, and feminism of the time. And for the most part the execution is very good.
Merrily We Go to Hell is an extremely well acted film, but that to me is not the highlight of the movie. It's the writing with realistic characters and funny moments that are the best part of it. It is one of the better performances I've seen from Sylvia Sidney, which is a little odd as its one of her earliest.
Fredric March stars as a man who doesn't deserve the love of a rich girl that has fallen for him. He's frequently drunk (the title of the film is his favorite drinking toast) and disappoints her at nearly every turn. It's hard to understand exactly what Joan (Sidney) likes about him so much. But that's the way love is sometimes. Joan takes the good with the bad and always seems to forgive the bad, no matter how appalling. Jerry (March) is still getting over his last relationship, attempting to drink it off.
One moment in that part of the story was a highlight for me, where Jerry mentions his previous girlfriend. Joan asks if he has a picture of her, and he responds by saying he has one hidden away somewhere that he looks at once in a blue moon when he's feeling lonely. The movie immediately cuts to him arriving home and the picture of the girl he was mentioning is framed on the wall, with a personal note written to him on it. A clear omen for things to come.
Merrily We Go to Hell does a fabulous job showing the dark side of drinking, something movies of the time rarely did. As the overall weakness of Jerry and Joan's relationship becomes unraveled, it takes Joan just a little longer than it seems like it should to finally get the courage to leave him. This is very much a sign of the times Depression-era picture. Showing the underlying unhappiness in the lives of socialites.
If you are are a Carey Grant fan, he is essentially a pawn in the relationship game. As Jerry seems to be falling for his ex, the star of his new play, Joan attempts to give him a taste of his own medicine by going out with the other star of his play (Grant). Grant has maybe 4 or 5 lines.
My only major criticism of the movie is the ending. I know it was a written rule in Hollywood at the time for movies to have a happy ending, but I don't consider the two of them getting back together a happy ending. Joan was right to leave him and she never should have taken him back. She was better off without him. Ending on the scene where she leaves would have been a better ending climatically, as well as been a happier ending. But in the time period that ending would not have been possible.
Merrily We Go to Hell is an extremely well acted film, but that to me is not the highlight of the movie. It's the writing with realistic characters and funny moments that are the best part of it. It is one of the better performances I've seen from Sylvia Sidney, which is a little odd as its one of her earliest.
Fredric March stars as a man who doesn't deserve the love of a rich girl that has fallen for him. He's frequently drunk (the title of the film is his favorite drinking toast) and disappoints her at nearly every turn. It's hard to understand exactly what Joan (Sidney) likes about him so much. But that's the way love is sometimes. Joan takes the good with the bad and always seems to forgive the bad, no matter how appalling. Jerry (March) is still getting over his last relationship, attempting to drink it off.
One moment in that part of the story was a highlight for me, where Jerry mentions his previous girlfriend. Joan asks if he has a picture of her, and he responds by saying he has one hidden away somewhere that he looks at once in a blue moon when he's feeling lonely. The movie immediately cuts to him arriving home and the picture of the girl he was mentioning is framed on the wall, with a personal note written to him on it. A clear omen for things to come.
Merrily We Go to Hell does a fabulous job showing the dark side of drinking, something movies of the time rarely did. As the overall weakness of Jerry and Joan's relationship becomes unraveled, it takes Joan just a little longer than it seems like it should to finally get the courage to leave him. This is very much a sign of the times Depression-era picture. Showing the underlying unhappiness in the lives of socialites.
If you are are a Carey Grant fan, he is essentially a pawn in the relationship game. As Jerry seems to be falling for his ex, the star of his new play, Joan attempts to give him a taste of his own medicine by going out with the other star of his play (Grant). Grant has maybe 4 or 5 lines.
My only major criticism of the movie is the ending. I know it was a written rule in Hollywood at the time for movies to have a happy ending, but I don't consider the two of them getting back together a happy ending. Joan was right to leave him and she never should have taken him back. She was better off without him. Ending on the scene where she leaves would have been a better ending climatically, as well as been a happier ending. But in the time period that ending would not have been possible.