Merrily We Go To Hell (1932)

Pre-code 1930s:
A Husband, Please, On The Rocks
Merrily We Go To Hell (1932)
Studio: Paramount Pictures • 84 min B&W • AR 1.33:1 • US: 10 Jun 1932
Re-release: Universal Backlot Series (Apr 2009)
Series: Universal’s Pre-code Hollywood Collection (3-DVD)
Starring: Sylvia Sidney, Frederic March, Adrianne Allen, George Irving, Richard Gallagher
Dir: Dorothy Arzner

Innocence and loyalty work against Joan Prentice (Sylvia Sidney) who, despite, her upper crust upbringing, is no class snob. A teetotaler, she is charmed off her feet at a rather drunken affair by Jerry Corbett (Frederic March), a journalist hack with aspirations to become a serious playwright — but his taste for booze rather gets in the way of his ability to produce. He repeatedly is missing or late for important social events as he woos the sweet Joan, favouring the bottle over a schedule, which does not impress her father (George Irving). Dad only wants his daughter to be happy and he does attempt to draw the line a few times. Alas, the couple spirals down further, driven by the new husband’s drinking, and restarting an affair with an old flame, New York stage star Claire Hempstead (Adrianne Allen). Aiding and abetting is “best friend” and lead enabler, Buck (Richard Gallagher). When Joan becomes pregant she finally leaves Jerry — but who is the father? How can this possibly end up alright?

Dave Kehr in the New York Times recently called this “humorless and visually claustrophobic” and he meant that nicely. Sidney is absolutely heart-breakingly lovely and convincing. A mere six months separate the release of this and The Cheat yet Merrily We Go To Hell has a naturalism and warmth lacking in the earlier film. You feel Joan’s pain and root for her even as you know she’s going to make yet another bad choice. It’s bleak and moving.

Director Dorothy Arzner was once the most famous woman director in Hollywood — quite a distinction for 1932 in an industry known for its dearth of female director stars. She worked on Blood and Sand, the great Rudolph Valentino silent in 1922. Five years later she directed one of Clara Bow’s last silents, Get Your Man, and made her first talkie, Manhattan Cocktail with Nancy Carroll (more on her in the next film) the following year. Bow and Arzner teamed up again in 1929’s The Wild Party (sensing a theme here?). She was a woman director making women’s films with very adult themes.

This film, like the balance in the collection, is returned to ciruclation in a superb print with good sound quality. The early Paramount library was sold to MCA/Universal in 1957 for television distribution; it’s remarkable that the originals were kept in such good condition. And if these pre-code themes were too racy for the mid-30s, what condition they made it to television in is anyone’s guess!