# Call It a Day > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Call_It_a_Day > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Call_It_a_Day.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_It_a_Day > Source revision: 1340322370 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1937 film by Dodie Smith, Archie Mayo This article is about the 1937 film. For the 1935 play on which it was based, see [Call It a Day (play)](/source/Call_It_a_Day_(play)). Call It a Day Theatrical release poster Directed by Archie Mayo Screenplay by Casey Robinson Sheridan Gibney Based on Call It a Day by Dodie Smith Produced by Henry Blanke Hal B. Wallis Starring Olivia de Havilland Ian Hunter Anita Louise Alice Brady Roland Young Frieda Inescort Cinematography Ernest Haller Edited by James Gibbon Music by Heinz Roemheld Production company Cosmopolitan Productions Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Release date April 17, 1937 (1937-04-17) Running time 90 minutes Country United States Language English ***Call It a Day*** is a 1937 American [comedy film](/source/Comedy_film) directed by [Archie Mayo](/source/Archie_Mayo) and starring [Olivia de Havilland](/source/Olivia_de_Havilland), [Ian Hunter](/source/Ian_Hunter_(actor)), [Anita Louise](/source/Anita_Louise), [Alice Brady](/source/Alice_Brady), [Roland Young](/source/Roland_Young), and [Frieda Inescort](/source/Frieda_Inescort). Based on the 1935 play *[Call It a Day](/source/Call_It_a_Day_(play))* by [Dodie Smith](/source/Dodie_Smith), the film is about a day in the life of a middle-class London family whose lives are complicated by the first romantic signs of spring.[1] ## Plot As the first day of spring arrives with unseasonably warm weather, the Hilton household is briefly turned upside down. Eldest daughter Cath has fallen hopelessly in love with the married artist painting her portrait, father Roger has his head turned by glamorous film star Beatrice Gwynn when he assists her with her taxes, wife Dorothy has an offer to elope to [India](/source/British_India) with her friend's brother shortly after meeting him and son Martin wants to go [motoring](/source/Driving) around the [Continent](/source/Continental_Europe) until he encounters the attractive girl next door. Even youngest daughter Ann has developed an obsession with the [Victorian](/source/Victorian_era) artist [Dante Gabriel Rossetti](/source/Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti). By the end of the day all is righted and a semblance of normality has returned. ## Cast - [Olivia de Havilland](/source/Olivia_de_Havilland) as Catherine 'Cath' Hilton - [Ian Hunter](/source/Ian_Hunter_(actor)) as Roger Hilton - [Anita Louise](/source/Anita_Louise) as Joan Collett - [Alice Brady](/source/Alice_Brady) as Muriel West - [Roland Young](/source/Roland_Young) as Frank Haines - [Frieda Inescort](/source/Frieda_Inescort) as Dorothy Hilton - [Bonita Granville](/source/Bonita_Granville) as Ann Hilton - [Peggy Wood](/source/Peggy_Wood) as Ethel Francis - [Marcia Ralston](/source/Marcia_Ralston) as Beatrice Gwynn - [Walter Woolf King](/source/Walter_Woolf_King) as Paul Francis - Peter Willes as Martin Hilton - [Una O'Connor](/source/Una_O'Connor_(actress)) as Mrs. Milson, the Housekeeper - [Beryl Mercer](/source/Beryl_Mercer) as Mrs. Elkins, the Cook - [Elsa Buchanan](/source/Elsa_Buchanan) as Vera, the Maid - [Mary Field](/source/Mary_Field) as Elsie Lester, Roger's Secretary - [May Beatty](/source/May_Beatty) as Frank's Landlady - [Sidney Bracey](/source/Sidney_Bracey) as Flower Shop Owner - [Leyland Hodgson](/source/Leyland_Hodgson) as Sir Harold - [Robert Adair](/source/Robert_Adair_(actor)) as Butler - [Louise Stanley](/source/Louise_Stanley) as Girl on Bus - [Clarissa Selwynne](/source/Clarissa_Selwynne) as Annoyed Woman in Theater ## Production ### Soundtrack - "[I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles](/source/I'm_Forever_Blowing_Bubbles)" (James Kendis, James Brockman, Nat Vincent, [John W. Kellette](/source/John_Kellette)) performed by Ian Hunter - "[Isn't It Romantic?](/source/Isn't_It_Romantic%3F)" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) performed by Marcia Ralston ## Reception In his May 7, 1937, review, [The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)' [Frank Nugent](/source/Frank_Nugent) said that he "enjoyed" the "tolerant and quietly humorous piece", and praised the ensemble cast.