Easy Living

Ray Milland became a rather more sinister figure in later movies than he played here. Easy Living, written by the brilliant Preston Sturges, featured one of his more adorable performances. Incidentally, this film scored a shocking 100% on the tomatometer.

These old, light comedies didn't exactly call for any deep acting, but the way Edward Arnold and Ray Milland exchanged some of the fastest lines since His Girl Friday (three years later, ironically) floored me. Mr. Sturges's lines could only have been pulled off by accomplished comics. These two did just fine.

Unfortunately, Jean Arthur landed the blondest of blonde roles. Not only does her character refuse to see the simplest reason in an argument of mathematics with a banker, but she actually makes a very basic social mistake in accepting an $58,000 sable coat (during the Great Depression) from a married man, and then compounds the mistake by accepting a matching hat. Perhaps movies were becoming more liberal, but even now that kind of gift carries a very disreputable connotation.

Because of the format of these earlier movies, I had no difficulty seeing where the movie was headed, but since it was always going somewhere amusing, that didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of this film. I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't have a problem with B&W flicks.

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