Too much of everything

Simply Perfect

As Good As It Gets

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

That Merrily has a plot similar to My Man Godfrey is no reason to think Merrily is the inferior entertainment. Originality is not the supreme goal of the Hollywood factory system. Entertainment is. And Merrily jauntily delivers. It is fresh and hilarious from start to finish. Bennett, whose career was revived with Topper the previous year, has top billing, but Merrily is not a star vehicle. Rather it's an ensemble film with meaty roles for all cast members. Particularly amusing are Clarence Kolb, Alan Mowbray,("I'm quitting and that's final.") and the repetition of the family gathering around the breakfast table and resultant silliness. Another thought on Godfrey ... I prefer Bennett's self-sufficient society girl to Lombard's mentally-deficient society girl. Furthermore, I foresee a happy marriage for Jerry & Rawlins, and a quick divorce for Irene & Godfrey.

Scatterbrained society matron (Billie Burke) hires a man named Rawlins (Brian Aherne) to work as her family's chauffeur. She thinks he's a hobo and she has a habit of bringing home hobos and trying to rehabilitate them. Enjoyable knock-off of My Man Godfrey also stars Constance Bennett, who was originally supposed to star in that film before the part was given to Carole Lombard. Alan Mowbray appeared in both movies. Obnoxiously loud Patsy Kelly makes it hard to take her scenes but the rest of the cast is good enough you can overlook her. Brian Aherne, Billie Burke, and Ann Dvorak are all good. Bonita Granville is cute as a button and probably my favorite part of the movie. Peppy title song sounds like the theme from a '60s sitcom. Not as good as Godfrey but lots of fun anyway.

If you're looking for a screwball comedy, look no further. This is the screwiest! Constance Bennett are sick and tired of mother's habit of taking in tramps and trying to rehabilitate them. So when her latest protégée Ambrose takes off with the family silverware, they say good riddance! Except for Billie Burke, who is so good as the flighty mother, we miss her when she's not on the screen.Enter Brian Aherne whose car broke down and he only wants to use the phone at the closest location. Big mistake entering the Kilbourne estate! Constant mayhem ensues when Billie Burke insists on keeping him. Sense and logic fly out the window, so just sit back and enjoy. Reminiscent of My Man Godfrey and costarring Bonita Granville and Clarence Kolb, this non-stop comedy is too good to miss.

As has been noted before (often), this is a brilliant screwball comedy and yet somehow "a lost movie." How do such things happen? Fate, I suppose - which is no answer at all.Do, however,seek out this film when you can find it. I saw it on Turner Classic Movies (God Bless Them), and I will make it my business to gather a crowd when viewing its next showing. Considering how across-the-board dazzling the film is, I hate to single out anyone, but Clarence Kolb, who plays the always exasperated "pater familias," and whom we have all seen in dozens of movies, here displays a mastery of physical comedy that is singularly impressive and downright hilarious.