Released by Universal-International and written & directed by the
show’s creator, Irving Brecher, The Life of Riley is a textbook example
of how to make a really great old-time radio related film. The movie
never takes a false step; it’s both well-written and well-paced, its 87-minute
running time moving along at a breezy, entertaining clip with no padding
whatsoever. Best of all, it takes characters from what I freely admit is your
typical farcical sitcom and fleshes them out into three-dimensional human
beings; it blends laugh-out-loud comedy with bittersweet poignancy to boot.
Chester A. Riley (William Bendix), devoted and loving husband of wife
Peg (Rosemary DeCamp) and father to Babs (Meg Randall) and Junior (Lanny Rees),
is determined to advance from his lowly position as riveter for the Stevenson
Aircraft Company after being humiliated in front of Sidney Monahan, an
acquaintance of the Rileys from Brooklyn (and Peg’s ex-beau). Riley’s boss
(William E. Green) has planned to promote Riley to plant foreman as a reward
for Riley’s hard work, but his son Burt (Mark Daniels), in debt to a gambler,
schemes to have Riley made into an executive—that way, he can get Babs to marry
him and he can get at his trust fund. Riley figures out what the son is up to
and calls off the wedding, allowing his daughter to marry her true love
(Richard Long).
What impressed me the most about this movie was its maturity; the
theme of the film centers on career advancement and the achievement of “the
American Dream.” Riley’s a blue-collar lug, a little dumb perhaps, but he works
hard to get ahead and is crushed that he’s unable to provide a better life for
his family. His promotion to executive has him walking on a cloud—even his
co-workers congratulate him on one of their own “making good”—but then when
people start to believe that the only reason for his advancement is because his
daughter is getting hitched to the boss’ son, they turn their backs to him and
it really tears him up inside. Babs has offered to marry Burt because she
doesn’t want to see her father and mother slide back downward (with Riley’s
promotion, he’s able to put a down payment on their house and get Peg that
wedding ring she’s always wanted), but Riley refuses to jeopardize her
happiness for a life of ease, and announces that he’d rather remain
poor—prompting his boss to remark, “Riley—you’re the richest man I
know.”
I’ve stated previously in many a blog entry how much of a fan I am of
William Bendix, especially in films like The Glass Key (1942)
and Detective Story
(1951)—but his portrayal of Riley continuously sticks out in my mind. I know
that the show had a paint-by-the-numbers quality to it, but there was something
about Bendix that really made Riley endearing—here you had this big mule-headed
brute whose stubbornness masked a tender, sensitive side. On radio, television,
and especially this film—he is simply terrific; he's sensational at using humor
as a lemon to cut the occasional sweetness. Rosemary DeCamp (an OTR veteran,
known primarily for her work on Dr.
Christian) unfortunately doesn’t have much to do, but she does provide
solid support for Bendix’s Riley—and she was so good in this role that she was
cast alongside Jackie Gleason in the first TV version of the show in 1949
(along with Lanny Rees’ Junior).
Other OTR personalities in the film include Bill Goodwin as the
obnoxiously oily Sidney Monahan—and although Goodwin was primarily an
announcer/supporting player on such programs as The Bob Hope Show and
Burns & Allen, he enjoyed
a nice career in films as a character actor, appearing in So This is New York
(1948, with Henry Morgan) and It’s a Great Feeling
(1949, with Jack Carson, Dennis Morgan and Doris Day—my favorite of the
Carson-Morgan vehicles). John Brown, however, steals every single scene he’s in
as he brings his Life of Riley
character Digby “Digger” O’Dell to the silver screen. Digger is first
introduced to the audience in a scene where the Rileys’ electricity has been
cut off and the house is plunged into darkness; I thought this was a very
clever touch, allowing them to hear his clammy, sepulchral tones before they
see his beautifully somber mug on screen. Brown would also make it to the
1949-50 TV series, but for some reason wasn’t available for Bendix’s version,
which ran from 1953-58. (Perhaps Brown was in poor health, he passed away in
1957.)
The Life of Riley
is also populated with some wonderful character actors—James Gleason (who plays
Riley’s best friend and neighbor Gillis—fans know, of course, that Brown played
this part on radio as well), Beulah Bondi, Ted de Corsia (who was no slouch on
OTR either) and a young Richard Long, before he relocated with Barbara Stanwyck
to The Big Valley. (Or set up
shop at 77 Sunset Strip, if
that’s the way you remember him.) There’s also a great voice cameo by a
famous OTR detective, and I wouldn’t dream of spoiling that surprise.
(There are some really good in-jokes in this movie; my favorite is a book
that’s mentioned as being written by “Professor Alan Lipscott”—Lipscott being
one of the writers of The Life of Riley on radio.)
Making a film based on a radio series was a dicey proposition at best
back in the 30s, 40s and even 50s. Radio fans would often find themselves
surprised at the physical appearance of an actor or actress (knowing them only
by their voice, of course), or would have a completely different impression of
how their house or car or whatever looked. And though many of these films were
produced simply for their novelty value (with plots flimsier than a
politician’s campaign promise), there were a handful that transcended this and
provided novel and fantastic entertainment. I’m pleased to report that The
Life of Riley most assuredly stands out in this bunch.
No comments:
Post a Comment