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Monday, August 3, 2015

Life With Father

Life With Father
TCM viewing

There's a saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. It means that when the stakes are life and death, people are more likely to turn to God for comfort. That might have been true once, back when humans knew little about the world and their place in it, but times have changed, and besides, not everybody worships God in the same way - or at all.

William Powell's character in Life With Father isn't an atheist, but he might be the closest thing to one I've ever seen in a studio-era, Old Hollywood movie which, strictly speaking, isn't that close. It puts him in the ballpark, but he's in the last row of the upper deck in the left field seats. Still, it's surprising how sympathetically he's portrayed.

Powell plays a Teddy Roosevelt-esque patriarch of a turn-of-the-century New York family. Irene Dunne is his devout Episcopalian wife. Powell's character, Clarence Sr., explicitly states that his parents were "freethinkers" (a label often used interchangeably with "atheist") and that they let him decide whether to choose a religious faith or not. He identifies as a Christian, and for the sake of his wife Vinnie (? I guess that's short for something), he attends weekly services with the rest of the family, but he makes it clear that he wishes to worship in his own way, without any undue impositions - such as kneeling.



One of the plot threads in this ensemble comedy involves Vinnie attempting to get her husband baptized so he'll be ensured a seat in heaven. She gets sick at one point, and Clarence, desperate to see his wife get better, entreats God for help, promising he'll get baptized if Vinnie recuperates. (The way he does it is both funny and poignant, bossing God around with his brand of bluster, as if He were one of the many maids Clarence goes through in the story - one more employee not living up to his exacting demands.) She does recover, and he is forced to make good on his promise, though not before a lot of kicking and screaming.

I've never been in a relationship in which this type of incompatibility was a problem, but I think what we should take away from this situation is not anything along the lines of "The Lord worked through Clarence and changed his heart," because at the movie's end, when he's on his way to get baptized, he's still as cantankerous about keeping his promise as he was before, and there's no indication that he has or will become as devout as Vinnie. Rather, I think this speaks more to Clarence's love for his wife - a love that is able to overcome their religious differences.



Clarence and Vinnie seem like a happy couple, despite their occasional bickering, but locked as they are within their societal gender roles, they don't appear to have a great deal in common. The great joke that runs throughout the movie is that he struts and preens around like he's the lord and master of the house, but he's really wrapped around Vinnie's finger, which is consistent with the change of heart he has about getting baptized. 

We don't get a strong sense, however, of where their love for each other comes from. What would make a man like Clarence fall in love with a woman like Vinnie, and make the compromises he has made in his life to accommodate her, such as raising their children within her faith? (We see one of the younger sons practice reciting a catechism, but of course, there's no indication that he understands the deeper, underlying meaning behind the words, nor is any required. I wonder how Clarence feels about that, given his upbringing.) He says something about how lonely he gets without her around, but I suspect there's more to it than that, and I would've like to have seen this explored a little deeper.



So guess who recommended this oneFather is based on a true story, written as a memoir by Clarence Sr.'s son, Clarence Day Jr., which was adapted as a play. Powell earned his third Oscar nomination, and the film led to a short-lived TV show as well. Maybe it was because it was filmed in Technicolor, but the movie reminded me of Meet Me in St. Louis, another color film about a turn-of-the-century family with a red-headed lead character. Indeed, there were lots of moments where I anticipated the characters about to break into song!

The film begins in a unique way, with what looks like a primitive View-Master (anyone else remember those? I used to love playing with them growing up - and they still make them!) showing "slides" of 19th-century New York. No one in the film actually uses this thingamagig, but as a method of easing us into the world of the Day family, it's quite an original touch on director Michael Curtiz' part.



I also loved the way Powell's character is set up. We begin with seeing people on the street talking about Clarence Sr.; we follow the latest in a series of new maids as she's initiated into the Day household, eager to make a good impression on the boss; then we see the family, one at a time, beginning with Dunne's Vinnie. At one point we hear Powell but all we see of him is his shadow at the top of the stairway - very clever! Once all the other family members have taken the "stage," then we finally see Powell.

