Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Blistering performances.

He thinks he's king of the roost, but the queen is really the power behind the throne. Father is William Powell, as far from the delightfully drunken Nick Charles as he can be, and mother is Irene Dunne, whom second to Myrna Loy could be called the woman every man would love to come home to. Yes, mother may be sweet and apparently submissive, but that's only for show. Behind the scenes, mother knows how to work father so she can get him to do precisely as she wants him to do, especially be baptized! She can passively/aggressively manipulate him without his even knowing it, and she sweetly grins in the all-knowing fact that she has him where she wants him and he still thinks he's in control.That's the subject of this delightful version of the longest running play in Broadway history, colorfully made into a film as if it was a Currier and Ives magazine spread come to life. Once you meet father, you can't help but love him in spite of his imperious attitude, so stiff upper lip you'd swear he was British, not a New Yorker. Powell makes his pompous character very relatable, and with the fact that he's basically a fool unknowingly controlled by his wife, that makes for delicious payback. That's why there ended up being a sequel for Broadway called "Life With Mother", because she's really the ruler of the roost, allowing him his pride by making him think he's really the one in command.Powell and Dunne are surrounded by a wonderful cast which includes a very young Elizabeth Taylor as a young lady who visits with Dunne's dizzy aunt (Zasu Pitts) and upsets older son Jimmy Lydon who just doesn't understand women. Martin Milner ("Adam 12") is recognizable instantly as the second oldest son, while Derek Scott and Johnny Calkins round out the roles of the younger children. I couldn't help but find it humorous to imagine Powell's imperious Clarence Day siring children who here are under 10 years old. Powell's imperiousness with his children covers everything from oatmeal to a new suit for the oldest son, and with his wife such trifles as a rubber tree plant and a porcelain dog. The same year he won screen immortality as Santa Claus in "The Miracle on 24th Street", Edmund Gwenn played another spiritual figure, here the Episcopal priest who is aghast by the fact that one of the congregation's top members has refused to be baptized. This makes the plot seem almost absent, but the whole slice-of-life atmosphere is so delightfully presented and charming, you never realize for the most part that you are watching a two hour movie with basically no story. Then, there's the comical subplot of Powell's imperious attitude over the maids who come and go just like Murphy Brown's secretaries decades later. One maid runs out in horror after crashing down a flight of stairs as if she's just encountered Bela Lugosi or Boris Karloff in a darkened corridor.Even with a very serious director (Michael Curtiz) at the helm of this light-hearted picture, everything moves smoothly, and the art direction of the Day house is simply divine. The film also takes the family to the famous Delmonico's Restaurant for a trip into vintage New York high society. Such great character performers as Emma Dunn, Elisabeth Risdon and Clara Blandick pop in for some memorable bits. While the play may not hold up well on stage today, the film takes the audience back to an era of grace and manners long gone from one of the greatest cities in the world.

William Powell as Wall Street broker Clarence Day, a devout Republican, penny-pincher, and eternally-fussy family man in 1880s New York. He's an insufferable prig, the kind of man who refuses to kneel at church and makes maids cry. His lashing out at everyone is supposed to blustery and charming--holding up a 'mirror' to the audience so that we can see what funny fools we all are. This would acceptable if Powell's performance were indeed a hoot but, instead, his Clarence Day is a lead-weight: Ebenezer Scrooge without the benefit of Christmas. Donald Ogden Stewart's screenplay (adapted from the insanely long-running Broadway hit by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, from Day's memoir), is full of big entrances, punched-up laugh lines, and broad exposition. One gets the feeling that Ogden Stewart grew up in the theater and remained there throughout his adulthood. The picture has handsome color, and the casting benefit of a girlish Elizabeth Taylor as a love-interest for Powell's eldest son (whose voice cracks like a 12-year-old's, though the actor portraying him is at least 20). As for Powell, his nasty disposition is finally (and predictably) sentimentalized, as if the ultimate purpose of this piece was simply to melt our hearts. Bah! ** from ****

On a superficial level - and come to think of it there isn't really a deeper one - this is Meet Me In St Louis without the songs and the story tilted towards the parents rather than the children. On the other hand Sally Benson's reminiscences of her life in turn of the century St Louis ran in the New Yorker sans words and music much as Clarence Day's hard-cover reminiscences of his own parents so the comparison holds. The forties were particularly rich in this kind of nostalgia and also included I Remember Mama. All require a certain amount of good will if one is to view them today but those who are able to surrender to the charm on display will be rewarded with a good old-fashioned wallow in a world without angst where a feisty heroine was a shot in the arm that wasn't addictive. Irene Dunne plays against Powell as well as Myrna Loy and trivia buffs will welcome the chance to catch Martin Milner in his debut. A decent print and we'd be off to the races.

I am still looking for a decent (DVD) copy of this film. Beware of Madacy copies, as the sound quality is especially terrible. A company called "Digicom" has recently released a "remastered" version which reportedly is better. Even if WB ever released this film, don't expect perfection. It's a 68 year-old movie. It's William Powell's finest performance and also one of Irene Dunne's best as well. When I first saw this film on T.V. it had been edited for "time." Some of the religious content had been cut. (The "church service" scene is overly long but it's appropriate for the story.) I do not agree with the critical comment that the scenes with Elizabeth Taylor slow down the movie's action. She is quite young (only 15), sweet and adorable in this film. Also missing, on my (poor quality) DVD, is a "silent" line of dialog (spoken by Clarence Jr.) about wearing his dad's suit which "having a mind of its own" would not allow a girl to sit on his lap. Also, the words "Damn It" are missing in some copies! It's in the TCM version and I can't see how this could be offensive to anyone. As suggested by other viewers, until a better DVD is released, this film is best enjoyed on TCM, which runs a 3-strip Technicolor copy made from the 1947 Library of Congress archives. Why can't Warner Bros. print this version, have been broadcast on TCM, shown on Father's Day? Even a DVD-R by WB would be fine, if they mistakenly think there is not enough demand. I would love Blu-Ray!