Call It a Day

1937 film by Dodie Smith, Archie Mayo

Olivia de Havilland
Ian Hunter
Anita Louise
Alice Brady
Roland Young
Frieda Inescort

CinematographyErnest HallerEdited byJames GibbonMusic byHeinz Roemheld

Production
company

Cosmopolitan Productions

Distributed byWarner Bros.

Release date

April 17, 1937 (1937-04-17)

Running time

90 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Call It a Day is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Olivia de Havilland, Ian Hunter, Anita Louise, Alice Brady, Roland Young, and Frieda Inescort. Based on the 1935 play Call It a Day by Dodie Smith, the film is about a day in the life of a middle-class London family whose lives are complicated by the first romantic signs of spring.^[1]

Plot

As the first day of spring arrives with unseasonably warm weather, the Hilton household is briefly turned upside down. Eldest daughter Cath has fallen hopelessly in love with the married artist painting her portrait, father Roger has his head turned by glamorous film star Beatrice Gwynn when he assists her with her taxes, wife Dorothy has an offer to elope to India with her friend's brother shortly after meeting him and son Martin wants to go motoring around the Continent until he encounters the attractive girl next door. Even youngest daughter Ann has developed an obsession with the Victorian artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. By the end of the day all is righted and a semblance of normality has returned.

Cast

Olivia de Havilland as Catherine 'Cath' Hilton
Ian Hunter as Roger Hilton
Anita Louise as Joan Collett
Alice Brady as Muriel West
Roland Young as Frank Haines
Frieda Inescort as Dorothy Hilton
Bonita Granville as Ann Hilton
Peggy Wood as Ethel Francis
Marcia Ralston as Beatrice Gwynn
Walter Woolf King as Paul Francis
Peter Willes as Martin Hilton
Una O'Connor as Mrs. Milson, the Housekeeper
Beryl Mercer as Mrs. Elkins, the Cook
Elsa Buchanan as Vera, the Maid
Mary Field as Elsie Lester, Roger's Secretary
May Beatty as Frank's Landlady
Sidney Bracey as Flower Shop Owner
Leyland Hodgson as Sir Harold
Robert Adair as Butler
Louise Stanley as Girl on Bus
Clarissa Selwynne as Annoyed Woman in Theater

Production

Soundtrack

"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" (James Kendis, James Brockman, Nat Vincent, John W. Kellette) performed by Ian Hunter
"Isn't It Romantic?" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) performed by Marcia Ralston

Reception

In his May 7, 1937, review, The New York Times' Frank Nugent said that he "enjoyed" the "tolerant and quietly humorous piece", and praised the ensemble cast.^[2] Two months later, writing for Night and Day, Graham Greene gave the film a poor review and complained about the self-sanitized story of temptations rejected in the face of infidelity. Greene also complains of the use of clichéd dialogue, which includes the stale line, "Do you mind if I slip into something more comfortable?" which, Greene adds, "to our astonishment [leads to] the temptress reappear[ing] in just another evening dress."^[3]

References

^ "Call It a Day (1937) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
^ "THE SCREEN; One More Film of a Last Year's Play Comes to Town: This Being 'Call It a Day' at the Capitol". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
^ Greene, Graham (22 July 1937). "Parnell/Call it a Day". Night and Day. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. Oxford University Press. pp. 155–156. ISBN 0192812866.)

External links

Call It a Day at IMDb
Call It a Day on TCM
Call It a Day at AllMovie
1946 Theatre Guild on the Air radio adaptation of original play at Internet Archive