Easy Living (1949)

Pete Wilson is on top. He is the highest paid professional football player in the league. He has seen other players come and go, but he was MVP last year and the future looks rosy. His wife... See full summary »

Director:

Jacques Tourneur

Writers:

Charles Schnee (screenplay), Irwin Shaw (story "Education of the Heart")

Stars:

Victor Mature, Lizabeth Scott, Lucille Ball

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Victor Mature	...	Pete Wilson
Lucille Ball	...	Anne
Lizabeth Scott	...	Liza Wilson
Sonny Tufts	...	Tim McCarr
Lloyd Nolan	...	Lenahan
Paul Stewart	...	Argus
Jack Paar	...	Scoop Spooner
Jeff Donnell	...	Penny McCarr
Art Baker	...	Howard Vollmer
Gordon Jones	...	Bill Holloran
Don Beddoe	...	Jaeger
Richard Erdman	...	Buddy Morgan (as Dick Erdman)
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Ozzie
Charles Lang	...	Whitey
Kenny Washington	...	Benny

Storyline

Pete Wilson is on top. He is the highest paid professional football player in the league. He has seen other players come and go, but he was MVP last year and the future looks rosy. His wife, Liza, is there for the fame, the money, the good times and does not like those who are washed up. His friend Tim, just retired and accepted a job as head coach at State. But Pete discovers that he has a condition that may end his career and all that he knows is football.

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Plot Keywords:

american football | train | chicago illinois | crutch | unrequited love | 

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Taglines:

"Do You Love Me or My Headlines...and the dough that goes with them?"

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jacques Tourneur never saw a football game prior to working on this movie.

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Quotes

Benny: Does this mean another operation on my knee, Mr. Lenahan?
Lenahan: That's it, Benny.
Benny: Too bad I'm not an automobile. Then all we'd have to do is put on a new wheel.

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Connections

Featured in 75 Seasons: The Story of the NFL (1994)

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Soundtracks

I've Got My Fingers Crossed
(uncredited)
Written by Mort Greene and Leigh Harline

User Reviews

Doesn't measure up to Victor Mature's chest

There are two stories here. The stronger one deals with a quarterback for the New York Chiefs pushed toward retirement by a heart murmur. This story offers interesting glimpses at the state of professional football, circa 1949. The team takes the train to "away" games, for instance, and it seems to have only one black player. And get this --making the Championship Playoffs means at least an extra $1000 for every man on the team! (But this was in an era of nickel pay-phone calls, when college football coaches made $3200 a year.)

The other story centers on the quarterback's troubled relationship with his ambitious, social-climbing wife who's not above using her seductive charm to make a success of her interior decorating business. Here again there are intriguing insights into the world of 1949, where "uppity" women had to be taken down a notch or two lest they forget their proper roles as wives and mothers.

These two stories don't merge particularly well, resulting in an awkward blend of "locker room" and "Park Avenue," and the ending seems forced and unconvincing. (This may have been due to the Production Code's dim view of divorce.) However, the cast still makes the movie worth a look, with solid work from Lucille Ball, Lloyd Nolan, Jim Backus, Art Baker, Jack Paar, etc. Lizabeth Scott -- she of the spectacular eyebrows -- seems a tad "overheated" as the self-centered wife but the script probably forced this kind of performance. Victor Mature has the better part and he acquits himself in adequate fashion. In his locker room scene he gets to strip off his shirt and thus reveal one of the great torsos in the movies. (And how gloriously it was soon to be whipped and otherwise tortured in such films as "Samson and Delilah," "The Robe," "Zarak," and "Timbuktu.") Too bad the movie as a whole isn't equal to its star's chest measurement.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 1950 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

Interference

Filming Locations:

RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1