Joy of Living

Buy This Item Joy of Living by Turner Home Entertainment  Available from Amazon  $19.98  on 8-27-2008     She can go wherever she wants and do whatever she wants. She's Maggie Garret (Irene Dunne), the famous Broadway actress! She sings and she makes $10,000 a week, but that money all goes down the tubes because she supports her spoiled family and has little time for fun. That all changes when Dan Brewster (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) steps into the picture. He's enamored with Miss Garret, but he also knows that she isn't enjoying life the way she should be. She spurns his advances, but has trouble getting away from him. After one night of intense fun, though, Maggie starts to change her mind about this clingy man. <br /> <br />Though hardly a laugh fest, this movie is delightful and romantic. Fairbanks looks more and more like his father as the film goes on, that smile, the grace, that charm! His personalities fills up the screen, and it isn't hard to see why Maggie goes for him. Dunne isn't so bad either, singing several catchy songs including "You Couldn't Be Cuter" and "What's Good About Goodnight?" <br /> <br />Unfortunately this one is hard to find, but if you ever find it in a garage sale or at the library pick it up and fast! You won't be disappointed. Reader Reviews In 1938, one year after the wildly entertaining screwball classic THE AWFUL TRUTH, RKO Radio Pictures released JOY OF LIVING, again starring the very wonderful Irene Dunne. This one was originally called JOY OF LOVING but then was changed when the Hays censor office thought the title too risque. As screwball comedies go, JOY OF LIVING is pretty darn good, if not quite up there in the rarified atmosphere of, say, Libeled Lady, My Man Godfrey - Criterion Collection, My Favorite Wife, and The Awful Truth. JOY OF LIVING's basic plot revolves around popular radio and Broadway star Margaret Garret (Dunne), who finds herself constantly working in order to keep her selfish, parasitic family in the mellow (even the little twin girls are unadorable). One evening, as Margaret is being mobbed by overly aggresive fans, she's rescued by breezy, rich-as-Croesus playboy Dan Brewster (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.), a man who would change her life. Of course, their first meeting isn't that auspicious, especially for Dan, who ends up being arrested. But, in screwball, as well as in life, what's romance without an obstacle here and there, eh? Even though Irene Dunne proved to be a very effective dramatic actress (I Remember Mama, Love Affair, Anna and the King of Siam), I truly enjoy her best in her wacky roles. Dunne was a dazzling practitioner in the screwball genre, on equal terms with Jean Arthur and Carole Lombard. Dunne had this knack for going from reserved and sophisticated to gorgeously madcap, but somehow without losing that touch of elegance. Her comic timing was impeccable, with her throaty laugh always tickling my fancy. And she just about equalled Myrna Loy in how she can effortlessly put someone in place with a mere understated look. Now, to tell the truth, I wasn't ever too keen on her operatic style of singing, but, in this film, I ended up relishing her renditions of the very cute "You Couldn't Be Cuter" and that one ballad she hilariously sped thru during a radio broadcast (sorry, can't recall the song title). The music and lyrics, by the way, are respectively by the great Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields. Plenty of uproarious humor here, what with courtroom shenanigans and revolving door hijinks. But the scenes to really look out for begin with Maggie cautiously sipping from her big mug of beer. Which leads to more sips, progressively less cautious. From then on, for the next 20 minutes or so, it's screwy dame time as Irene Dunne breaks away from the prim and proper and causes havoc in various late evening locales, including memorable sequences in a German beer garden and in an ice skating rink. It's worth noting that, in these moments, with her merry yet subversive "Hyuk, hyuk, hyuks," it's almost as if Dunne had channeled a cartoon character (but an elegant cartoon character). Anyway, it's funny. I also like Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., frequently an overlooked leading man. Since his go-getting character is the engine which mostly drives the story forward, it's fairly key that the audience like him. And Fairbanks is likable, with his self-effacing but confident personality, his big, affable grin, and his rakishly angled hat. If I had to critique his performance (and I guess I'm gonna), I'd say his Dan Brewster might have been a mite too heavy handed with his "my way or the highway" attitude. But, then again, given the nature of Maggie's relatives and the point Dan was trying to get across to Maggie - that the only resolution is to make a clean break - one might see why he adopted such a posture. By the way, I've always wondered if Fairbanks actually made those Donald Duck noises. When I first heard them, I was shocked and then I couldn't stop giggling. Oh, that final scene in the ice rink... Also, it's a testament to just how well the supporting actors played Margaret's foolish, leeching relatives that I gave an enthusiastic fist pump when Margaret finally gave them a dignified but well-deserved dressing down. Her family's just scuzz, man. In 1938 and with America still in the throes of the Great Depression, movies like JOY OF LIVING were what the audience craved the most, cinematically. JOY OF LIVING has beautiful stars, genuinely funny moments, and even some good songs. The crowds of yesteryear must've gotten a kick out of it. For fans of Lucille Ball, the lovely redhead has a tiny supporting part here, as Maggie's jealous sister and understudy. But this one's strictly Irene Dunne's vehicle, all the way, although Fairbanks gives a capable assist. JOY OF LIVING isn't one of Irene Dunne's best ever comedies, no. But I submit that only THE AWFUL TRUTH, MY FAVORITE WIFE, and THEODORA GOES WILD are better screwballs. The rest of her comedy films are on par with or even inferior to JOY OF LIVING. I mean, this one's got a guy doing Donald Duck impressions, for cripe's sake! That's just ballsy. Lastly, there really needs to be a dvd collection of Irene Dunne's screwball comedies. I can't be the only one thinking this, right?

Joy of Living Available from Amazon Price: $19.98 Updated on 8-27-2008.

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