"Merrily We Go to Hell"

In some ways, Merrily We Go to Hell" isn't as wild as "The Cheat," its partner on disc 1 of the Universal Pre-Code Hollywood set, and how could it possibly live up to its fantastic title? Merrily we go to hell! What a great phrase.

I can see that title being used today, only instead of a portrait of a marriage suffering from the husband's destructive alcoholism, it would be a zombie movie from some wise-ass 25-year-old film school grad. "We take 'Row, row, your boat," and update it...with ZOMBIES!"

This one is much less violent, with the damage being done to people's feelings...and of course Frederic March's liver. The social ill examined in "Merrily" is alcoholism, which causes March to two-time his wife, played by Sylvia Sidney, and behave in an irresponsible manner including but not limited to public drunkenness on the opening night of his play. At least, the booze is the excuse March gives. Watching the movie play out, I sure get the sense the character is kind of a spineless jerk no matter what, and--not to diminish the nature of addiction in general or this particular condition in particular--he's only too happy to have an excuse to be a simp.

"Merrily we go to hell," is the toast March uses in the film, and unfortunately there aren't as many laughs here as that crazy title suggests. It's quite serious, in fact, though the modern viewer might enjoy counting the number of times March calls Sidney "swell." I'd like to think that back in the early thirties, "swell" was considered a reasonable word in moderation, but thought to cause "excitability" in excess. Maybe when the Code went into effect, someone had to tally the number of "swells" in a given screenplay and haggle with the studio over how many they could use. "We'll let you keep 8 swells, but you have to lose the 'in blazes.'"

March is a newspaperman who wants to be a playwright because, really don't they all? Of course, nowadays a newspaperman will take whatever he can get, but back then, the old maxim was in effect: "Playwrights get all the chicks." Oddly enough, this maxim first appeared IN "Maxim" magazine--the notorious October 1872 issue with Victoria Woodhull on the cover in a skirt that went up to her shins.

I saw March a while back in "There Goes My Heart," and though he was a newspaperman in that one as well, I never bought into his...jauntiness. Here, though, he's outstanding, pulling off the lighter tone of the earlier scenes but also the darkness of the later stages of the story, providing a standout performance and bringing some likability to a frustrating character.

The real star of this show for me, however, is Sylvia Sidney. She's radiant and charming but always credible as the grounded half of her pairing with March. When she exhibits some Pre-Codish behavior by threatening to give March a taste of his own medicine (that's not an alcohol reference--she wants to step out with another guy to get back at her wayward spouse), she displays enough snap for HIS benefit, but shows us enough of the hurt that causes her to do this. She has several great reaction shots that display her pain as she watches Frederic March go down the wrong path. It's a wonderful acting job in which she holds the audience's attention even while there's a showy drunk on the screen. She's amazing to watch here, and let me tell you, as someone who grew up knowing her as Mrs. Carlson on "WKRP," it's sometimes hard to acknowledge her talent in these early roles.

"Merrily We Go to Hell" is a fine movie, full of interesting performances and compelling melodrama. If I had to pick, I'd say it's a "better" movie than its mate on Disc 1 of the Universal Pre-Code set, "The Cheat," though that film is perhaps more entertaining. Both attractions on this double feature are worthwhile, though, and I'm eager to see the other 4 flicks in this impressive collection.