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DVD Life With Father
Ah, remember those good old days when father ruled the roost, keeping a tight rein on the money, the kids, and the docile wife? Well, neither does Clarence Day (William Powell), the title character in Life with Father. Taking place in New York in 1883, this charming comedy purports to show the life of a strict father managing his house and his family, only to be constantly--and unknowingly--out-manipulated by his somewhat ditzy wife, Vinnie (Irene Dunne). Day is terrifying enough that maids keep quitting, but Vinnie manages to keep Day under control--that is, until she discovers that he was never baptized. A battle ensues as she desperately tries to ensure that they will one day meet in heaven, and all the while he severely maintains that the church has no business messing with a man's soul. Meanwhile, young Clarence Day Jr. (Jimmy Lydon) is busy falling for visiting Mary Skinner (played gigglingly by Elizabeth Taylor), and his brother John concocts a money-making scheme that involves the selling of a rather dubious potion. The costumes, the characters, and the wonderful story line--based on a play that was based on the memoir written by Clarence Day Jr.--make this a delightful movie that's perfect for a family-film night. --Jenny Brown
Despite the anomalies of this DVD version, "Life with Father" is still a winning, wonderful movie suitable for viewing by all ages. William Powell stars as the combustible, but essentially kind and loving patriach of a late 1800's family in New York City. A wife and three adolescent boys round out this colorful family.
Powell lends irascible charm to his role while Irene Dunne plays the slightly ditsy, well meaning wife marvelously. The supporting cast includes a young and very beautiful Elizabeth Taylor as a flirtatious visitor as well as the future star of the television series "Adam 12", Martin Milner, as the middle son.
"Life with Father" has plenty of warmth and humor to make it well worth seeing. It just needs a better presentation than in its current DVD format. Catch it when it airs on television for an optimal viewing experience.
A Film worth restoring! Terrible sound makes it unwatchable!
I watched this movie many years ago on AMC. It made me laugh outloud! I cannot understand why the DVD transfer is so poor.The colors are faded and the sound is so garbled that you can't understand what they are saying. This is the kind of film that deserves to be transferred by real professionals. If that ever happens I will buy a new copy. The one I own, I will keep as a reminder that Madacy entertainment=poor quality.
Speaking from a well
I love this movie, but this DVD has horrible sound quality. The actors sound as though they were speaking from a well, and the louder anyone speaks, the worst the garbled effect. I ordered this to replace my VHS copy, but have since discarded the DVD. The VHS is a far superior product.
Though it's impossible to gauge just how much of it is true, this endearing family comedy (based on the book by their children Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey) is inspired by the true story of the husband-and-wife efficiency experts Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and their adventures raising 12 kids at the turn of the century. Director Walter Lang takes a loping pace through the episodes of family life: the kids descend upon the new school in force while Dad (fussy Clifton Webb) offers his unsolicited views on education; Dad takes his oldest daughter (wholesome Jeanne Crain) to the school dance and becomes the hit of the ball; a mass tonsillectomy becomes an opportunity to document the ordeal as an experiment in efficiency. Myrna Loy almost steals the film in her one... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Clifton Webb - Myrna Loy Director(s): Walter Lang DVD Release Date: Released the 16 March 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Myrna Loy charms as the Gilbreth family matriarch in this enjoyable 1952 sequel to Walter Lang's comedy Cheaper by the Dozen, based on the autobiographical novel by Frank Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. Picking up from the somber ending of Cheaper, in which Frank Sr. (Clifton Webb) dies, leaving behind his wife, Lillian (Loy), and 12 children, Belles focuses on the family's slow recovery and aspirations for a future. Lillian's qualifications as an engineer are dismissed--sometimes humiliatingly--by sexist men, though she finally receives a training position with the plain-speaking Sam Harper (Edward Arnold) and the respect of a major university. Meanwhile, eldest daughter Ann (Jeanne Crain) is wooed by a young doctor (Jeffrey Hunter), and the other Gilbreth... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jeanne Crain - Myrna Loy Director(s): Henry Levin DVD Release Date: Released the 16 March 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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A classic screwball comedy with a supernatural twist, Topper stars the incomparable Cary Grant and sparkling Constance Bennett as George and Marion Kirby, a fun-loving couple who cap an evening of jazz and champagne by running their car into a tree. They return as ghosts with a mandate to liven up the straight-laced hen-pecked life of bank president Cosmo Topper (Roland Young), who's hungry for just such a shake-up. Before long he's boozing, dancing, and getting into fights, all of which gives him a rakish reputation--much to the consternation of his wife (Billie Burke, best known as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz). The sequel replaces Grant and Bennett with Joan Blondell, who can't quite compare, but she's charming in her own way. Topper Returns... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Constance Bennett - Cary Grant - Roland Young Director(s): Norman Z. McLeod DVD Release Date: Released the 17 June 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Predating The Brady Bunch by almost a decade, Yours, Mine, and Ours is a screwball comedy about the ultimate blended family. When the widow Helen North (Lucille Ball) marries the widower Frank Beardsley (Henry Fonda), the two must find a place to house their 18--count 'em, 18!--kids (she had 8, he had 10). Based on a real-life couple, the film details the nuances of everyday life in a house overrun with children. From getting all the kids ready for school to sending off an older son to war, this well-written film is wholesome entertainment that doesn't condescend. Look for the very young Tracy Nelson as Germaine. --Jenny BrownMore Info about this DVD Director(s): Melville Shavelson DVD Release Date: Released the 06 March 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Director Gregory La Cava deftly balances satire, romance, and social comment in this 1936 classic, which echoes Frank Capra in its Depression-era subtext. The Bullocks are a well-heeled, harebrained Manhattan family genetically engineered for screwball collisions: father Alexander (Eugene Pallette, of the foghorn voice and thick-knit eyebrows) is the breadwinner at wit's end, thanks to his spoiled daughters, the sultry Cornelia (Gail Patrick) and the sweet but scatterbrained Irene (a luminous Carole Lombard), his dizzy and doting wife, Angelica (Alice Brady), and her "protégé," Italian freeloader Carlo (Mischa Auer). When Irene wins a society scavenger hunt (and atypically trumps her scheming sister) by producing a "lost man," a seeming tramp named Godfrey (William Powell),... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): William Powell - Carole Lombard Director(s): Gregory La Cava DVD Release Date: Released the 31 July 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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