Perhaps it was because this was before Preston Sturges took over directing his own screenplays but Easy Living feels like one of the lesser in his body of work.
It does well as a screwball comedy but it isn't outstanding. As much as I love Jean Arthur, she isn't either, and Ray Milland just isn't suave enough to be a Cary Grant-esquire romantic lead. The cast just seems to be rolling along with the machinations of the plot, unlike say, Bringing Up Baby, in which Katharine Hepburn and Grant bring larger-than-life characters that prance along grandly with its screwball story.
Easy Living does have some memorable scenes though, including the one at the automat - a Depression-era fast food place - in which a grand ol' food fight breaks out, though admittedly, I find it more memorable because of how novel I think the concept of the automat is.
It does well as a screwball comedy but it isn't outstanding. As much as I love Jean Arthur, she isn't either, and Ray Milland just isn't suave enough to be a Cary Grant-esquire romantic lead. The cast just seems to be rolling along with the machinations of the plot, unlike say, Bringing Up Baby, in which Katharine Hepburn and Grant bring larger-than-life characters that prance along grandly with its screwball story.
Easy Living does have some memorable scenes though, including the one at the automat - a Depression-era fast food place - in which a grand ol' food fight breaks out, though admittedly, I find it more memorable because of how novel I think the concept of the automat is.