This may be based on a true story, but I find it hard to believe that the entire Day family were redheads. The maid makes this peculiar hand gesture each time she sees the Day children, redheaded boys all, as if warding off evil spirits. I can only assume that this must have been an aspect of some old-fashioned prejudice. It's never explained. I've known only a few (natural) redheads in my life. The one that sticks out in my mind most is this friend named Michelle that I knew in junior high. Her red hair was short and thick, as I recall. She was very funny, and fairly popular. I have a memory of her singing silly songs from the back of the bus during a school trip. I still think about her every once in awhile.

10 comments:

  1. "Vinnie" is short for "Lavinia". You don't seem to run into many Lavinias these days.

    "Indeed, there were lots of moments where I anticipated the characters about to break into song!" Aha! A musical version of "Life With Father". I wonder no one ever thought of it before.

    Day Jr. described his Father as being an "old testament Christian", which, I guess, would make him Jewish. Beyond Vinnie's devout nature, I imagine Mr. Day saw church much like a part of business or networking. It simply had to be done. I find his reactions to the minister played by Edmund Gwenn are priceless.

    So glad you checked out "Life With Father".

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  2. Lavinia, eh? Must've missed that.

    To be a part of the society he lived and worked in, I imagine you're right and that Clarence Sr. did consider it a necessity. Good point.

    Didn't recognize Santa Claus without his beard at first! I knew he was in this movie but I didn't expect him to look like that.

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  3. I saw this years ago and liked it a lot. I need to revisit it. I don't think I'd seen William Powell in anything but the Thin Man movies when I first watched this.

    I listen to The Thinking Atheist podcast weekly, and I remember an episode about strange superstitions. A red-haired listener emailed in about her grandmother being part of a church that thought that red hair should be covered with a scarf or something (oddly, only for girls and women--male red heads were just fine}. They had the oddball belief that Eve's hair turned red after she sinned for the first time and/or it was the mark of Cain.

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  4. Well, women being the root of all evil, that MUST explain red hair. ((rolls eyes)) I have a vague memory of Ms. Brooks, my 6th grade Language Arts teacher, relating a story about fear of redheads. Wish I could remember what it was...

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  5. As I watched this film shortly after Elizabeth Taylor's death (and at 4am!) I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I normally would. It had funny moments, and William Powell is delightful as always. I just kept waiting for something else to happen, not only the baptism issue. But your discussion of faith is on point here!
    And, oh, I love View-Masters! We still have a couple of them in my house... it's like holding history in your fingertips!
    Cheers!
    Le

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  6. I didn't talk about Liz because her role didn't strike me as anything special. Liz, IMO, doesn't become the Liz that we remember and identify most with until A PLACE IN THE SUN, and that was still four years away. Any other young actress could've played Liz's part.

    ViewMasters are awesome! I wish I still had mine.

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  7. An american actor, William Powell is paired in many films with Myrna Loy.

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  8. I have read “Life With Father,” “Life With Mother” and “God and My Father.” All of the Days WERE redheads. I believe the movie assumes the viewer is familiar with Junior’s slice-of-life-with-father stories, having read the books. What the movie doesn’t reveal is that Clare and Vinnie met years before they were even married, when she was still a girl, and became friends while on a voyage to Europe. Clare fell in love, Vinnie not so much. And he did go to Ohio to “talk her into marrying him” after he found out that a Mr Skinner had proposed marriage to Vinnie.

    I have always loved this movie. I saw it for the first time in 1990 when i was 12 years old, likely it was aired as a tribute to Irene Dunne, who passed away in September of that year. I was so taken with her and her lovely voice, it made me a life-long fan.

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  9. The instrument shown in the opening credits was not a view master. View masters were invented in 1939 and this movie was set in the 1800's. What they used was called a stereoscope. Couldn't you tell it didn't look anything like a viewmaster?

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  10. I didn’t say it was a viewmaster.

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