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Excellent, Without a doubt!!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I used to wonder why William Powell wasn't cast as the grumpy father in Father of the Bride, since he resembled the novel's illustration much more than Spencer Tracy. Maybe he was too likable; maybe he couldn't pull off grumpy and structured, I thought. After watching Life with Father, I stand corrected. William Powell has the market cornered on grumpy and structured. He was even nominated for an Academy Award for this performance! Before we even see him, the audience is exposed to Bill's quirks. The new servant is terrified of making a mistake, since her predecessors usually only last a few days; Irene Dunn walks her through what's expected. The coffee must be piping hot, the muffins must remain in the ceramic container until the last possible moment, the paper must be unwrinkled, the milk gets delivered in a special tin bucket, the stock market must behave itself—and when Bill Powell finally walks on screen, he corrects the foyer clock according to the time on his pocket watch. He complains constantly, berates the servants, criticizes his wife and children, and is downright hostile at the idea of hosting his wife's cousin at their house. The audience is supposed to think he's a terrible beast, especially when he treats Irene with such little respect as they quibble over the household expenses. I saw through it, as I hope many viewers will. This isn't a gruff, abusive man. This is a man trying to uphold the image of "man" in a household of four impressionable sons. In the 1800s, "man" had a very defined role to play. This film shows the difficulties and conflicting emotions involved in maintaining the role.I really love this movie. The oldest son falls in love with a young and beautiful Elizabeth Taylor, and he tries to emulate his father as he realizes he's turning into a man. But when he tries to be gruff and controlling, it backfires. Why can't he act as manly as his father does? The truth: because underneath his exterior, William Powell isn't gruff. He loves his wife more than anything in the world. It really is a touching story.One aspect of the movie might turn some viewers off, but I urge you to keep watching. Bill and Irene constantly argue about religion, and if you're not religious, you might brush the movie off as a "God movie". Just replace it with any other argument in your mind and keep watching the movie. The argument isn't about God, it's about the give and take between husband and wife.Give Life with Father a try. I highly recommend it. And if you like period pieces, it's an excellent portrayal of life in the 1890s. It was nominated for set design and music Oscars, but I think Marjorie Best's costume design should have been honored. The dresses are incredibly beautiful!

The film, based upon the life of Clarence Day Sr., a governor on the New York Stock Exchange in 1883, AND the longest running non-musical Broadway stage play at the time, received only three minor Oscar nominations: Color Art Direction-Set Decoration, Cinematography and Score, though William Powell (in the title role) earned his third and last Best Actor nomination. Despite an outstanding leading actress performance by Irene Dunne, as Day's spouse Vinnie, neither Dunne nor the picture received Academy Award nominations.While some may dismiss Life With Father (1947) for its dated (to the point of archaic) expressions and attitudes about life, they should remember that it was quaint at the time of its release. Indeed, it's a time capsule of pre-turn-of-the-century New York, when men were the unquestioned heads of their nuclear families; or were they? In fact, as bombastic and outspoken as (Powell's) Day is, he is in fact manipulated in subtle ways by his wife (Dunne's) Vinnie, whom he loves dearly. On the surface, Day is in charge of the money and every household decision, many of which he makes demonstratively by loudly proclaiming his dominance while often belittling his wife's lack of sound logic. Vinnie, however, while she respects her husband's traditional position and accepts that he has a superior intellect, doesn't passively allow herself to be bowled over by him. She sticks to her principles and even wrongheaded notions in a 'forceful' yet nonthreatening way – though perhaps a little too frequently by crying – such that "Clare" (for Clarence), out of his love for her or sometimes just exasperation, has to give in.There are hilarious scenes concerning the family finances which begin with Vinnie humbly having to ask for money or explain her spending that leave Clare confused and Vinnie with the cash or her desired result: a porcelain pug dog is returned to pay for their son's new suit of clothes. This "battle of the sexes" scenario is then transferred generationally when a "puppy dog romance" develops between Clarence Jr. (Jimmy Lydon) and visiting Cousin Cora's (Zasu Pitts) traveling companion Mary Skinner, played by 15-year old Elizabeth Taylor. After a lesson about the need to "be firm" with women from Clarence Sr. – a priceless scene, that immediately precedes one in which Clare follows the advice he'd just given his son with Vinnie, telling her "it's for your own good" when she cries – Junior tells Mary that she must write him the minute she returns home from her visit to New York. But having been properly schooled, Mary of course is determined to have him write to her first; she strikes a balance between using her tears and her will to get her way. Like Clare, who doesn't know what he said that brought his wife to tears, Junior is also clueless that he's been manipulated, and he enthusiastically starts to write his first letter to Mary even before her horse cab has left their street. Outwardly, the males have the authority but it's the females that wield real power, something that's not really confined to the 19th century.The other major storyline that demonstrates "who wears the pants in the (Day) family" has to do with the revelation that Clare has yet to be baptized. Vinnie is convinced that her husband won't be able to enter Heaven without correcting the situation, the sooner the better, and enlists the support of their children and the Reverend Dr. Lloyd (Edmund Gwenn). But Clarence Sr. is adamant that he doesn't need to be baptized, saying "They can't keep me out of Heaven on a technicality" and "if there's one place the Church should leave alone, it's a man's soul!" Upset - or "stirred up" as Clare would say - over her husband's eternal life, Vinnie falls ill, which is made worse when her entrepreneurial sons, Clarence Jr. and John (Martin Milner's screen debut), put "Bartlett's Beneficent Balm" – a 'miracle' cure they've signed up to sell – in her tea, thinking it will help with her "women's complaints". But their mother then really does become ill and the normally prudent Clare spares no expense to get Vinnie well, even promising her that he'll be baptized if she'll just pull through. When she does, he tries to excuse his actions and the argument continues, but in the (literal) end, as always, Vinnie gets her way.A couple of other odds & ends worth mentioning: one of the ways that Clarence Sr.'s eccentricities are conveyed is through the continuous flow of maids that the family goes through; he inadvertently scares them into quitting or fires them for incompetence. Even when he tries to intervene in his wife's affairs by hiring a replacement, Vinnie lets her go because the maid's outfit doesn't fit her. There's also a curious physical gesture that one of the maids does after exclaiming "a redhead" each time she notices the hair color of the Day's children; she licks two fingers on her right hand before slapping them, and then her fist, into her left palm. "Oh Gad", I almost forgot, some of the expressions such as this favorite exclamation of Clarence Sr. are priceless, including falderal – akin to poppycock – and "confound it".Michael Curtiz directed the Donald Ogden Stewart screenplay, which transformed the successful play by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse – based on Clarence Day Jr.'s memoir – into movie sets for some scenes and dramatized others that were only referred to in the play. Rounding out the credited cast: Emma Dunn played the Day's longtime cook Margaret, Moroni Olsen played Dr. Humphries, Elisabeth Risdon was Mrs. Whitehead, Derek Scott was the Day's youngest son Harlan who adopts a dog and Johnny Calkins their third oldest Whitney (had to learn his catechism), Monte Blue was the policeman, Frank Elliot was Dr. Somers and Heather Wilde, Mary Field, Queenie Leonard and Nancy Evans were the string of maids.