[2] Two months later, writing for *[Night and Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Night_and_Day_(magazine)&action=edit&redlink=1)*, [Graham Greene](/source/Graham_Greene) gave the film a poor review and complained about the self-sanitized story of temptations rejected in the face of infidelity. Greene also complains of the use of clichéd dialogue, which includes the stale line, "Do you mind if I slip into something more comfortable?" which, Greene adds, "to our astonishment [leads to] the temptress reappear[ing] in just another evening dress."[3] ## See also - *[The First Day of Spring](/source/The_First_Day_of_Spring)* (1956) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Call It a Day (1937) - Overview - TCM.com"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130101194624/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3543/Call-It-A-Day/). *Turner Classic Movies*. Archived from [the original](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3543/call-it-a-day) on January 1, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["THE SCREEN; One More Film of a Last Year's Play Comes to Town: This Being 'Call It a Day' at the Capitol"](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/05/07/94371941.html?pageNumber=29). *The New York Times*. Retrieved July 4, 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Greene, Graham](/source/Graham_Greene) (July 22, 1937). "Parnell/Call it a Day". *[Night and Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Night_and_Day_(magazine)&action=edit&redlink=1)*. (reprinted in: [Taylor, John Russell](/source/John_Russell_Taylor), ed. (1980). *The Pleasure Dome*. Oxford University Press. pp. 155–156. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0192812866](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0192812866).) ## External links - [*Call It a Day*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028679/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) - [*Call It a Day*](https://web.archive.org/web/1/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3543/enwp) at the [TCM Movie Database](/source/Turner_Classic_Movies#TCMdb) (archived) - [*Call It a Day*](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/4262) at the *[AFI Catalog of Feature Films](/source/AFI_Catalog_of_Feature_Films)* - [1946 *Theatre Guild on the Air* radio adaptation of original play](https://archive.org/download/TheaterGuildontheAir/Tgoa_46-06-02_ep039-Call_It_a_Day.mp3) at [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive) v t e Films directed by Archie Mayo Money Talks (1926) Christine of the Big Tops (1926) Unknown Treasures (1926) Johnny Get Your Hair Cut (1927) Dearie (1927) Slightly Used (1927) The College Widow (1927) Quarantined Rivals (1927) State Street Sadie (1928) Beware of Married Men (1928) The Crimson City (1928) On Trial (1928) My Man (1928) Sonny Boy (1929) Is Everybody Happy? (1929) The Sap (1929) The Sacred Flame (1929) Wide Open (1930) Courage (1930) Oh Sailor Behave (1930) The Doorway to Hell (1930) Illicit (1931) Svengali (1931) Bought (1931) Under Eighteen (1931) The Expert (1932) Night After Night (1932) Two Against the World (1932) Street of Women (1932) The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933) The Mayor of Hell (1933) Ever in My Heart (1933) Convention City (1933) Gambling Lady (1934) The Man with Two Faces (1934) Desirable (1934) Give Me Your Heart (1934) Bordertown (1935) Go into Your Dance (1935) The Case of the Lucky Legs (1935) The Petrified Forest (1936) I Married a Doctor (1936) Black Legion (1937) It's Love I'm After (1937) The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938) Youth Takes a Fling (1938) They Shall Have Music (1939) The House Across the Bay (1940) Four Sons (1940) The Great American Broadcast (1941) Charley's Aunt (1941) Confirm or Deny (1941) Moontide (1942) Orchestra Wives (1942) Crash Dive (1943) Sweet and Low-Down (1944) A Night in Casablanca (1946) Angel on My Shoulder (1946) This article related to an American comedy film of the 1930s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:1930s-US-comedy-film-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3A1930s-US-comedy-film-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:1930s-US-comedy-film-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Call It a Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_It_a_Day) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_It_a_Day?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.