Product Details

• Actors: Irene Dunne, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Alice Brady, Guy Kibbee, Jean Dixon
• Directors: Tay Garnett
• Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: RKO RADIO
• DVD Release Date: July 21, 2009
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0029BHMIG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #169,023 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Joy of Living" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Broadway star Maggie Garret sings for her supper. And for everybody else's. She's the meal ticket for relatives who sap her of money and time, rob her of the joy of living. But Maggie's workaday world changes when she meets a carefree millionaire who thinks Maggie is a peach. And her family is the pits.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Forgotten Gem!, January 25, 2010

By 

Bobby Underwood "starlighthotel" (Manly NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joy of Living (DVD)

Though nearly forgotten today, this charming and enjoyable comedy/musical directed by Tay Garnett and starring Irene Dunne and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is a little gem. RKO surrounded this good story by Dorothy and Herbert Fields with top production values and some pleasant songs penned by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields. The story is slight but quite charming and becomes very funny if you stay with it.

Irene Dunne is Margaret Garret, a broadway and radio musical sensation mobbed at every turn by adoring fans. She is rescued from one of these mobs by Daniel Brewster (Fairbanks), a wealthy young shipping tycoon with his own island in the South Seas who has fallen for Margaret from afar. She, of course, promptly has the brash Daniel arrested as a masher! When he brings her to court and the judge is going to give him six months for doing what amounts to nothing, Margaret persuades the judge to go easy on him.

To her dismay, however, the judge uses a little known law to appoint her his probation officer, creating just the opportunity Daniel needs to show Margaret how to have fun. She is all responsibility, supporting a family who have become much too dependent on Margaret and her ten thousand dollar per week salery, which they squander as fast as she can earn it.

Dunne had starred in the best screen version of Show Boat and does a nice job with some very pretty Jerome Kern melodies which include Just Let Me Look at You and You Couldn't Be Cuter. Margaret is saddled with a not so adoring sister and understudy, Salina, chomping at the bit to be in her sister's shoes. Lucille Ball portrays the sister, while Alice Brady and Guy Kibbee offer fine support as her mother and father. Her dad has no end of ingenious methods of sneaking liquor into every container in the house.

Daniel's enthusiasm for living life to the fullest manages to wear down Margaret's defenses in a big way during a night on the town. The ever responsible Margaret gets tight and very irreverent as the two record their own song, have a drinking contest, and a wild time at a rollerskating rink, all which prove to be great fun for fans of 1930's romantic comedy. Fairbanks shows off his special charm and Dunne is a hoot as she constantly reminds everyone who'll listen that she is Margaret Garret and can do as she pleases!

After a few twists and turns, it is obvious to Margaret she will have to choose between her family and her own happiness. The story by Dorothy and Herbert Fields resolves everything quite nicely and the final scene is very enjoyable. Because of the expensive production values RKO poured into this film, it was considered somewhat of a disappointment in 1938, coming as it did on the heels of Dunne's success in The Awful Truth with Cary Grant. Today, however, it is easy to appreciate it for the little gem it is rather than what it is not. A fun and charming little film that deserves a second life on the small screen. A nice surprise for those who haven't seen it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars on the joy of living, November 18, 2001

By 

"starrcharmz" (phoenix, az usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joy of Living [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Quite different from the swashbuckling Fairbanks as he falls for an actress played by Irene Dunne who is supporting a lazy whiny family one of whom is played by Lucille Ball. It could also be called a musical since Irene Dunne sings quite a bit. Douglas Fairbanks is a happy go lucky who shows Irene Dunne the joy of living.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Maggie's got a man in the room!", December 21, 2007

By 

H. Bala "Me Too Can Read" (Just moved to posh Marina Del Rey, CA - where if you drop a quarter, why, you just keep on walking) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joy of Living [VHS] (VHS Tape)

In 1938, one year after the wildly entertaining screwball classic THE AWFUL TRUTH, RKO Radio Pictures released JOY OF LIVING, again starring the very wonderful Irene Dunne. This one was originally called JOY OF LOVING but then was changed when the Hays censor office thought the title too risque. As screwball comedies go, JOY OF LIVING is pretty darn good, if not quite up there in the rarified atmosphere of, say, Libeled Lady, My Man Godfrey - Criterion Collection, My Favorite Wife, and The Awful Truth.

