Merrily we go to hell

Author

Dorothy Arzner

Call Number

• DVD DRAMA (CEN)

Edition

DVD special edition.

Languages

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Performers

Sylvia Sidney, Fredric March, Adrianne Allen, Skeets Gallagher.

Publication Information

[Irvington, NY] : Criterion Collection, [2021]

Physical Description

1 videodisc (83 minutes) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 folded sheet (color illustrations ; 19 cm.)

Audience

Not rated.

Summary

"Addiction, nonmonogamy, and female sexual 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."--Container.

Notes

Based on the story "I Jerry take thee, Joan" by Cleo Lucas.

Originally released as a motion picture in 1932.

Special features: New, restored 4K digital transfer ; Dorothy Arzner: longing for women, a 1983 documentary by Katja Raganelli and Konrad Wickler ; new video essay by film historian Cari Beauchamp.