MGM. 85 minutes. US release: 10/4/35.

VHS release: 6/24/92.  

DVD from Warner Archive Collection: 3/4/14.

Cast: Joan Crawford (as "Kay"), Brian Aherne, Frank Morgan, Aline MacMahon, Eric Blore, Fred Keating, Jessie Ralph, Arthur Treacher, Hedda Hopper, Frank Conroy, Etienne Girardot, Edward Brophy, Sterling Holloway, Hilda Vaughn, Vince Barnett, Lionel Stander, Hale Hamilton.

Credits:  Based on the story "Claustrophobia" by A. Carter Goodloe. Screenplay: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Producer: Bernard H. Hyman. Director: W.S. Van Dyke. Camera: George Folsey. Costumes: Adrian. Editor: Tom Held. Score: Dimitri Tiomkin.

Total Gross:  $1,478,000 ($384,000 net profit)

Notes:

The story upon which the film was based, "Claustrophobia" by A. Carter Goodloe, first appeared in Scribner's in April 1926.

The film was in production from 6/3/35 to 7/35.

Filmed at Chatsworth, Los Angeles, and the Santa Catalina and Channel Islands of California.

Working titles of the film included If You Love Me, Elegance, and Glitter.

American Film Institute page

IMDb page

TCM page

Wikipedia page

October 12, 1935

The New Joan Crawford Film, 'I Live My Life,' at the Capitol

Originally Miss Crawford's new film at the Capitol Theatre took its title from claustrophobia, that dread theatrical disease which sometimes overcomes movie audiences in the contemplation of excessively bogus society romances. Now it is called "I Live My Life" and proves to be an entertaining effort to show that love is really a pretty democratic emotion, although gowns by Adrian have their definite value in stimulating it. I have always suffered from myopia when it came to Miss Crawford's glamorous contributions to cinema art, but this time the distinguished glitter girl enjoys the help of W. S. Van Dyke's lively production and some uncommonly hilarious actors.

The film engulfs Miss Crawford in her usual plight, suffocating the poor girl with money and hedging her around with society credos so that she has difficulty finding real happiness. During one of her pleasure trips she engages in a kiss-and-run episode with Brian Aherne, an ardent archaeologist, who, in his old-fashioned way, believes that a caress is the equivalent of a marriage bargain. So he leaves his Grecian ruins and follows her back to New York, where he shocks her exclusive friends by his comments on the degenerate lives they lead. Miss Crawford insists that she is doomed to go through life as a millionaire parasite, having been born to that unhappy life, but Mr. Aherne convinces her that she can escape into the merrier world of the common people if she only will try.

Apparently the authors of "I Live My Life" grew doubtful about the joys of poverty before the film was completed, because they rescue Miss Crawford at the last minute from love on the dole. Thus the matriarch who rules the family takes an unexpected liking to the rebellious commoner and approves his alliance with her gently nurtured granddaughter. Even then Miss Crawford wins her man only by tricking him into matrimony in a way that the Alimony Club would scarcely regard as cricket. After a quarrel on the eve of their wedding they call the marriage off, but Mr. Aherne agrees to show up at the church so that he may play the jilted suitor and spare the girl embarrassment. But Miss Crawford violates the pact by appearing at the church, thereby forcing her reluctant lover to go through with it.

In the interests of realism there really ought to be a sequel to "I Live My Life," examining the marital career of these curiously mismated lovers. It might be entitled "Oh, Yeah?" Miss Crawford is rather self-consciously adequate to the needs of her part and Mr. Aherne is excellent as the dashing scientist. Frank Morgan, who could not play straight if he tried, is superbly comic as the heroine's distressed father. Jessie Ralph, as the tyrannical head of the family, proves again that she is the best of the screen grandmothers. The photoplay also possesses the two funniest butlers in Hollywood, Eric Blore and Arthur Treacher, and even allows them a bit of acrimonious rivalry in one scene.

Variety (1935)

I Live My Life contains all the ingredients, and to good measure, for a conventional Joan Crawford picture. An amusing romance [from a story by A. Carter Goodloe] is backgrounded by clothes, cocktails and butlers.

The premise, as is customary with Crawford operas, is that the rich are not as good as the poor, only in this instance Crawford is on the coin side and it takes a man to trim her down. The man is an archaeologist who follows the girl from Greece to New York. They get along like a pair of wrasslers, always appearing to be fighting but loving each other down deep just the same.

Crawford won’t disappoint from a sartorial angle. On performance she’s also as usual, but if her eyelashes continue getting any longer her leading men will have to start wearing bumpers.

Richard Watts, Jr., in the New York Herald Tribune (1935):

[The picture] has something of the vitality that W.S. Van Dyke, its director, invariably gets into his works, but it is a pretty routine bit of story telling. If, however, you're an enthusiast for the regulation type of Crawford vehicle, you may find the work soul-satisfying. The star plays handsomely and competently.

