Roughly Speaking

Until I happened to catch it on the Turner Classic Movies channel, I'd never heard of Roughly Speaking. It turns out to be a charming and genuinely funny romantic comedy, set during the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and the 1939-40 New York World's Fair. Roz Russell and Jack Carson, as a married couple raising a family, keep us wondering what crazy scheme they will cook up next in order to survive hard times. Their optimism is contagious. This family laughs a lot, especially when everything is going wrong, and it's real laughter--the kind that makes me laugh along with them. The ending seemed kind of abrupt, but apart from that, I found this movie great fun and often quite touching.

Louise Randall Pierson lived a wonderful life. Mrs. Pierson was a woman ahead of her times. Her biggest accomplishment was a total dedication to her family. The film, based on her own autobiography, clearly shows why this woman was so unique. Michael Curtiz directed with his usual flair.

Louise Randall Pierson went from a childhood of privilege to almost poverty after her father died when she was still a girl. