LIFE WITH FATHER (1947) **1/2 It can't be easy, as a Republican archetype, trying to steal scenes from a teenage Elizabeth Taylor, but that's precisely what William Powell manages. Yes, he was nominated for an Academy Award. He's that representation of manhood and fatherhood that several generations of American males mistakenly pursued, mistakenly not because he wasn't good, but because he was emulated for the wrong reasons. The appeal of the Powell character is not his abrasive domineering grumpiness, but his individual charm and the blunt honesty that neutralized it. In other words I think a lot of lives were spent trying to be like him, rather than, like him, being themselves. I'm not quibbling about diction here. Clarence Day Jr. isn't at fault for writing it any more than Michael Curtiz is at fault for presenting it the way it was writ-artists can't be held responsible for the manner in which their honorable work is received (though there is the slight matter of what the censors did to the closing line). Anyway, it's fun for a long time...until finally even Powell's eccentricities and Irene Dunne's charm aren't enough to cover up the reality that they're somewhat repressed and superficial people arguing incessently in an inane manner about trivialities. At that point even the fact that their children are poisoning the friends and neighbors with dog medicine, and Liz' histrionics, aren't enough to make you want to take it all much further. Fascinating presentation of the manipulative (or "moving," if you prefer) combination of fear and religion, though I don't believe that was the point they were trying to make.
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