Our life with father
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Our life with father |
| Original title | Life with Father |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1947 |
| length | 118 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Michael Curtiz |
| script | Donald Ogden Stewart |
| production | Robert Buckner for Warner Brothers |
| music | Max Steiner |
| camera |
J. Peverell Marley William V. Skall |
| cut | George Amy |
| occupation | |
| |
Our Life with Father (OT: Life with Father ) is an American feature film from 1947. The model was the play Life with Father by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse . The main roles were played by William Powell and Irene Dunne .
action
The film is set in New York in the early 1890s. Clarence Day Sr. is a successful broker on Wall Street and believes that his professional success and methods can also be used in his family. He sees his pretty and very religious wife Vinnie as a nice ornament at his side. However, he does not realize that despite his ideas for improvement and his authoritarian behavior, she is the real head of the family. Vinnie knows everything about the family, while the father believes he has the family under control. He doesn't notice anything about his children's business, who earn extra income, or about the first love of his eldest son Clarence Junior, the pretty Mary Skinner. The plot is told in the form of a collection of anecdotes, connected by Vinnie's attempts to convince her husband that he will finally be baptized, otherwise he could never go to heaven.
background
The play Life with Father, which premiered on Broadway on November 8, 1939 , is based on the childhood memories of Clarence Day Jr. His father was a manager on the New York Stock Exchange, and his father Benjamin Day founded the New York Sun newspaper . The memories initially appeared in essay form in magazines such as the New York Evening Post and Harper's Bazaar, as well as in the New Yorker . Shortly before his death, the author published several autobiographical books, including God and My Father , Life with Father, and Life with Mother . The writing duo Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse began work on a stage version soon after the death of Clarence Day Jr. When almost all renowned stage actors had turned down a leading role, Howard Lindsay and his wife, actress Dorothy Stickney, eventually took over the roles of father and mother. Produced on a fairly modest budget, the piece received hymns of praise after its premiere. From 1939 to 1947 it saw 3,224 performances. After a short time there was another production in Chicago with Lillian Gish as Vinnie. Gish immediately tried to convince her friend Mary Pickford to secure the film rights. Pickford hesitated, and a bidding battle soon ensued.
In 1940, Samuel Goldwyn offered $ 200,000, but the production company asked three years before the film could begin. In July 1944, Pickford entered the negotiations again, parallel to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , who saw the material as a suitable vehicle for Spencer Tracy . In the end, however, the Warner Brothers studio was awarded the contract for a sum of US $ 500,000 plus a share in the box office results. In addition, the film was not allowed to be distributed until mid-1947. The rights also reverted to the Bühnenstück production company after seven years. In addition, Warner Brothers had to accept strict guidelines for the script. Only episodes from Day's memories that were also mentioned in the play were allowed to be portrayed.
Casting the two main roles turned out to be complicated. The studio did test recordings with Ronald Colman and Fredric March for the role of Clarence Day before choosing William Powell . Shirley Temple was first choice for the role of Mary Skinner; In the end, however, Elizabeth Taylor was preferred . She was only 14 at the time of filming and had difficulties with her role. Jimmy Lydon , who starred in Clarence Day Jr., described in a 2016 interview that the notoriously hot-headed Curtiz went berserk after many unsuccessful recordings with Taylor and she ran off the set. Curtiz then followed her apologetically with a mixture of anger and regret, which made a strange scene.
The biggest problem, however, was the occupation of Vinnie. Initially, Bette Davis was in conversation, but her test shots were not convincing. Even Rosalind Russell made test shots in vain. Then everything seemed to focus on Mary Pickford . But the studio management had reservations about whether Pickford, whose last film was distributed in 1933, had a fan base at all. In the end, it was director Michael Curtiz who vehemently advocated Irene Dunne . Dunne, who was still one of the most popular actresses, had just achieved great financial and artistic success in Anna and the King of Siam . At first, the actress was anything but pleased with the offer. She found the role boring, naive and stupid. After several attempts at persuasion by Curtiz, she finally accepted the role, but only after the studio had largely complied with her request for "top billing", that is, the naming of her name before Powell's. The compromise that was found stipulated that on half of the rental copies and on half of all advertising material, the name of Dunne appeared first and then that of Powell, the other half the other way around.