Tom C.  (July 2023)

Rating: of 5

Brian Aherne does a nice job as the nerdy archaeologist, Terry, who falls for Joan's character, Kay. He's not overly impressed with Joan's vapid high-society friends and isn't shy about letting her know. (A side-note: Aherne once again co-starred with Joan as the grabby Fred Shalimar in The Best of Everything (1959) two-plus decades later.)

Speaking of Adrian, I think this may be one of his better efforts in a Joan pic. Many of the outfits that Joan/Kay wears show her off to good effect without being over the top, with perhaps the exception of one silver costume that looks like it could have been worn by a space alien.

• •  John George: Alonzo's sidekick in The Unknown (1927).
• •  Sterling Holloway: Appeared in Dancing Lady (1933).
• •  Jessie Ralph: Kudos to the cantankerous old lady who controls the purse strings. Ralph also appeared in the 1937 Joan film The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, and had a very distinguished acting career (https://youtu.be/ZCJSJIR9AQS), most indelibly as crochety Aunt Katherine in After the Thin Man (1936). I wish they had used her more in ILML. 
• •  Arthur Treacher: Of fish & chips fame. Playing, what else, a butler, just as in Forsaking All Others (1934).
• •  Henry Kolker: Appeared in several Joan films---most notably 1925's Sally, Irene and Mary---and has a bit part here.
• •  Aline McMahon: I don't think she appeared in any other Joan film, but was excellent as the grifter with a heart of gold in the 1932 classic One Way Passage, and is likewise very good in a limited role here.

About the only character I didn't really get into was Frank Morgan as Kay's dad. Morgan, in the movies I've seen him in, seems to play variations on the same character. There are a couple of touching scenes, though, between him and Joan.

I bought into the improbable romance after the meet-cute at the dig site between the archaeologist and the socialite. If you do, too, I think you'll enjoy ILML. Based on the box-office success, I suspect Depression-weary audiences were happy to see a common lad tell off society folks and marry a rich girl.

Stephanie Jones  (March 2023)

Rating:   - 1/2 of 5

Writer, and later producer, Joseph Mankiewicz represents Joan at the first nadir of her artistic career---he wrote this mediocre film and the dismal Forsaking All Others (1934) and produced the relatively uninspired Gorgeous Hussy ('36), Bride Wore Red ('37), Mannequin ('38), Shining Hour ('38), and Reunion in France ('42). No thanks also to director Van Dyke for Forsaking and this run-of-the-mill film. (Though both he and Mankiewicz partially redeemed themselves with the rather fetching Love on the Run in '36.)

I Live My Life is a generic attempt at witty social banter, combined with the by-now outdated late-20s/early-30s Joan movie-theme of "society snob meets working man/woman." Sometimes Joan's been the worker; more often she's been the snob meeting the working-man, as in this case. Here, Brian Aherne plays "Terry O'Neil," an Irish archaeologist (who speaks with a perfect British accent) with a hatred for the "soft" and the "class-conscious" and the city-dwellers. Like Joan's Kay Bentley, who happens upon O'Neil at a dig in Greece while her father's yacht is anchored off-shore. (A side-note: As I understand it, archaeologists in the 1800s and 1900s were usually either very rich themselves or liberally funded by the rich. So I don't know where O'Neil's self-righteousness comes from.) Given O'Neil's distaste for the rich, Joan's Kay pretends to be a mere secretary, with a fake name. After only a day together---and O'Neil's recounting of the story of Pygmalion and Galatea (we're supposed to think Joan is the malleable Galatea? Really?)---O'Neil professes his love and desire to marry her; Kay then disappears back to her yacht and sails home, dropping only the name of her father's business firm (where she's allegedly only a secretary), should he care to look her up next time he's in NYC...

He does, alas, and many attempts at banter occur for the next hour. Like (O'Neil to Kay): "Have you ever been punched right in the nose?" Followed by his pushing her down in her chair at least four times... Not objecting for #MeToo reasons but rather because of the greater artistic sin: His dumb manhandling is too-heavy and gratuitous rather than "witty" or contributing to character development in this allegedly "light comedy."

An extremely weak side-plot (again, borrowed from the late '20s and early '30s) is the fact that Kay's rich grandma---Mrs. Gage---might not approve, and might cut off Kay's $3 million "marriage settlement" if Kay doesn't marry the wimpy pre-approved "Gene" rather than O'Neil. Apparently, Kay's father (the, as usual, mumbledy, befuddled Frank Morgan) might also not be able to pay off a large debt if his daughter doesn't marry Gene. (Huh? I'm not sure what Gene had to do with the father's debt.) After an hour-long lead-up to this confrontation with the supposedly formidable Mrs. Gage (too-briefly played by Jessie Ralph, later to appear to better effect in 1937's Mrs. Cheyney, along with Morgan), Mrs. Gage immediately gives O'Neil a job in the firm upon finding out that his family were pirates and swindlers! Oh, but O'Neil's still not happy, and he and Kay still argue, right up until their wedding ceremony...

