Merrily Damned

More than one of the images in the post below come from one of the vintage films I've been watching this week, Merrily We Go to Hell (and now, feel free to guess what got me on that train of thought).  This is the lurid tale of an alcoholic, love of whom turns perhaps the freshest and most darling girl I've ever seen onscreen ...

... into a despairing victim.

And yet, as melodramatic as this kind of a thing could and even should go, this film contains two of the best performances I have seen in recent memory.  Sylvia Sidney is our heroine (and those of us of a certain age will NEVER believe the flicks we know her for - though she makes a convincing case for quitting), and she is simply remarkable.  Not least for her outright loveliness - but she also starts us off with a convincing, fresh ingenue and brings us through a certain jading, and finally to her ultimate understanding.  Clearly, this actress could not have been exactly what we see in her first scenes - in order to play her later ones - so the deveopment is rather remarkable to watch, and the innocence no less fresh when you reconsider the first act.

It is an impressive piece of work, and she sounds, looks, and breathes exactly right throughout.  The film is really hers - and she is a fully rightful owner.  It's excellent.

Played against this, we have the alcoholic husband, Frederick March.  March has some very nice credits to his name, but I never rememeber being quite so stricken by him before.  A leading man less than firmly at the center of attention, his role as Jerry is incredibly tricky.  He plays a pretty good drunk - not Foster Brooks-ing it up, and yet not underplaying the condition either.  Affable and definitely fumbling, when his focus is clear, his charm is genuine.  You find yourself rooting for him, and glad he finds as lovely a woman as Joan - and yet, we all know, the "happy ending" comes way too soon to tell the whole story.

March's performance in the wedding scene alone is an amazing balance.  That scene is all his, and he is perfect.

The screen pairing is enjoyable, too.  These people are appealing, have that thing we so like to call "chemistry" - and even though we know their fate will either have to be unbelievable (i.e.: happy) or, barring that, unsatisfying (less so), but sometimes, with movies, getting there is all the fun.

Of course, "fun" and "entertainment" become unfortunate terms in the telling of a story like this one, but it is a pretty great movie.  Though the story has some of the inevitable compromises of both film and its day, the endpoint is worth reaching, with these leads.  Very definitely recommended.