A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.
- Nominated for 4 Oscars
- 2 wins & 4 nominations total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBefore filming began, the cast was taken to Perc Westmore's salon on a Sunday morning to have their hair dyed red. When it was time to rinse the dye, the beauticians discovered that the water had been turned off for the entire block because the street was being repaired. Because dyes were so strong then, leaving them on could have caused the cast to lose their hair. Luckily, someone suggested diluting the dye with cold cream.
- GoofsClarence Jr. tells Whitney some baseball news about the New York Giants. In 1883, the team was called the New York Gothams, changing to the Giants in 1885.
- Quotes
Vinnie: Is that suit of your father's too tight for you?
Clarence Day: No, it's not too tight.
Vinnie: Well, what is it?
Clarence Day: Mother, very peculiar things have happened since I started to wear this suit. I can't seem to make these clothes do anything Father wouldn't do.
Vinnie: Oh, that's nonsense. And not to kneel in church is a sacrilege.
Clarence Day: Making Father's trousers kneel seemed like more of a sacrilege.
- Crazy creditsAlthough William Powell is listed first and Irene Dunne is listed second in the viewed print on AMC, half of the actual prints listed Dunne first and Powell second. Not only did each version alternate daily in theaters, but so did the advertisements of the movie in newspapers.
- ConnectionsEdited into Your Afternoon Movie: Life with Father (2022)
- SoundtracksSweet Marie
(1893) (uncredited)
Music by Raymon Moore
Lyrics by Cy Warman
Sung by Irene Dunne and William Powell
The story is simple: Powell and his wife, played by Irene Dunne, face a series of calamities, some serious and some ridiculous, mostly brought on by their four rambunctious, red-headed sons. After a visiting cousin brings along fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Taylor, events are put into motion which threaten to turn Powell's neatly-ordered world upside down.
The performances are uniformly fine, and Powell and Dunne are absolutely sterling. A supporting cast that includes Zasu Pitts, Edmund Gwenn and early appearances from Martin Milner and Elizabeth Taylor round out the picture quite well. If there is anything to detract from the complete enjoyment of the film, it is Taylor's performance, which can get grating, but hey, she's just a kid, and when you look at her, you can already see the amazing beauty still to come. The exceptional visual style of the film makes you long for the day when people rode in horse-carts to Delmonico's for dinner.
Watch for some classic dialogue between Powell and Dunne over the cost of a new coffee pot, between Powell and his son about "the facts of life where women are concerned," and the nonsensical wordplay over the return of a Porcelain Pug-Dog.
- Profplum-3
- Oct 15, 1999
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Clarence Day's Life with Father
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $4,700,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1