Made in 1932 by Dorothy Arzner, the lone female Hollywood film director at the time, Merrily We Go to Hell offers a caustic view of a marriage destroyed by substance abuse. Alcoholic journalist Jerry Corbett (Fredric March) meets spunky Joan Prentice (Sylvia Sidney) at a party. Naïve, sheltered, and the only child of a rich father (George Irving), Joan is quickly smitten, but dad is dubious, withholding both his approval (and money) after Jerry repeatedly misses social engagements due to his drinking.
The unwaveringly loyal Joan nevertheless stands by her man, even when he is too inebriated to stand by himself, tying the matrimonial knot and encouraging Jerry to pursue his dream of becoming a playwright. A newly sober Jerry eventually sells his first play, only to discover that the old flame who initially drove him to drink a few years back—the selfishly ambitious Claire Hempstead (Adrianne Allen)—has been cast as the leading lady.
Before long, Jerry is not only back on the sauce, but spending the night at Claire’s as the troubled Corbetts decide to live in an open marriage (seen briefly, one of Joan’s nightlife male escorts is played by Cary Grant). As a pre-Code film, Merrily We go to Hell—an accurate refrain often uttered by Jerry or Joan—addresses subjects such as female sexuality and alternatives to monogamy with a freedom that would soon disappear. And it benefits from strong performances by March (who would win an Oscar for playing a similar character in 1937’s A Star Is Born) and Sidney (with her painful smile-through-her-tears close-ups).
Based on Cleo Lucas’s 1931 novel I, Jerry, Take Thee, Joan, this is a solid melodrama that takes a mature look at a loving relationship shot to hell by booze. Extras include Katja Raganelli and Konrad Wickler’s 1983 documentary Dorothy Arzner: Longing for Women, a new video essay by film historian Cari Beauchamp, and a leaflet with an essay by film scholar Judith Mayne. Recommended.