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Life with Father (film)

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Genre
  
Comedy

Music director
  
Max Steiner

Country
  
United States

7.2/10
IMDb

Director
  
Michael Curtiz

Initial DVD release
  
August 4, 1998

Duration
  

Language
  
English

Life with Father (film) movie poster

Release date
  
August 14, 1947 (1947-08-14) (U.S.)

Based on
  
Life with Father 1935 novel  by Clarence Day 1939 play by Howard Lindsay Russel Crouse

Writer
  
Clarence Day (memoir "Life with Father"), Donald Ogden Stewart (screen play), Howard Lindsay (from the original play by), Russel Crouse (from the original play by)

Cast
  
William Powell
(Clarence Day, Sr.),
Irene Dunne
(Vinnie Day),
Elizabeth Taylor
(Mary Skinner),
Edmund Gwenn
(Rev. Dr. Lloyd),
ZaSu Pitts
(Cousin Cora Cartwright),
Jimmy Lydon
(Clarence Day, Jr.)

Similar movies
  
Mongolian Ping Pong
,
The Cave of the Yellow Dog
,
The Story of the Weeping Camel
,
Boyhood
,
Poltergeist
,
Wall Street

Tagline
  
Here for all!! All the happiness of the play that ran longer, the laughs that were louder than any known before!

Life with father 1947 comedy


Life with Father is a 1947 Technicolor American comedy film. It tells the true story of Clarence Day, a stockbroker who wants to be master of his house, but finds his wife and his children ignoring him, until they start making demands for him to change his own life. The story draws largely on the insistence by his wife that Clarence be baptized and Clarence's stubborn, sometimes ill-tempered nature. In keeping with the autobiography, all the children in the family (all boys) are redheads. It stars William Powell and Irene Dunne as Clarence and his wife, supported by Elizabeth Taylor as a beautiful teenage girl with whom Clarence's oldest son becomes infatuated, along with Edmund Gwenn, ZaSu Pitts, Jimmy Lydon and Martin Milner. The film and its audio entered the public domain in 1975.

Contents

Life with Father (film) movie scenes

Life with father 1947 elizabeth taylor trailer


Plot summary

Life with Father (film) wwwgstaticcomtvthumbmovieposters1463p1463p

Stockbroker Clarence Day (William Powell), is a benevolent despot of his 1880s New York City household, striving to make it function as efficiently as his Wall Street office but usually failing. His wife Vinnie (Irene Dunne) is the real head of the household. The anecdotal story encompasses such details as Clarence's attempts to find a new maid; a romance between his oldest son Clarence Jr. (Jimmy Lydon) and pretty out-of-towner Mary Skinner (Elizabeth Taylor); a plan by Clarence Jr. and his younger brother John (Martin Milner) to make easy money selling patent medicines; Clarence's general contempt for the era's political corruption and the trappings of organized religion; and Vinnie's push to get him baptized so he can enter the kingdom of God.

Cast

  • William Powell as Clarence Day, Sr.
  • Irene Dunne as Vinnie Day
  • Elizabeth Taylor as Mary Skinner
  • Edmund Gwenn as Rev. Dr. Lloyd
  • ZaSu Pitts as Cousin Cora Cartwright
  • Jimmy Lydon as Clarence Day, Jr.
  • Emma Dunn as Margaret as the Cook
  • Moroni Olsen as Dr. Humphries
  • Elisabeth Risdon as Mrs. Whitehead - introduces Morley
  • Martin Milner as John Day
  • Johnny Calkins as Whitney Day
  • Derek Scott as Harlan Day
  • Heather Wilde as Annie, 1st maid
  • Mary Field as Nora, 2nd maid
  • Monte Blue as The Policeman
  • Clara Blandick as Miss Wiggins, the Maid Service Employment Agent

    • Production

    Due to the Motion Picture Production Code standards of the day, the play's last line (in response to a policeman asking Mr. Day where he is going), "I'm going to be baptized, dammit!" had to be rewritten for the film.

    The movie was adapted by Donald Ogden Stewart from the play by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, which was based on the book by Clarence Day, Jr. It was directed by Michael Curtiz.

    Memorable quotations

  • Employment agent: "Sir, before I can let any girl go from this establishment, I must know the character of the home in which she will be employed." Mr. Day: "Madam, I am the character of my home!"
  • Clarence Day, Jr: "...outside green is the best color." Mary Skinner: "That's right. I never thought of it that way. But when you do think of it - it's quite a thought."
  • Upon leaving Clarence Day, Jr. and Mary Skinner alone in the parlor, Mrs. Day turns and says: "Remember, it's Sunday."
  • Mary Skinner announces through tears after sitting on Clarence Day, Jr's lap - (he tells her to "Get up! Get up!"): "Now you just think I am some bold and forward girl."
  • Mr. Day states "I am not a guide to Chinatown and The Bowery."

    • Awards

    It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (William Powell), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color (Robert M. Haas, George Hopkins), Best Cinematography, Color and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

    Home media

    As Warner Bros. never owned complete rights to this film (the studio did and still does own the theatrical distribution and music rights), other companies have been able to release home video versions of Life with Father under different licenses; with some varying by quality.

    Reception

    The film earned $5.9 million in rentals in North America.

    Through a clerical error, the film was not renewed for copyright and has fallen into the public domain. There is a digitally remastered version in the Archive Movie Collection through Digicom.tv with a copyright date of 2009.

    Life with father 1947


    References

    Life with Father (film) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA

    Life with Father (film) IMDb Life with Father (film) themoviedb.org