The Day residence on Madison Avenue in the 1880s was dominated by the larger than life figure of Clarence Day, a man with strong opinions, likes and dislikes. However, it was Vinnie, his intelligent wife, the one that kept everything under control. One of the problems the family faced was the constant turnover of maids, mostly Irish girls, that kept arriving and departing at a rapid speed for Mr. Day to remember their names.The visit of Vinnie's cousin Cora, and her young companion, Mary Skinner, on their way to see relatives in Ohio, marks an important milestone in the Day household. It is Mary Skinner, the beautiful girl, that gets a confession from the senior Clarence to admit he was never baptized, something that creates a stir in Vinnie's mind. She goes on a crusade to bring her husband to be finally christened."Life with Father" was a theatrical hit written by Lindsay Crouse and Howard Lindsay, when it ran on Broadway. The screen adaptation was by Donald Ogden Stewart, a fine writer himself, who transferred the play into an enjoyable film. Thanks to the keen eye of Michael Curtiz, a genial director, the life of the Day family was captured forever for audiences that will delight when watching this glimpse of New York life in those days.William Powell made a perfect Clarence Day. His take on this pompous and prissy man were what the character needed. Mr. Powell was one of the best comedy actors of his generation as he proves it in this movie. Irene Dunn's Vinnie was a perfect approach to a no nonsense woman who had to run a large household and deal with the somewhat demanding husband she was married to. Vinnie had her own ways to soften her husband using her extreme common sense.The supporting cast was excellent. The radiantly beautiful Elizabeth Taylor appears as Mary Skinner, the visitor that falls for the oldest son, Clarence Jr., and manages to set things in motion. Zazu Pitts is seen as cousin Cora. Edmund Gwenn is the family's Episcopalian minister. Jimmy Lidon played Clarence Jr. A delightful comedy that still pleases audiences looking for a wholesome time with a movie.

I was born long after this movie was made, which generally meant it would have been crossed from my considerations for viewing. It was the kind of thing my mum would have liked! Something I cynically dismissed at the time, as "nostalgia".It portrays the Victorian era extremely accurately! A time when "the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood" in England & Europe, & "the Heidelberg school" in Australia, were struggling to broaden the horizons of their audience, against much opposition from conservative thinkers in their respective worlds. They portrayed the marginalised, the downtrodden, the romantic, the heartbroken & the visionaries, with colourful & dramatic aspects to their characters, of their contemporary or by-gone portraits! We see it here in their contemporary world, with self-righteous "father" called into question if not derision, his know-all mentality casting a deep shadow on those he loves. So too, in the religiousness beyond him, that impacts on him, through the family & those they interact with. And their values. The rest of the family, especially his wife with inverse logic to his business sense from her isolation from the rest of the world he interacts with, manages to successfully call into question this by heartful abstraction that her son broadens in his request for a suit. From abstraction, into reality ... via a pathetic purchase of extravagance & insignificance! That's not to mention family decision-making on "women's complaints" & appropriate compensation for dead dogs. This really is a magnificent piece of masterful development that the playwright who created this, was not privileged to have developed in his life-time! There's more, like the minister with his hollow dimensions & perspectives, those that interact with William Powell's family, from relatives to customers of a snake-oil salesman connection! It's all here! And what's more, it presented with humour & much insight into the natures of each character portrayed! I read all of the reviews available on the IMDb site at the time of my viewing. I noted with some sadness that a few commented that it was an overly long movie at 2 hours, something I was surprised to find, only one other had commented that it was thought this movie too quickly passed by! All I can say, as "a baby boomer", this movie hits the mark! It reduced time by their reckoning, by at least a quarter. Don't miss this period & comedy classic! Thanks for the memories!