Easy Living (1937)

Director:

Mitchell Leisen

Writers:

Preston Sturges (screenplay)
Vera Caspary (story)

Release Date:

16 July 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

It's dizzy - it's daffy, It's cockeyed - it's laughy! (original poster)

Plot:

J.B. Ball, a rich financier, gets fed up with his free-spending family. He takes his wife's just-bought...

Plot Keywords:

Financier | Sable | Butler | Gift | Automat

Cast

Jean Arthur	...	Mary Smith
Edward Arnold	...	J.B. Ball
Ray Milland	...	John Ball Jr.
Luis Alberni	...	Mr. Louis Louis
Mary Nash	...	Mrs. Jenny Ball
Franklin Pangborn	...	Van Buren
Barlowe Borland	...	Mr. Gurney
William Demarest	...	Wallace Whistling
Andrew Tombes	...	E.J. Hulgar
Esther Dale	...	Lillian
Harlan Briggs	...	Mr. Higginbottom - Office Manager
William B. Davidson	...	Mr. Hyde
Nora Cecil	...	Miss Swerf
Robert Greig	...	Graves - J.B. Ball's Butler
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stanley Andrews	...	Police Captain Jackson (uncredited)
Gertrude Astor	...	Saleswoman (uncredited)
Richard Barbee	...	Third Partner (uncredited)
Benny Bartlett	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
Wilson Benge	...	Neighboring Butler (uncredited)
Lee Bowman	...	Motorcycle Policeman (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey	...	Hornsby - Mary's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Don Brodie	...	Automobile Salesman (uncredited)
Ethel Clayton	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Dora Clement	...	Saleslady (uncredited)
Lois Clinton	...	Brunette Woman (uncredited)
Elsa Connor	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
George Cowl	...	Bank President (uncredited)
Virginia Dabney	...	Blonde Woman (uncredited)
Hal K. Dawson	...	Jeweler (uncredited)
Vernon Dent	...	First Partner (uncredited)
John Dilson	...	Nervous Hotel Registrant (uncredited)
Florence Dudley	...	Cashier (uncredited)
Harold Entwistle	...	Elevator Man (uncredited)
Amelia Falleur	...	Housemaid (uncredited)
Jesse Graves	...	Graves - J.B. Ball's Porter (uncredited)
Hal Greene	...	Bellhop (uncredited)
Robert Homans	...	Private Guard (uncredited)
Arthur Hoyt	...	Jeweler (uncredited)
Helen Huntington	...	Stenographer (uncredited)
Marsha Hunt	...	Girl Getting Coat Dropped on Her at Finale (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten	...	Houseman (uncredited)
Adia Kuznetzoff	...	Bum (uncredited)
Kathleen Hope Lewis	...	Stenographer (uncredited)
Nick Lukats	...	Bum in Automat (uncredited)
John Marshall	...	Osric (uncredited)
Lu Miller	...	Housemaid (uncredited)
Rex Moore	...	Elevator Boy (uncredited)
Frances Morris	...	Assistant Secretary (uncredited)
Bob Murphy	...	Automat Detective (uncredited)
Forbes Murray	...	Husband (uncredited)
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Office Manager (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Hotel Detective (uncredited)
John Picorri	...	Ernest (uncredited)
Kate Price	...	Laundress (uncredited)
Jack Raymond	...	Bum (uncredited)
Jack Rice	...	Man in Ball's Outer Office (uncredited)
Hector Sarno	...	Armenian Rug Salesman (uncredited)
Francis Sayles	...	Martin - Houseman (uncredited)
Leonid Snegoff	...	Chef (uncredited)
Edwin Stanley	...	Second Partner (uncredited)
Hayden Stevenson	...	Chauffeur (uncredited)
Bernard Suss	...	Man in Automat (uncredited)
Laura Treadwell	...	Wife (uncredited)
William Wagner	...	J.B. Ball's Valet (uncredited)
Gloria Williams	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Florence Wix	...	Woman in Hat Shop (uncredited)
Harry Worth	...	Hindu Man on Bus (uncredited)

Directed by
Mitchell Leisen

Writing credits
Preston Sturges		(screenplay)
Vera Caspary		(story)

Produced by
Arthur Hornblow Jr.	....	producer
William LeBaron	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Friedrich Hollaender		(uncredited)
Gordon Jenkins		(uncredited)
Gregory Stone		(uncredited)
Victor Young		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Ted Tetzlaff		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Doane Harrison

Art Direction by
Hans Dreier
Ernst Fegté

Costume Design by
Travis Banton

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Edgar Anderson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
A.E. Freudeman	....	interior decorator

Sound Department
Earl S. Hayman	....	sound recordist (as Earl Hayman)
William Thayer	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	special photographic effects

Music Department
Boris Morros	....	musical director
Milan Roder	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Adolph Zukor	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1937) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1937) (Austria) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Pictures (1958) (USA) (TV)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #3401) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Finland:S

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:

Van Buren: Where-ever there's smoke, there must be... somebody smoking.

Sentiment plus Sophistication

One of the best film moments of the 1930s occurs just after the beginning of the film when wealthy J. B. Ball, exasperated by his spoiled family's spending habits, tosses the wife's new sable coat from a window high in their 5th Avenue mansion. As if with a mind set on its own destiny, the falling coat spreads out on the air and lands like an enchanted parachute on the head of the Mary Smith, the working girl who will be our main character (Jean Arthur), and who is riding on the upper deck of a double-decker bus. What is a double-decker doing in New York City? No one asks; the coat just does its magic and the enchanted plot is underway. Best of all, screenwriter Sturges balances the magic and sentimentality with his usual crisp, witty, no-nonsense approach to dialogue and character. This "yin / yang" harmony is similar to what he achieved in directing "Sullivan's Travels."