Filming began in August 1946 and dragged on for 16 weeks, partly due to a protracted illness of William Powell. With production costs running at around $ 4.5 million, making it the most expensive Warner film at the time. Michael Curtiz was increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of design options. The strict specifications that the producers of the stage version had negotiated required a meticulously accurate copy of the play. The only innovation consisted in opening up the action to a few side scenes, while on the stage everything happened practically in a decoration. The strict requirements of the Production Code made it impossible for Clarence Day to use the word "damn" (German: damn) all the time, as in the stage version. Powell used the made-up word "Egads" as a substitute.
synchronization
The German dubbed version was created in 1981 on behalf of ARD.
| role | actor | Dubbing voice |
|---|---|---|
| Clarence Day Sr. | William Powell | Fred Maire |
| Vinnie Day | Irene Dunne | Viktoria Brams |
| Clarence Day Jr. | Jimmy Lydon | Manuel Döpke |
| Mary Skinner | Elizabeth Taylor | Carolin van Bergen |
| Cora Cartwright | ZaSu Pitts | Alice Franz |
| Reverend Dr. Lloyd | Edmund Gwenn | Paul Bürks |
| Dr. Humphries, family doctor | Moroni Olsen | Manfred Lichtenfeld |
| Reverend Morley | Douglas Kennedy | Michael Brennicke |
| police officer | Monte Blue | Manfred Erdmann |
| Nora | Mary Field | Heidi Treutler |
| Annie | Heather Wilde | Irina Wanka |
Reviews
The New York Times was very impressed by the film:
“Everything that the wonderful piece had to offer, the charm, the humor, the gentle pathos, all of this has been implemented in the most wonderful way in this handsome color film. […] William Powell is a father to every inch of hair, from carrot-red hair down to shoes. [...] It is almost unforgivable not to have mentioned Irene Dunne earlier, because she plays Vinnie Day with charm and an accuracy that suits Mr. Powell's father perfectly. [...] The Warner brothers can be proud of their work and the rest of us grateful that a classic piece of Americana has been preserved intact. "
Contemporary critics confirmed this judgment:
“A complex family story from New York at the turn of the century. (...) Turbulent melodrama based on a Broadway hit. "
Theatrical release
At around $ 4,700,000, the film was Warner Brothers' most expensive to date. At the box office, however, the film proved popular; in the United States alone, he grossed $ 5,060,000, to which a further $ 1,395,000 came from foreign markets. With a total of 6,455,000 US dollars in total box office income, it still fell short of the studio's ambitious expectations.
Awards
William Powell received the 1947 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor .
Max Steiner received a Golden Globe Award in 1948 for his film music .
The film went to the 1948 Academy Awards with four nominations , but couldn't win any of the awards:
- Best Actor - William Powell
- Best Production Design (Color Film) - George James Hopkins
- Best Cinematography (Color) - Peverell Marley and William V. Skall
- Best Film Music (Drama / Comedy) - Max Steiner
Web links
- Life with Father in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Our life with father in the online film database
- Life with Father at Turner Classic Movies (English)
- essay
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jimmy Lydon remembers "Life with Father". Retrieved May 18, 2020 .
- ↑ Jimmy Lydon remembers "Life with Father". Retrieved May 18, 2020 .
- ↑ Jimmy Lydon remembers "Life with Father". Retrieved May 18, 2020 .
- ↑ Our life with father ( Memento of the original from November 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at the German Synchronous Database
- ↑ All that the fabulous play had to offer in the way of charm, comedy, humor and gentle pathos is beautifully realized in the handsomely Technicolored picture […]. William Powell is every inch Father, from his carrot patch dome to the tip of his button-up shoes. [...] It is almost unpardonable not to have mentioned Irene Dunne before this because she interprets Vinnie Day with charm, wit and an exactness that perfectly complement Mr. Powell's Father. [...] The Warner Brothers can be proud of a job well done and the rest of us thankful that a classical slice of Americana has been preserved intact.
- ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier, Berndt Schulz: Lexicon "Films on TV" (expanded new edition). Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 857
- ↑ thespectrum.com
