Pre-Code melodrama about marriage infidelity
Dorothy Arzner was the only female director regularly working in Hollywood during her 21-year career. She directed 16 films featuring such stars as Clara Bow, Esther Ralston, Katharine Hepburn, Rosalind Russell, Joan Crawford, Paul Lukas, and Robert Young. Arzner’s films are notable for their depiction of women’s relationships, a reversal of society’s expectations, and female sexuality. Arzner’s “Merrily We Go to Hell,” centered on marital infidelity and strife, was made in the pre-Code period before strict enforcement of the Production Code put a stop to such adult themes.<br /><br />Adapted from the novel “I, Jerry, Take Thee, Jane” by Cleo Lucas, “Merrily We Go to Hell” finds handsome drunk Jerry Corbett (Fredric March) and lovely society girl Joan Prentice (Sylvia Sidney) meeting on a penthouse terrace during a party. Jerry is a failed playwright turned reporter and she is the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. As they chat, they make a connection and recognize they are soulmates. But Jerry is also drawn to his ex, Claire Hempstead (Adrianne Allen), and to booze.<br /><br />Joan mentions that she’d been reading about Jerry, suggesting she knows something about his past. Jerry wants to love Joan unconditionally but is haunted by his failure as a playwright and his failed marriage. His self-image is at rock bottom. Joan’s father (George Irving) is against the marriage but, wanting his daughter to be happy, puts aside his reservations. Circumstances bring Jerry and Claire together and Jerry stops coming home with any predictability. Still in love with Jerry, Joan announces that they will have a modern marriage—he can continue carrying on with Claire and she will have boyfriends, all out in the open.<br /><br />This premise would not be possible a year later when Hollywood’s self-censorship amped up for fear that the government would step in. Tame by today’s standards, the film was pretty strong stuff in the early 1930s.<br /><br />March overdoes his drunken Jerry in the opening scene yet manages to convey charm rather than elicit disdain. It’s the waning of Prohibition and liquor flows for everyone, not just Jerry. Although Joan’s love puts all Jerry’s weaknesses secondary, viewers are unlikely to see Jerry with lovestruck eyes. He’s more a selfish, parasitic cad than a loyal husband and lover.<br /><br />Sidney’s Joan looks and behaves like a demure debutante, which makes her desperate embrace of an ostensibly unorthodox view of marriage something of a shock. She loves Jerry so much, she’s willing to share him if that’s what it will take to hold onto him. This is both admirable, in that she is a woman well before her time, and sad, as she is destined for disappointment. The script portrays her as intelligent, self-assured, and forthright. She is not driven by flowery images of wedded bliss but by her understanding that marriage is an arrangement subject to conditions. We never really see any emotional change in Joan. Sidney plays her on a single note throughout, making her appear more a noble victim of modern mores than a human being.<br /><br />A brief scene about halfway in features Cary Grant as Joan’s date at a party. He delivers his a few lines of dialogue with distinctive charm and is as handsome and dashing as always. Unfortunately he’s gone in a couple of minutes.<br /><br />Director Arzner introduces considerable melodrama as the story unfolds. She has March ham it up a bit too much and doesn’t elicit enough feeling from Sidney. The script, despite its then-taboo nature, never fully engages the viewer. The “meet cute” scene on the terrace is supposed to convince us that Jerry and Joan are made for each other, but it’s a bit too fast to ring true. And since the film relies on this connection, it seems inauthentic. Though only 83 minutes long, the movie manages to deal with substance abuse, female sexual liberation, and an alternate view of marriage long before such ideas were widely discussed. Despite the film’s controversial subject matter, the ending is conveniently pat and predictable.<br /><br /> Bonus materials on the Blu-ray release include a 1983 documentary on the life and career of director Dorothy Arzner, a new video essay, and a booklet featuring a critical article about “Merrily We Go to Hell” and its impact.<br /><br />“Merrily We Go to Hell” is an interesting cinematic artifact, made at a time when movie content was more open and adult. When enforcement of the Production Code went into effect in 1934, writers were constrained by Hollywood’s self-imposed censorship. This would last well into the late 1960s, when the Motion Picture Association of America introduced the film ratings system.
The movie title "Merrily We Go to Hell (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]," available on Movies & TV, has received an average rating of 4.7 from 73 reviewers. 
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 {"Genre": "Drama", "Format": "Blu-ray, Subtitled", "Contributor": "Adrianne Allen, Florence Britton, Charles Coleman, Esther Howard, Cary Grant, Dorothy Arzner, Sylvia Sidney, Richard \"Skeets\" Gallagher, George Irving, Fredric March, Kent TaylorAdrianne Allen, Florence Britton, Charles Coleman, Esther Howard, Cary Grant, Dorothy Arzner, Sylvia Sidney, Richard \"Skeets\" Gallagher, George Irving, Fredric March, Kent Taylor   See more", "Language": "English", "MPAA rating": "NR (Not Rated)", "Package Dimensions": "6.73 x 5.35 x 0.67 inches; 3.21 Ounces", "Item model number": "BR3250", "Director": "Dorothy Arzner", "Media Format": "Blu-ray, Subtitled", "Release date": "May 11, 2021", "Actors": "Sylvia Sidney, Fredric March, Adrianne Allen, Richard \"Skeets\" Gallagher, George Irving", "Studio": "The Criterion Collection", "Number of discs": "1"}

Here is a brief synopsis of the title : Addiction, nonmonogamy, and female sexual liberation: decades before such ideas were widely discussed, Dorothy Arzner, the only woman to work as a director in 1930s Hollywood, brought them to the screen with striking frankness, sophistication, and wit—a mature treatment that stands out even in the pre-Code era. Fredric March (in one of four collaborations with Arzner) and Sylvia Sidney turn in extraordinary performances as the urbane couple whose relationship is pushed to the breaking point by his alcoholism and wandering eye—leading them into an emotionally explosive experiment with an open marriage. Exposing the hypocrisies and petty cruelties simmering beneath the surface of high-society elegance, Merrily We Go to Hell is a scathing early-feminist commentary on modern marriage. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • Dorothy Arzner: Longing for Women, a 1983 documentary by Katja Raganelli and Konrad Wickler • New video essay by film historian Cari Beauchamp • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing • PLUS: An essay by film scholar Judith Mayne.