Easy Living (film)

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Easy Living
Directed by	Mitchell Leisen
Produced by	Arthur Hornblow Jr.
Written by	Preston Sturges
Starring	Jean Arthur Edward Arnold Ray Milland Luis Alberni
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	7 July 1937
Running time	88 minutes
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Easy Living (1937) is a screwball comedy film, directed by Mitchell Leisen, written by Preston Sturges, and starring Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, and Ray Milland. Many of the supporting players (William Demerest, Franklin Pangborn, and Luis Alberni) became a major part of Sturges' regular cast of characters in his subsequent films. Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin composed the song "Easy Living" for the film, and it has since become a jazz standard, made famous by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and many other jazz singers..^[1]

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Plot

J.B. Ball (Edward Arnold), the third richest banker in America, becomes infuriated after learning that his wife Jenny (Mary Nash) had bought a $58,000 fur coat without his knowledge. He throws it off his New York City penthouse. It lands on Mary Smith (Jean Arthur) while she is riding to work on a double-decker bus. When she tries to return it, he tells her to keep it (without informing her how valuable it is). He also buys her an expensive new hat to replace the one damaged in the incident, causing her to be mistaken for his mistress. When she 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 begins receiving offers from people eager to cash in on her notoriety. One firm gives her an expensive sixteen-cylinder car, and 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.

When Mary goes to an automat for a meal, she meets John Ball Jr. (Ray Milland), J.B.'s son. He is determined to make it on his own and is working anonymously at the restaurant. However, he is fired for giving Mary free food. When Mary finds out he has no place to stay, she invites him to share her enormous suite while he looks for a new job. They quickly fall in love.

Meanwhile, as time goes on, her supposed connection to J.B has satirically 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 queries him. He jokingly tells her it is going down and she passes it along to Hulgar. As a result, everybody begins selling, just as J.B. starts buying, causing J.B.'s company to totter 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 - getting Mary to tell Hulgar that J.B. has cornered the market. Prices shoot up, rescuing the beleaguered financier.

The delighted father gives his son a job. John then offers Mary a job too: fixing his breakfast every day as his wife.

[edit] Cast

• Jean Arthur as Mary Smith
• Edward Arnold as J.B. Ball
• Ray Milland as John Ball Jr.
• Luis Alberni as Mr. Louis Louis
• Mary Nash as Mrs. Jenny Ball
• Franklin Pangborn as Van Buren, the hat shop proprietor who starts the misunderstanding
• Barlowe Borland as Mr. Gurney
• William Demarest as Wallace Whistling, the gossip columnist who makes Mary famous
• Andrew Tombes as E.F. Hulgar
• Esther Dale as Lillian, J.B.'s secretary

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Easy Living at the TCM Movie Database