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Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) rated Merrily We Go to Hell (1932) in Movies

Sep 3, 2020 (Updated Sep 3, 2020)  
Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)
Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)
1932 | Classics, Comedy, Drama
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Pre-code (4 more)
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Skeet Gallagher as Buck, the sidekick
Florence Britton as Charlcie, the female sidekick
Directed by female director Dorothy Arzner
No relationship development between the male and female protagonists. (0 more)
Contains spoilers, click to show
It was an important movie of its time. It is a pre-code movie so it was able to get away with sins such as alcoholism and infidelity of husbands AND wives without making them pay in the end.

Sylvia Sidney plays Joan Prentice, the daughter of the president of Prentice coffee and Fredric March plays Jerry Corbett, a newspaperman who wishes to be a playwright. They meet at a society party where she is trying to ignore the advances of a very handsy older man and he is on the terrace drunk and drinking even more. She somehow finds him charming and he finds her "swell." They make a date to meet up again and romance follows. I mean, allegedly follows though it seems like a huge plot point to me what they see in each other and what kind of substance their relationship has. I've never been a very romantic person but even this seems terribly lacking to me.

Skeets Gallagher plays the sidekick Buck and he's worth his weight in gold. He a drinking buddy and scenes with him often start with the camera panning him tap dancing from behind. He's sweet, sympathetic, charming, and adorable and brings so much life to the role and film. Florence Britton plays the female sidekick to Fredric March's Jerry Corbett and is a bold lady, and kind. She and Buck are so much fun and not sloppy drunk like Corbett. I would much rather watch a movie with the two of them.

Sylvia Sidney, the female protagonist was bold and determined. After her husband cheats on her with his former wife, she goes out to have a little fun, too. She gets tired of her husband's constant drunkenness and leaves him. He seems to come to his senses at the end of the movie and goes to her. Spoiler alert: she is in the hospital having delivered their baby. He didn't know she was pregnant and only learned about the baby after reading the birth announcement in the newspaper. This is a premonition of things to come once the code comes into play as any sin must be paid for with a person's ruin or death. However, it ends on a happy note that their marriage will be better and that they are hopeful for the future.

* Watch for Cary Grant in one of his earliest roles as the male lead in the period drama play towards the end of the film.
  
Troubled Skies (Blue Skies #3)
Troubled Skies (Blue Skies #3)
Marie Sinclair | 2025 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
TROUBLED SKIES is the third and final book in the Blue Skies trilogy, but the first one I have read. Did I need to read the first two? No, but now I definitely want to.

You know how sometimes, you just want a nice, easy book to whisk you away to a different world from the one you currently live in? Well, that was me, and this book came up on my TBR list at just the right time.

It begins pretty angsty - Ricky is in an Air Traffic accident and ends up in hospital. Not only that, but he's also peeved about his friends finding love (it's reasonable, sort of, trust me!), AND gets kicked out of his home by a landlord that isn't worth the time on the page. So, he does what any reasonable person would do... he splurges his life savings on a ticket to Ibiza and uses his middle name, Adrian, instead of Ricky. Of course, that would work better if he didn't have to board a plane to get to Ibiza. No, scrap that - two planes! Luckily for him, Ren is on hand to help his nerves.

This book had me from the very beginning. No, I don't 100% know why Ricky was so peeved, but the explanations given in the book make perfect sense. The fact that he wanted to get away also makes sense. And Ren... ah, what can I say? I loved him from the very beginning. Okay, maybe not the VERY beginning, but as soon as he meets Adrian, definitely. I also loved how they both had their worries about how this would work in the future, but that didn't stop them from enjoying the time they had.

Ren is the more steadfast character out of the two, which was surprising considering his playboy prince persona. I loved how he did everything he could to ease Adrian's life (when Adrian would let him!) and show him different things. Honestly? If Adrian had asked for the sun, Ren would have been on the phone to someone to figure out how to make it happen. And while Ren was my favourite, I also understood how Adrian felt. Bless him, it was all a bit much after everything he'd been through.

A light-hearted, somewhat low-level angsty, and oh-so romantic story. Just what I need and absolutely 100% adored - of course I recommend it!

ps - Did Sheila survive? My mind won't let it go!!!

** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Sep 8, 2025