Easy Living

Director: Jacques Tourneur, Adam Keleman Jacques Tourneur

Overview

In the film based on a story by Irwin Shaw, a has-been football player (Victor Mature) tries to adjust to normal life but finds his progress impeded by his wife (Lizabeth Scott) and secretary (Lucille Ball).

Product Details

Release Date:	05/17/2012
UPC:	0883316486429
Original Release:	1949
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:17:00
Sales rank:	46,512

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Victor Mature	Pete Wilson
Lizabeth Scott	Liza Wilson
Lucille Ball	Anne
Lloyd Nolan	Lenahan
Sonny Tufts	Tim "Pappy" McCarr
Paul Stewart	Dave Argus
Jack Paar	Scoop Spooner
Jeff Donnell	Penny McCarr
Art Baker	Howard Vollmer,Actor
Gordon Jones	Bill Holloran
Don Beddoe	Jaegar
Richard Erdman	Buddy Morgan
William 'Bill' Phillips	Ozzie
Charles Lang	Whitey
Kenny Washington	Benny
Julia Dean	Mrs. Belle Ryan
Everett Glass	Virgil Ryan
Jim Backus	Dr. Franklin
Michael St. Angel	Gilbert Vollmer
Alex Sharp	Don
Russell Thorson	Hunk Edwards
June Bright	Billy Duane
Eddie Kotal	Curley
Audrey Young	Singer
Dick Ryan	Bartender
Los Angeles Rams	Themselves
Steve Crandall	Reporter
Alan Dinehart III	Urchins
Ray George	Referee
William Erwin	Man
Carl Saxe	Man
Jackie Jackson	Actor
Erin Selwyn	Nurse
Albin Robeling	Chef
W.J. O'Brien	Vendor
Gene Leslie	Vendor
Robert Graham	Actor
Audrey Wilder	Singer
McCaleb Burnett	Actor
Caroline Dhavernas	Actor
Elizabeth Marvel	Actor
Charlie Hofheimer	Actor
Jen Richards	Actor
Daniel Eric Gold	Actor
Lynne McCollough	Actor
Robert Ellis	Urchin
John Alban	Actor
Leon Alton	Actor
Roy Webb	Composer

Technical Credits

Charles Schnee

Irwin Shaw

Jacques Tourneur	Director
Charles Schnee	Screenwriter
Robert Sparks	Producer
Adam Keleman	Director
Irwin Shaw	Screenwriter
Clem Portman	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
A. Wolcott	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Easy Living tries so hard to be a really good little drama that one might be tempted to overlook its flaws -- in the end, however, it gets more points for ambition than for achievement. Vera Caspary and Charles Schnee's screenplay has some good things in it, and its focus on a professional athlete undergoing both a personal and professional crisis is fairly rare, but on the whole, the script flirts with this situation without really unearthing the real drama at its core. Victor Mature turns in a good, strong performance, but he doesn't dig as deeply into the character as is demanded, and he has a hard time holding the screen when Lizabeth Scott -- in a wonderfully icy performance -- is playing opposite him. He has an easier time opposite Lucille Ball, whose understated, delicate performance is especially fine and seems to draw forth a deeper performance from Mature. Jacques Tourneur's direction is subtle and balanced, and he makes some nice observations about life in 1949. One watches Easy Living, enjoying it and expecting it to make the leap from average little melodrama to something just a little bit special -- but the film disappoints by never quite doing so.