Customer Reviews

I Live My Life [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Joan plays Kay, a devil-may-care New York debutante who is mired in ennui. She travels to Greece and meets Aherne, a bright archaeologist with naught but disdain for the society crowd. Aherne, however is taken with Kay's flirtatious ways and follows her back to the States where he finds himself totally out of place with the hedonistic circle of friends Crawford introduces him to. However, Kay's grandmother (Jessie Ralph) takes a shine to Aherne, thinking he may be just the ticket to take Crawford out of her dissolute life... The fairly witty script was written by Joseph Mankiewicz and Van Dyke's brisk direction gives the film a snappy pace. Stylish, chic, and often witty, I LIVE MY LIFE is typical of the Crawford pictures of the era as they parade her in several sophisticated outfits, give her some sharp lines to say and let her nibble - not chew - the scenery.

Joan Crawford plays Kay Bentley, a spoiled rich girl who meets archaeologist Terry O'Neill, played by Brian Aherne when she falls into his dig site, while catching a breather off her family's yacht in Greece. Terry has a problem with bored society girls like Kay, so she presents herself to him as a secretary working for the wealthy family on board the yacht. As quick as can be expected in a 97 minute film, Kay goes back to her life, with Terry following her to New York and accepting a position in her family's company as a Vice President and finding out right before the wedding that executive life is not for him. His fight with Kay prompts her to go about destroying her bedroom and (gasp!) her pristine white wedding gown. They make an "only in the movies" agreement that, to save face, Terry will show up at the church the next day, only to be stood up by Kay. However, Kay has a change of heart overnight and shows up anyhow, in a quickly mended dress (it's amazing what fresh flowers can do)and while the couple bicker in front of the priest and assembly, they do end up married. Although you have to wonder how long this union will last.
Crawford is lovely, her outfits are wonderful eye candy and she appears to be having a joyous time on this picture. Brian Aherne is so good as Terry, in addition to being a nice looking guy, that it makes you question why he never became a star.
Jessie Ralph in the role as Kay's crotchety old grandma, who would make Hitler run in fear, is great entertainment.
All in all, a nice, frothy, bubbly glass of 1930s champagne.

"I Live My Life" is one of Joan's very best love stories from the 1930's. Joan plays Kay Bently, a socialite who tries to make a relationship with an archaeologist. I really like this movie because although it is similar to those typical love-story/love-triangles that MGM/Joan did, it also seems unique and very original. The performances by all are second to none. This movie came out 4 months after Joan's other picture from 1935, the hard-to-find, "No More Ladies." You really must see this movie if you have any interest in Joan Crawford or classic pictures.

I LIVE MY LIFE is a comedy that is just a hairsbreath from the darkness that accompanies the gloominess of stark drama. Director W. S. Van Dyke tells the tale of Kay (Joan Crawford), a rich and spoiled heiress who saunters off to Greece and meets a solid down to earth archaeologist Terry O'Neill (Brian Aherne) who promptly falls for Kay but despises her snooty upper class elitism. Much of the film's comedy revolves around his being the poor fish out of water trying to survive in an elaborate fishbowl of luxury. There are several scenes that show Terry trying mightily to fit in but failing miserably. He is promoted to a vice president of his future mother-in-law's firm and on his desk is a series of buttons, none of which he understands but all of which he pushes to admit a wave of toadying underlings. Crawford handles her share of the comedy with skill but her very ability to emote comedy arises from her talent to show that the snobbery that Terry thinks is ubiquitous in her world is not simply in his overworked imagination. Kay loves him but she has no problem dumping him when she realizes that her marriage may result in her father's disinheritance from a mean grandmother, well played by Jessie Ralph. There is more than a small amount of the serious business of two persons contemplating marriage who know that the social divide between them is huge and may be insurmountable. Everyone involved tells both Kay and Terry that their marriage is doomed. Kay tells Terry so and he returns the sentiment. But all this undertow of realism is kept in the background by a steady string of wit and verbal comebacks that serve to remind us that this film belongs in the light and frothy world of romantic comedy. I LIVE MY LIFE is not Crawford at her edgiest. Here her talent is subordinated to delivering a message that true love can indeed win out even against insuperable odds. And that keeps it firmly in the realm of comedy.