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Above: Joan showing off one of many amazing gowns designed by Adrian.
"I Live My Life" 1935
Cast: Joan Crawford~Brian Aherne~Frank Morgan~Aline MacMahon~Eric Blore~Fred Keating~Jesse Ralph~Arthur Treacher~Hedda
Hopper~Frank Conroy~Etienne Girardot~Edward Brophy~Sterling Holloway~Hilda Vaughn~Vince Barnett~Lionel Stander~Hale Hamilton.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Costumes by Adrian
Box Office Figures for "I Live My Life":
Cost: $586K ~ Domestic Studio Gross: $1,117m.~ Foreign Studio Gross: $557K
Total: $1,478m. / Profit: $384K
If you have seen this movie, please write a review below. Once your review is submitted, I will post the review below.
Thank you for your review on this film.
Reviews
Reviewer: robert.bertrand@wku.edu
Stars: 1 1/2
Review: This is one of Joan's roles that took her out of the shop girl formula at MGM; it was also the beginning of a
successful relationship with writer/producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz. A tag line in the trailer for this film read, "She
lived as many would like to do!' And, its very true.Joan plays Kay Bentley, a spoiled, rich girl whose never had to do any
work or had any real problems. While traveling in Greece with her father (played by Frank Morgan, the Wizard from The Wizard
of Oz), Kay stumbles upon an archeology site and meets Terry ONeill, a hard-working,well-respected archeologist. She flirts
with Terry who is not impressed by Kays money, but is still drawn to her personality. So Kay concocts a lie, telling Terry
that she is not rich and spoiled, but rather the secretary to a wealthy New York businessman. After an afternoon rendezvous,
Terry wants to know where he can find her when he gets back to the States. Kay, uninterested and careless, gives Terry the
name and location of the real secretary. Not long after Kay has returned to her high-society life, Terry comes to her proposing
marriage even after he has found that Kay lied. Kay declines, but her grandmother convinces Terry to stay. Terry continues
to annoy Kay; but finally she falls for him, and the two become engaged. Shortly before the wedding, the couple has a huge
fight, which is quite entertaining to watch. Joan throws a giant fit, running about her room, knocking everything down and
even ripping her wedding dress. But, the boy-gets-girl ending prevails, and the two get married after all.Seeing Joan Crawford
as a spoiled brat did not appeal to audiences very well, especially since everyone was still suffering in the Great Depression.
Theatregoers felt Crawford's character should have been grateful for the beautiful, luxurious life she had. In many scenes,
Kay Bentley deserves a good slap more than anything. However, the picture still made money for the studio, although not as
much as Crawford's other films normally did. Like many of Joan's last pictures at MGM, the film is quite forgettable. But
at least she looks wonderful; gowns by Adrian of course. In fact, some of the styles he put Joan in are very different from
any attire he designed for her. After "I Live My Life," Joan made only one more shop girl picture for MGM; it was
1937's "Mannequin," with Spencer Tracy. For the majority, the rest of Joan's pictures at MGM after "I Live
My Life" were also about wealthy, young ladies in high society, but not spoiled like Kay Bentley.
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