Joan looks pretty in her arguments (even with meaningless close-ups and meaningless smashings of flowers and lamps), and Aherne's a relatively strong actor and presence (weaker than Gable, stronger than Montgomery, and much stronger than Tone). But the script is terribly weak and the constant "I love you" / "I don't love you" ludicrous plot twists without reason soon get very dull. As does the by-now tedium of Frank Morgan's mutterings. I'm also especially disappointed that there wasn't an actual confrontation with Jessie Ralph---this alleged terror was talked about throughout the whole film but only appeared briefly at the end and turned out to be a complete non-entity.

One Joan line that stood out amidst this tedium:  It's my life, and I'll live it the way I want: Upside-down, kitty-cornered, or slidin' down a pole!

Michael Lia  (November 2009)

Rating:   of 5

When I want something with flair and an easy blend of sophistication, I choose this harmless and actually well-done comedy.  A change of pace for me, a change of pace for Miss Crawford. I like to see a young Joan bouncing around on the screen. I am very glad she has given me so many choices for my movie moods. When I want her young, vivacious, and candid, I seek out a movie like this.

Because of the expert and often effortless direction of W.S. VanDyke, Miss Crawford’s comedy performance is as good as the French lady and as carefree as Irene Dunne or the other comedic gals. It is a shame that comedic performances like these are forgotten or never drawn upon and reexamined to consider Miss Crawford’s wide range. It’s wide and she gives us a glowing portrayal. Remember, this is entertainment!

Mr. Brian Aherne and Miss Crawford share that old love/hate romance, with the right amount of home-spun feeling and chemistry. Mr. Aherne is a swarthy chap here. (I would go dig some holes with him!) He finally breaks Miss Crawford down, as well as some of the tedious moments of the script. They then take us on a free-flying journey, or as far as the censors will let them.

The number one reason I am satisfied with this film is because of one person: Mr. Frank Morgan, teamed here for the first time with Miss Crawford, is absolutely the best in the business and the best thing in the movie.

Reason number two would be Eric Blore: He steals scenes in a good way (by adding to them); he just has to roll his eyes or give a look and he is fabulous. His voice is aligned with the English-butler school of comedy and drama. Only he can say those lines. I can watch him anytime; he has bits of side comedy with another wonderful man andbutler, Arthur Treacher. Expertly funny together.

The supporting players in the cast are too numerous to talk about (but I will anyway; they deserve a mention). My grand old lady Jessie Ralph shouts up a storm and is usually complaining. She has fun in anything she plays in. (She has a soft heart and will make you cry in Camille.) Aline MacMahon is a face I always love to see. She is a strong comedian and can throw out a comedic line like you throw out the trash. Edward Brophy: Look for him palling around with the “Thin Man” -- a great wisecracker, and he snarls out his lines like he’s in a dumpster. Etienne Girardot has been around and shows up in these early films, usually as an old professor or country doctor. Lionel Stander, identified by his raspy voice, is still a novice and only gets the back of his head in camera range during a card-game scene, but in two years he gets the role of “Libby” in 1937's A Star Is Born-- then you will never forget him. My thanks also to MGM for having these folks around: Sterling Holloway; Hale Hamilton; and Hedda Hopper, claiming her piece of Hollywood history (be nice okay!?).

With the usual production values of MGM, and Mr. Mankiewicz getting acquainted with Miss Crawford and getting used to “one shot woody,” he puts together a fun show. Enjoy yourself.

Rating:   of 5

The film does have numerous assets, however, including adequate performances by the leads Joan Crawford and Brian Aherne. Joan, in particular, is very appealing throughout, if not always up to the comedic challenges. She gives it a worthy effort, though, as always. Aherne seems less comfortable in a screwball comedy, almost serious at times, but overall his attractiveness wins.

The rest of the cast is glittering as well, with supporting roles played exceedingly well by the likes of Jessie Ralph and Frank Morgan. MGM went all out with the production values here and the result is a glossiness typical of the studio. The early scenes are the most effective, chronicling the romantic adventures of Joan's character on an island.

The plot is typical fluff, little worth mentioning except the intelligent and spirited romance in some of the early scenes. One of these scenes occurs when Aherne travels to New York to meet up with Crawford and she explains to him "she can't change the way she is," which in turn he replies in terms of her weakness for not trying to change. It is an intelligent scene, but sadly the rest of the film soon becomes overwhelmed by the forced comedic situations and the miscasting of the lead players.

The film does work well as a Crawford star vehicle, however. She is in top form and as youthfully glamorous as ever. Crawford's appeal alone can not save the film from the weight of too many clichés and the overall tiredness of the plot elements. We've seen it all before. It should be noted that, although the film as a whole is not entirely effective, the first half is remarkably good, with some cute moments which point to the overall potential of the film.