Official Synopsis:
Jean Arthur and Ray Milland shine in this screwball comedy written by Academy Award winner Preston Sturges. Mary Smith (Arthur) is a poor working girl who literally has a fortune dropped in her lap when a wealthy financier (Edward Arnold) tosses a sable coat out a window and it lands on her. Everyone automatically assumes she's his mistress, and soon her fairytale-like rags-to-riches lifestyle threatens a very real romance with an inept waiter (Milland). It's a "delightful comedy" (Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide) full of misunderstandings that showcases high-society slapstick at its best!
  
Our Take:
Easy Living is an excellently written screwball comedy, written by one of the genre’s masters, Preston Sturges.  Unfortunately, the film is not directed by Sturges, but by studio hack Mitchell Leisen; so who knows what didn’t make it to the screen.  The film’s greatest asset is the wonderfully comic tapestry of miscommunication weaved by Sturges and acted out on screen by such talents as the underrated Ray Milland, the always-enjoyable Jean Arthur, and the boisterous Edward Arnold.  Unlike screwball comedies of lesser quality, Sturges does not sacrifice character motivation just to include a set piece.  At all times we know exactly why each character is doing what they are doing, which not only adds believability to an otherwise outlandish tale, but ratchets the comedic effect up a couple of notches as well.  The film combines purely visual gags, such as being tied up in telephone cords, to quick-witted dialogue that makes the film one of the high water marks of the screwball comedy genre.

This marks the first release of Easy Living on DVD as Universal digs into their archives to pull out the gem as part of their Cinema Classics series.  The single disc release contains the following:

* Exclusive Introduction by Robert Osborne (2 minutes).

Easy Living may have been even better had it been directed by Preston Sturges, but luckily, Sturges wrote such a strong script that the middling talent of Mitchell Leisen could not screw up this engaging comedy.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Overall Picture:
Movie: A-
DVD:  C

- Matthew Orlando
Staff Writer