JOY OF LIVING's basic plot revolves around popular radio and Broadway star Margaret Garret (Dunne), who finds herself constantly working in order to keep her selfish, parasitic family in the mellow (even the little twin girls are unadorable). One evening, as Margaret is being mobbed by overly aggresive fans, she's rescued by breezy, rich-as-Croesus playboy Dan Brewster (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.), a man who would change her life. Of course, their first meeting isn't that auspicious, especially for Dan, who ends up being arrested. But, in screwball, as well as in life, what's romance without an obstacle here and there, eh?

Even though Irene Dunne proved to be a very effective dramatic actress (I Remember Mama, Love Affair, Anna and the King of Siam), I truly enjoy her best in her wacky roles. Dunne was a dazzling practitioner in the screwball genre, on equal terms with Jean Arthur and Carole Lombard. Dunne had this knack for going from reserved and sophisticated to gorgeously madcap, but somehow without losing that touch of elegance. Her comic timing was impeccable, with her throaty laugh always tickling my fancy. And she just about equalled Myrna Loy in how she can effortlessly put someone in place with a mere understated look. Now, to tell the truth, I wasn't ever too keen on her operatic style of singing, but, in this film, I ended up relishing her renditions of the very cute "You Couldn't Be Cuter" and that one ballad she hilariously sped thru during a radio broadcast (sorry, can't recall the song title). The music and lyrics, by the way, are respectively by the great Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields.

Plenty of uproarious humor here, what with courtroom shenanigans and revolving door hijinks. But the scenes to really look out for begin with Maggie cautiously sipping from her big mug of beer. Which leads to more sips, progressively less cautious. From then on, for the next 20 minutes or so, it's screwy dame time as Irene Dunne breaks away from the prim and proper and causes havoc in various late evening locales, including memorable sequences in a German beer garden and in an ice skating rink. It's worth noting that, in these moments, with her merry yet subversive "Hyuk, hyuk, hyuks," it's almost as if Dunne had channeled a cartoon character (but an elegant cartoon character). Anyway, it's funny.

I also like Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., frequently an overlooked leading man. Since his go-getting character is the engine which mostly drives the story forward, it's fairly key that the audience like him. And Fairbanks is likable, with his self-effacing but confident personality, his big, affable grin, and his rakishly angled hat. If I had to critique his performance (and I guess I'm gonna), I'd say his Dan Brewster might have been a mite too heavy handed with his "my way or the highway" attitude. But, then again, given the nature of Maggie's relatives and the point Dan was trying to get across to Maggie - that the only resolution is to make a clean break - one might see why he adopted such a posture.

By the way, I've always wondered if Fairbanks actually made those Donald Duck noises. When I first heard them, I was shocked and then I couldn't stop giggling. Oh, that final scene in the ice rink...

Also, it's a testament to just how well the supporting actors played Margaret's foolish, leeching relatives that I gave an enthusiastic fist pump when Margaret finally gave them a dignified but well-deserved dressing down. Her family's just scuzz, man.

In 1938 and with America still in the throes of the Great Depression, movies like JOY OF LIVING were what the audience craved the most, cinematically. JOY OF LIVING has beautiful stars, genuinely funny moments, and even some good songs. The crowds of yesteryear must've gotten a kick out of it. For fans of Lucille Ball, the lovely redhead has a tiny supporting part here, as Maggie's jealous sister and understudy. But this one's strictly Irene Dunne's vehicle, all the way, although Fairbanks gives a capable assist. JOY OF LIVING isn't one of Irene Dunne's best ever comedies, no. But I submit that only THE AWFUL TRUTH, MY FAVORITE WIFE, and THEODORA GOES WILD are better screwballs. The rest of her comedy films are on par with or even inferior to JOY OF LIVING. I mean, this one's got a guy doing Donald Duck impressions, for cripe's sake! That's just ballsy.

Lastly, there really needs to be a dvd collection of Irene Dunne's screwball comedies. I can't be the only one thinking this, right?