Merrily We Go to Hell

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Russ G Mar 9 Hadn't seen or heard of Sylvia Sidney before and she certainly is a cutie. Opposite her is a young Fredric March, often seen in weightier stuff. I bailed about twenty minutes in after watching Mr. March's character unfold and figured this wasn't going to end well. The loveable drunk is a type that isn't loveable anymore, though perhaps it was in the immediate post-Prohibition era. Maybe I'll watch the rest later and revise the review but for now I think I'm in sync with other audience viewers - pass on it. See more Allan H Mar 9 It's amazing to me. I couldn't turn the movie off, just kept watching until it ended suddenly but adultly. See more Alec B @Alec97 02/27/2024 More melancholy than the title suggests, but given how great the performances all are (surprisingly just about everyone is measured) that actually is a positive See more steve d 01/09/2023 The acting is good but the name is the best part. See more 03/17/2018 Clever dialogue, fantastic acting, and several great scenes made this film a delight for me, but be forewarned, its main character may have you saying 'grrr', and reduce your enjoyment. Frederic March plays a newspaper reporter / playwright who has a drinking problem, and it's while he's drunk at a party that he meets a charming young lady, played by Sylvia Sidney. The two hit it off and despite the concerns of her rich father (George Irving), get married. Things get complicated when his ex-lover (Adrianne Allen) re-surfaces and he struggles to control his problem. It's a very strong cast all around, and Sidney in particular turns in a great performance. She ranges from a sweet, naïve, and trusting soul, loving unconditionally, to hurt and confused, to woman whose solution is to give her husband a taste of his own medicine, in a rather shocking development. The scene with her partying with her own young lover (Cary Grant no less) and his friends and quipping "Gentlemen, I give you the holy state of matrimony, modern style: single lives, twin beds and triple bromides in the morning" is sad, empowering, and a little thrilling all at the same time. As they're in a bar that's practically a den of iniquity, it's all clearly pre-code, but there is an intelligence and honesty in this scene, and throughout the movie. March is also strong as this affable but flawed man, and in early scenes we smile at his partying, at one point yelling "Is there a baritone in the house?" until he finds a barman to fill out a quartet with his friends so that they can break out in song. The warning signs are there in his tardiness and even at his wedding, as he and his best man (Skeets Gallagher) fumble for the ring, which he's forgotten. That scene is one of several that are well directed by Dorothy Arzner, as she cuts to guests making observations and the facial reactions of March and Sidney as they say their vows. There is a lot of partying and revelry which may put some viewers off, but I found that allowed for some fantastic moments. In one, March asks Sidney to shut the door and hold him back from going to the other woman, and in a strong way she opens it wide and says "I'm no jailer - get out!" In another, as March and Allen 'play-act' a passionate kiss to the merriment of others right in front of her, we feel the shock and humiliation amplified by her brilliant facial reaction. The title is clearly meant to titillate, but the film has real substance beneath. It's wild, but also realistic, though I didn't care too much for the ending. We see what destructive behavior leads to, and in that I suppose there is a message, but it's delivered without heavy-handed moralizing. The plot is a tad melodramatic, but it's daring and unique in the areas it explores. Well worth checking out, if you're in the mood for pre-code. See more 08/06/2017 I caught this on youtube and was captivated. It has bad reviews, but I was fascinated by it being a pre-code film and I found the story compelling (while being hardly original - at least by today's standards). Really funny to see Cary Grant in what is essentially a cameo. Sylvia Sydney was heartbreaking. See more Read all reviews

Merrily We Go to Hell

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