Death Takes a Holiday (1934)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Mitchell Leisen

Writers:

Alberto Casella (play)
Walter Ferris (English adaptation of play)

Release Date:

30 March 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Fantasy

Tagline:

HE LIVED FOR THREE DAYS...AND LOVED FOREVER! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Death decides to take a holiday from his usual business to see what it is like to be a mortal. Posing as Prince Sirki...

Plot Keywords:

Prince | Death | Holiday | Guest | Love

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Fredric March	...	Prince Sirki / Death
Evelyn Venable	...	Grazia
Guy Standing	...	Duke Lambert (as Sir Guy Standing)
Katharine Alexander	...	Alda, La Contessa di Palma
Gail Patrick	...	Rhoda Fenton
Helen Westley	...	Stephanie
Kathleen Howard	...	Princess Maria
Kent Taylor	...	Corrado
Henry Travers	...	Baron Cesarea
G.P. Huntley	...	Eric Bagley (as G.P. Huntley Jr.)
Otto Hoffman	...	Fedele - the Butler (as Otto Hoffmann)

Also Known As:

Strange Holiday (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | USA:Unrated

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Quotes:

Death: There is something about me that men fear and that makes them cling to their existence. I must find out what it is.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "M*A*S*H: Death Takes a Holiday (#9.5)" (1980)

Soundtrack:

String Quartet In G Minor, Op.10: III

Dark and Romantic

I have watched this movie many times over the years and I continue to love it, even more than the remake `Meet Joe Black' with Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins (On it's own a great movie with wonderful actors).

However, In this original movie, `Death Takes A Holiday' the title role is played by the incredibly talented Fredric March, as he portrays an intensely charismatic Death/Prince Sirki. Here you will find an innocent, charming stranger who is learning from his host and the guests surrounding him yet is also imparting his own knowledge and wisdom.

The path Death has taken is a journey in which all of us partake. What makes us human? What brings us joy and happiness in this lifetime? All that Death has ever seen of our world is fear as he greets those who enter his world. So, he enters our world to see and feel what more there is to our existence. In fact, we could learn a great deal from the character Death, for he reminds us of that which we take for granted in this life, and is denied to him as Death.

`Death Takes A Holiday' may seem dark and forbidding but it is filled with hope that is encouraging; and love which should follow us past this life and into the next.