Directed by:
Dorothy ArznerScreenplay:
Edwin Justus MayerCinematography:
David AbelCast:
Sylvia Sidney, Fredric March, Adrianne Allen, Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher, George Irving, Florence Britton, Charles Coleman, Cary Grant, Kent Taylor (more)Plots(1)
Addiction, nonmonogamy, and female liberation: decades before such ideas were widely discussed, Dorothy Arzner, the only woman to work as a director in 1930s Hollywood, brought them to the screen with striking frankness, sophistication, and wit. A mature treatment that stands out even in the pre-Code era. Fredric March (in one of four collaborations with Arzner) and Sylvia Sidney turn in extraordinary performances as the urbane couple whose relationship is pushed to the breaking point by his alcoholism and wandering eye. Leading them into an emotionally explosive experiment with an open marriage. Exposing the hypocrisies and petty cruelties simmering beneath the surface of high-society elegance, Merrily We Go To Hell is a scathing early-feminist commentary on modern marriage. (Criterion)
(more)Cast
Sylvia Sidney
USA
Best movies:
Fury (1936)
Dead End (1937)
An Early Frost (1985) (TV movie)
Fredric March
USA
Best movies:
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Hombre (1967)
Adrianne Allen
UK
Best movies:
Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)
Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher
USA
Best movies:
Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)
Possessed (1931)
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
George Irving
USA
Best movies:
Love Crazy (1941)
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Florence Britton
USA
Best movies:
Arrowsmith (1931)
The Mummy (1932)
Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)
Charles Coleman
Australia
Best movies:
It Started with Eve (1941)
Captains Courageous (1937)
Love Is News (1937)
Cary Grant
UK
Best movies:
North by Northwest (1959)
Charade (1963)
Holiday (1938)
Kent Taylor
USA
Best movies:
The Sign of the Cross (1932)
One Hour with You (1932)
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
Dennis O'Keefe
USA
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Fury (1936)
Ernie Adams
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
William H. O'Brien
Australia
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Mysterious Lady (1928)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Bill Elliott
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
Bullets or Ballots (1936)
Harry Strang
USA
Best movies:
Edison, the Man (1940)
North by Northwest (1959)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Gordon Westcott
USA
Best movies:
Queen Kelly (1929)
Footlight Parade (1933)
Front Page Woman (1935)
Neal Dodd
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Scarlet Street (1945)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Esther Howard
USA
Best movies:
Caged (1950)
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Born to Kill (1947)
LeRoy Mason
USA
Best movies:
King Kong (1933)
The Viking (1928)
The Call of the Wild (1935)
Jay Eaton
USA
Best movies:
Love Crazy (1941)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
Theresa Harris
USA
Best movies:
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Jezebel (1938)
Out of the Past (1947)