3 Classic Rom-Coms Vol. 4
Easy Living (1937), I Married a Witch (1942), and It Should Happen to You (1954)
Featuring the talents of some of the best in the business, these three Romantic Comedies are equally unique and delightful, especially with three of some of the most memorable blondes in the business headlining them! Enjoy!
-Olivia
Easy Living (1937)- 1 hr 29 mins
When a fur coat lands on working girl Mary Smith (Jean Arthur) as she’s riding the double-decker bus to work, her life is turned upside down. The owner, wealthy banker J.B. Ball (Edward Arnold), lets her keep the coat and go on her way. The only problem is that now everyone thinks she’s his mistress with access to his millions, so Mary becomes the target of every solicitor in New York!
A depression-era comedy from director Mitchell Leisen (Remember the Night) and writer Preston Sturges (The Lady Eve), Easy Living is physical, fast, and funny! It is everything that you’d want of a screwball comedy. Moreover, it gives a wonderful glimpse into the depression era with its depictions of the every day and not so every day. Common venues of the time, like the local automat, as well as some of the most luxurious parts of town, are dessert for any Architecture or Art Deco enthusiast!
Availability: Youtube (free), DVD, and Blu-ray.
Youtube (free): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xguNnDu8ShI
Purchase DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Living-Universal-Cinema-Classics/dp/B0012GVMIA
Purchase Blu-ray: https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Living-Blu-ray-Jean-Arthur/dp/B07RR74MYM/ref=tmm_blu_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
I Married a Witch (1942)- 1 hr 17 mins
From French filmmaker René Clair comes one of his most creative films during his time in Hollywood. It's a unique, if not a magical, Rom-Com. Veronica Lake stars as the bewitching sorceress Jennifer, who along with her father (Cecil Kellaway), was sent to the stake by Salem Puritan, Jonathan Wooley, several centuries ago. When the sorcerer's spirits are freed, Jennifer’s delighted to see that her curse on all his male descendants has sufficiently tortured them during her absence. The most recent descendent, Wallace Wooley (Frederic March), like all of his ancestors before him, is once again planning to marry the wrong woman (Susan Hayward). Jennifer is not ready to leave it at that! She decides to have Wallace fall in love with her. Things take a turn, though, when she accidentally drinks her own love potion!
I Married a Witch is a charming film of “comic confection bursting with playful effects and sparkling witticisms”.* You won't want to miss it!
*Criterion. Plot summary of I Married a Witch, 2013
Availability: Youtube(free), Amazon video, iTunes, DVD, and Blu-ray.
Youtube (free, pretty good quality): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBXlvJSnhPc
Purchase DVD: https://www.amazon.com/I-Married-Witch-Criterion-Collection/dp/B00DZP1BVO/ref=sr_1_2?crid=37CY9RP57706J&dchild=1&keywords=i+married+a+witch&qid=1588010287&sprefix=I+married+a+%2Caps%2C140&sr=8-2
Purchase Blu-ray: https://www.amazon.com/Married-Witch-Criterion-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B00DZP1BY6/ref=tmm_blu_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1588010287&sr=8-2
It Should Happen to You (1954)- 1 hr 27 mins
After living in the city for a few years and still not hitting the big time, actress and model Gladys Glover (Judy Holliday) has almost given up on her dreams - that is, until she gets an idea. After roaming around Central Park, she notices a vacant billboard on Columbus Circle for rent and decides to put her name on it. The idea miraculously works, and Glover is soon “courted” by all of New York. She becomes “the talk of the town,” even catching the eyes of wealthy playboy Evan Adams III (Peter Lawford). Gladys, though, will have to decide if she wants to continue with this new and exciting life of fame or come back down to earth with her boyfriend (Jack Lemmon) and appreciate life's most important things.
While the film is indeed delightful and entertaining, it’s also unique for the genre. It Should Happen to You offers a very knowing critique of pop culture, but it never lectures you. It simply entertains you, and with Broadway star and Oscar-winner Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday, 1950), that is not hard to do. As the eccentric Gladys, she is charming in a part she was born to play. Lemmon is wonderful as her down-to-earth counterpart in his first film role. If for any other reason, this film is a fantastic way to “see” New York during this crazy time!
Availability: Youtube(free), Vudu, iTunes, Amazon video, Googleplay, and DVD.
Purchase DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Should-Happen-You-DVD/dp/B0002VL614
I