Diagonaldi Very well executed

Executscan Expected more

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Benedito Dias Rodrigues This is delightful customs comedy to be living each single scene,the father is played by William Powell in your best performance ever...which is a kind of impertinent man who live over our rules,he faces every expenses even has been a rich man,but the main problem reachs when your puritan and religious woman discover that him wasn't get the christian baptism until now,so after that she handle in your own terms,became father's life a real nightmare,a real gem of old cinema that still amuzing us with so funny picture!!!!Resume:First watch: 1980 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD-R / Rating: 9

HotToastyRag I used to wonder why William Powell wasn't cast as the grumpy father in Father of the Bride, since he resembled the novel's illustration much more than Spencer Tracy. Maybe he was too likable; maybe he couldn't pull off grumpy and structured, I thought. After watching Life with Father, I stand corrected. William Powell has the market cornered on grumpy and structured. He was even nominated for an Academy Award for this performance! Before we even see him, the audience is exposed to Bill's quirks. The new servant is terrified of making a mistake, since her predecessors usually only last a few days; Irene Dunn walks her through what's expected. The coffee must be piping hot, the muffins must remain in the ceramic container until the last possible moment, the paper must be unwrinkled, the milk gets delivered in a special tin bucket, the stock market must behave itself—and when Bill Powell finally walks on screen, he corrects the foyer clock according to the time on his pocket watch. He complains constantly, berates the servants, criticizes his wife and children, and is downright hostile at the idea of hosting his wife's cousin at their house. The audience is supposed to think he's a terrible beast, especially when he treats Irene with such little respect as they quibble over the household expenses. I saw through it, as I hope many viewers will. This isn't a gruff, abusive man. This is a man trying to uphold the image of "man" in a household of four impressionable sons. In the 1800s, "man" had a very defined role to play. This film shows the difficulties and conflicting emotions involved in maintaining the role.I really love this movie. The oldest son falls in love with a young and beautiful Elizabeth Taylor, and he tries to emulate his father as he realizes he's turning into a man. But when he tries to be gruff and controlling, it backfires. Why can't he act as manly as his father does? The truth: because underneath his exterior, William Powell isn't gruff. He loves his wife more than anything in the world. It really is a touching story.One aspect of the movie might turn some viewers off, but I urge you to keep watching. Bill and Irene constantly argue about religion, and if you're not religious, you might brush the movie off as a "God movie". Just replace it with any other argument in your mind and keep watching the movie. The argument isn't about God, it's about the give and take between husband and wife.Give Life with Father a try. I highly recommend it. And if you like period pieces, it's an excellent portrayal of life in the 1890s. It was nominated for set design and music Oscars, but I think Marjorie Best's costume design should have been honored. The dresses are incredibly beautiful!

evanston_dad I suppose "Life with Father" had two things going for it in 1947: it probably appealed to a war-weary public who responded to a film set in a simpler and saner time, and its gender dynamics might have resonated with a generation of husbands and wives having to deal with men reasserting themselves after relinquishing their duties to women for a period of time. But from the perspective of 2016, this film -- and it pains me to say this given my admiration for William Powell and Irene Dunne -- has virtually nothing to recommend it."Life with Father" is one of the dullest films I've ever seen. It's a one-joke, one-note premise extended over nearly two hours: father is stubborn and clueless, mother pretends to let father have his way while all the time running the house. Over and over and over. Each scene feels interminable. I swear there's a fifteen-minute conversation about buying a new coffee maker. And the mystery is that Powell and Dunne, two of the best comedians of their time, make none of this funny. It is inexplicable to me, on the basis of this film adaptation, that this thing ran on Broadway for so many years.I don't think it's just a matter of this film being made in a different time. I think it's just not good. "Meet Me in St. Louis," which came out three years earlier, is very similar in many ways, a colorful film that evokes an earlier, happier time. It even has a gruff father who everyone tiptoes around in order to get what they want. But that film is tremendously entertaining and heartfelt, whereas "Life with Father" feels like a desultory slog.Powell undeservedly received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, while the film also garnered nominations for its color art direction and cinematography and its Max Steiner score. It won no awards, and didn't deserve to.Grade: D

jotix100 The Day residence on Madison Avenue in the 1880s was dominated by the larger than life figure of Clarence Day, a man with strong opinions, likes and dislikes. However, it was Vinnie, his intelligent wife, the one that kept everything under control. One of the problems the family faced was the constant turnover of maids, mostly Irish girls, that kept arriving and departing at a rapid speed for Mr. Day to remember their names.The visit of Vinnie's cousin Cora, and her young companion, Mary Skinner, on their way to see relatives in Ohio, marks an important milestone in the Day household. It is Mary Skinner, the beautiful girl, that gets a confession from the senior Clarence to admit he was never baptized, something that creates a stir in Vinnie's mind. She goes on a crusade to bring her husband to be finally christened."Life with Father" was a theatrical hit written by Lindsay Crouse and Howard Lindsay, when it ran on Broadway. The screen adaptation was by Donald Ogden Stewart, a fine writer himself, who transferred the play into an enjoyable film. Thanks to the keen eye of Michael Curtiz, a genial director, the life of the Day family was captured forever for audiences that will delight when watching this glimpse of New York life in those days.William Powell made a perfect Clarence Day. His take on this pompous and prissy man were what the character needed. Mr. Powell was one of the best comedy actors of his generation as he proves it in this movie. Irene Dunn's Vinnie was a perfect approach to a no nonsense woman who had to run a large household and deal with the somewhat demanding husband she was married to. Vinnie had her own ways to soften her husband using her extreme common sense.The supporting cast was excellent. The radiantly beautiful Elizabeth Taylor appears as Mary Skinner, the visitor that falls for the oldest son, Clarence Jr., and manages to set things in motion. Zazu Pitts is seen as cousin Cora. Edmund Gwenn is the family's Episcopalian minister. Jimmy Lidon played Clarence Jr. A delightful comedy that still pleases audiences looking for a wholesome time with a movie.