Merrily We Go to Hell: How Dorothy Arzner skewered Hollywood’s happy ending for women in the 1930s

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Merrily we go to Hell” is used as a toast in the film, but also describes how Joan loses her independence, intoxicated by love and Jerry’s intermittent charm. open image in gallery Sip the tea: Dorothy Arzner and Joan Crawford on the set of ‘The Bride Wore Red’ in 1937 “If the ending purports to be a conventional restatement of happily ever after, you get the sense that Arzner didn’t quite buy it, so neither do we,” says film critic Helen O’Hara, author of Women Vs Hollywood. “It still feels a little shocking to see an open marriage in a big Hollywood film today,” says O’Hara, “never mind in 1932.” Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. One critic praised the film for containing “plenty of meat” rather than the “dainty flavor of fudge and cucumber sandwiches hitherto has marked the offerings of Miss Arzner, the industry’s lone woman megaphone wielder.