Life with Father (1947)

Warner Bros.

Director: Michael Curtiz

Starring: William Powell, Irene Dunne

William Powell of The Thin Man series fame makes his resurgence towards the top of Hollywood’s acting elite with his starring role in the screen adaption of the famously successful Broadway hit Life with Father. Co-starring Irene Dunne, this Technicolor period comedy brought the wit and charm to a wider audience then the smash hit play which had enjoyed a record eight year run. Directed by the Michael Curtiz, known for his eye creative eye for camera work and interest in stories that study the human condition, this clever movie would become one of the year’s greatest critical and finanical hits.

Life with Father is a Technicolor comedy about a meticulous American patriarch at the turn of the 20^th century who through a series of humorous events manifests to no quite be the master of his own domain. The New York home of the Day family at the dawn of a new century has the father, Clarence Sr. (William Powell), appear to run his household containing his loving wife Vinne (Irene Dunne) and their four sons with strict order and discipline as he sees fit. However, Vinnie understands that her husband’s interpretations can be a bit unrealistic and stubbornly as she creatively manipulates the actions of the house making the real decisions for what is best for family, all the while making her loved “Clare” feel to be very much in control.

 

Apart from watching the clever manipulations of Vinnie over Clare, the conflict arises between the two when she wishes for Clare to be baptized in fear for his soul. Clare’s religious and controlling stubbornness distresses Vinnie as she wishes to be assured of his entry into the kingdom of heaven and also serve as a good example to their sons. Serving as the film’s secondary plot is the eldest son, Clarence Jr. (Jimmy Lydon) courting a beautiful out-of-towner, Mary (Elizabeth Taylor), and receiving guidance from his father on how to treat a lady, advice that from a man like his father of course leads to major issue between the two young people. Humorously, Clarance Jr. comes to fear he is becoming too much like his father, breaking away from the advice to focus more on Mary’s needs, saving the relationship. Ultimately Clare arranges a family trip to a distant church for his baptism, a move he greatly disapproves in, but begrudgingly relents to due to his clever wife’s creative influence of him, manifesting just how much he does love his wife.

With a story that takes place almost entirely within the boundaries of the Day home, it is clear this picture was based on a play, but this adaption makes the story feel as if it was all its own. Director Michael Curtiz is so wonderful with his use of staging and camera work that the film is entertaining even when the camera is not focused on the character action of the story. William Powell embodies perfectly the character of Clarence Sr., a stern, business-like patriarch that runs his family as if a machine-like company. Dunne’s portrayal of Vinnie as the unconditionally loving wife that allows her husband to feel completely in control even though she is making all the important decisions is clever. As a period piece the movie plays with the misconceptions of Clarence’s views on women and their role in a man’s life, a miscalculation that leads to amusing lessons to be learns by his eldest son nearly too late. On the whole the picture is fun and amusing, helping to share what made its Broadway namesake as popular as it was for so long.

William Powell’s performance as Clarence would bring new attention to the star of the long running and successful Thin Man series. For years Powell was fading slowly into the background of Hollywood’s memory, his most recent success from the biopic Ziegfeld Follies, as well as The Thin Man Goes Home in 1945, but with a slow 1946 his already decelerated career was continuing to come decline. Powell’s praise performance earned him his third career Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, the last stretching back to 1936 for My Man Godfrey, reviving his name to the top leading men in the business for the first time in many years.

Irene Dunne coming off her critically acclaimed performance in Anna and the King of Siam (1946) found the role of Vinnie to be less than enjoyable and a hiccup in her career. Believing the character to be a bit too scatterbrained her portrayal, albeit heartwarming and clever, does come off flat and uninspiring, far from one of Dunne’s best works

The child roles of the picture are very minor for the most part. It did mark the film debt of Martin Milner, who would later become a successful a television star, as the second eldest son John. The eldest son Clarence Jr. was portrayed by 23 year-old former child actor Jimmy Lydon brought a novice mentality to the role as a newly appointed “Yale man” who obviously knew very little about the world and women thanks in part to the regulating by his father. His love interest was portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor who was only 15 years of age, but was already being groomed for more mature roles. Her character of Mary becomes one of the most pleasantly engaging characters of the film, however her delivery is a bit too innocent as she delivers her lines is a manner to that of the cartoon character Snow White from Walt Disney. Not to fear, she would have much more work lined up in her career.

The picture is a wonderful play on the overly conservative nature of the father along with how out of touch he is when attempting to teach his son about life, including the birds and the bees. It is absolutely cringingly humorous to listen to the poor advice he gives, setting up humorous moments later on in the film. However the film would still be subject to the conservative nature of Hollywood censorship causing the playful cursing of the stage play to be altered for the screen. Replaced were the outbursts of “God!” with “gad!” and the alteration of the original final line of the script “I’m going to be baptized, dammit,” removed the swear word in connection to a religious act. The alterations would not harm the picture, in fact I feel it actually enhances the charm to Clarence’s outbursts.

Life with Father, despite opening as late as August, would become the highest grossing picture of Warner Bros. in 1947. Along with strong critical praise and four Academy Award nominations (Best Actor, Best Art Direction-Color, Best Cinematography-Color, and Best Score) the film can be considered the greatest picture for the studio that year. It may not necessarily be of director Michael Curtiz’s best known works, but Life with Father is an enjoyable picture that is easy to see why it did so well on the big screen, although it did ride a bit on the coattails of the Broadway play’s success.