The video reviews the Blu-ray release of the pre-code film 'Merrily We Go'.
Pastor Jay discusses the film's gripping drama and its portrayal of a reporter struggling with alcoholism.
The review highlights the film's restoration in 4K and the bonus features included in the Criterion Collection release.
The video recommends the film for fans of early cinema and pre-code films, but warns that it may not be suitable for those looking for a lighthearted film.
Greetings, classic cinema and TV fans. This is Pastor Jay here with you once again, and here with another Silver Screen Spotlight. Today we're talking about a brand new release from Criterion Collection. This one is entitled Merrily We Go. All right. Very interesting film. We're going to call it Merrily for time purposes here. But anyway, Merrily is an interesting film from director Dorothy Arzner. Now, this was a pre-code film. Now, for those of you that may not understand what pre-code is, A pre-code for movies in the early time of cinema was a time when the code came in. The code was like standard in practices. The motion picture industry put in certain things that you could do and things you couldn't do. And you had to submit your film and had to pass that before it can be released. And it was really an interesting time. So this was a pre-code film, so more or less things were allowed to go through. This was a very, very gripping drama. It starred Frederick March and Sylvia Sidney. Now, Frederick March was amazing, an amazing character actor. He was in so many amazing films, playing historical characters, and probably one of my favorites was his take on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Unbelievable. Just an amazing actor And here he this film Merrily is really really interesting because it deals with actual things that for the time were very very taboo shall we say okay Okay, Frederick Marsh here plays a reporter and a wannabe screenwriter or playwright, if you will. And he wants to write plays. He wants to do that, but he has to report because that's all he, you know, he can't get clear to do it because he also has a very, very, very bad problem. His problem is that he's an alcoholic. and he drinks because of the fact that he lost his first love, kind of pushed her away and has never recovered from that. So the idea here is really, really a gripping drama. One night at a drunken party, he's drank too much again, he meets an heiress and they kind of fall in love and they get married and she tries to help him discover his ability to write that play. And the only problem is the pull of alcohol just keeps pulling him away and it causes more tension and more stuff. It is just a very, very gripping, gripping drama. I mean, wow. Dorothy Arzner really put together an amazing film. It is she was a pioneer you know directing films in this film 1932 that not heard of you know female directors now are a little more you know it more of a thing But in the 30s that was very very very strange Very, very, you know, studios didn't give women a chance in those days. And so to have a woman that was so well known as a director is a pretty amazing thing. and to do a film like this is really something. Now let's jump into the Criterion Collection Blu-ray itself. Merrily is very, very cool. Love this artwork here. This artwork is so very cool and we're going to share something with you in just a second about that artwork. But Merrily comes on one Blu-ray disc, okay? And on this, the on-disc bonus features are pretty cool. This film has been restored in 4K. Unbelievable. And let me tell you, this thing looks beautiful. It's amazing. It's really gorgeous. we get a 1983 documentary about Dorothy Arnsner which is very very cool you get kind of a video essay from film historian Carrie Beauchamp you get always a bonus which I love is the English subtitles for the deaf and hard and hearing I love that and uh and then for the actual bonus the um the cover art here is very very cool well look at what they did they gave us an insert in this thing and look at this this is so very cool you get that cover art there in kind of a poster format I love that Look at that artwork That is just gorgeous It is beautiful artwork. I mean, wow, is that awesome or what? That's just gorgeous. Included in this is a written essay, a little article by Judith Main. and then we get things about the transfer and all kinds of stuff like that. Very, very cool stuff. So yeah, I just had to tell you this is an amazing, amazing little pre-code film and if you're a fan of those early cinema films, pre-code films, Merrily is definitely one you're going to want to check out. Definitely check it out from Criterion Collection. You can go to Criterion.com and pick up a copy. I think you'll be really, really surprised at the quality of the film. It is very emotional, so it's not for everybody. If you love to laugh and have fun with your films, this is probably not going to be for you. But if you love those really human dramas, this is an amazing one. So definitely check it out. Merrily from Criterion Collection, definitely worth checking out. You can check out our full written review at retroac.blogspot.com. And we want to thank Criterion Collection for sending this our way. We appreciate it so very much so that we could share it with you. All right, until we see you next time with another video, this is Pastor Jay wishing you a blessed day, and we will see you next time. Be sure to like, share, and subscribe, and we will see you next time. Bye. you
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