Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold & Ray Milland, in "Easy Living" (1937) - feat. William Demarest

Описание: J.B. Ball (Edward Arnold ), the third richest banker in America, has a fight with his son John Jr. (Ray Milland). It ends with the son leaving, determined to prove that he can make his own way. Ball becomes infuriated after learning that his wife Jenny (Mary Nash) bought a $58,000 sable fur coat ($1.3M in 2025). Ball grabs the sable coat. Jenny takes it from him, and a chase takes them to the roof of their New York City penthouse. He throws it over the edge.

It lands on Mary Smith (Jean Arthur), riding on a double-decker bus. She returns it, but he tells her to keep it, without telling her how costly it is. He also buys her an expensive new hat to replace the one damaged, causing Van Buren (Franklin Pangborn), the owner of the shop, to mistake her for Ball's mistress. Van Buren loses no time in spreading the word. When Mary shows up for work, her straitlaced boss suspects her of behaving improperly to get a coat she obviously cannot afford and fires her to protect the reputation of the Boy's Constant Companion, the magazine he publishes.

Mary is nearly penniless, but she begins receiving offers from people eager to cash in on her notoriety. Hotel owner Mr. Louis Louis (Luis Alberni) installs her in a luxury suite, hoping that this will deter Ball from foreclosing on his failing establishment.

Mary goes to an automat for a meal, and meets John Jr., who is fired for giving Mary free food. Mary invites him to share her enormous suite while he looks for a new job. They fall in love. Meanwhile, J.B.'s wife goes to Florida, he moves into the Hotel Louis, and reports of a nonexistent affair make their way into gossip columns. The hotel instantly becomes popular with the elite, and various luxury firms begin giving Mary jewelry, clothes, and a car.

Mary's supposed connection to J.B. has disastrous consequences for the stock market. Stockbroker E.F. Hulgar (Andrew Tombes) asks her for inside information about steel from Mr. Ball. The only Ball the confused Mary knows is John Jr., so she consults him. He jokingly tells her it is going down, and she passes this along to Hulgar. As a result, everybody begins selling just as J.B. starts buying, causing his firm to teeter on the brink of bankruptcy.

When Mary, John, and J.B. finally get together and figure out what is going on, John comes up with a bright solution: Mary tells Hulgar that J.B. has cornered the market on steel. Prices shoot up, rescuing the beleaguered financier. The delighted J.B. gives his son a job, and John Jr. asks Mary to be his wife.

A 1937 American Black & White classic screwball comedy film, directed by Mitchell Leisen, produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr., screenplay by Preston Sturges from a story by Vera Caspary, cinematography by Ted Tetzlaff, starring Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, Ray Milland, Luis Alberni, Mary Nash, Franklin Pangborn, William Demarest, Andrew Tombes, Esther Dale, Harlan Briggs, William B. Davidson, Nora Cecil, George Cowl, and Robert Greig. Final screen appearance of Kate Price. Released by Paramount Pictures.

Preston Sturges had signed a deal with Paramount in 1936, and Easy Living was his first assignment for them. Although putatively based on a story by Vera Caspary, Sturges in fact supposedly kept almost nothing of it except the fur coat. When a studio executive rejected the script because "1936 was not the time for comedies", Sturges took the script directly to Mitchell Leisen, of which Sturges said "going to a director over the head of my producer was not a sagacious move."

Many of the supporting players (William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Luis Alberni, Robert Greig, Olaf Hytten, and Arthur Hoyt) became a major part of Sturges' regular stock company of character actors in his subsequent films.

This was the second film written by Preston Sturges that William Demarest appeared in, after "Diamond Jim" (1935), and he would go on to do eight others.

Carl William Demarest (1892-1983), born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, was an American actor, known especially for his supporting roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and as Uncle Charley in the sitcom "My Three Sons" (1965-72). Demarest, who frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles, was a prolific film and television actor, appearing in over 140 films, beginning in 1926 and ending in the late 1970s. Before his career in movies, he performed in vaudeville for two decades.

This film is unrelated to a 1949 RKO drama by the same name.

Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin composed the song "Easy Living", and it has since become a jazz standard, made famous by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and many other jazz singers.

A zany wacky kind of 1930's film. Jean Arthur, Preston Sturges and Mitchell Leisen make a fine, funny screwball comedy. A glaring difference between A movies and B is the quality of the supporting cast, and that difference shows very much here. The supporting cast is superb in adding to and creating mix-ups galore. This is a classic. Brisk and amusing.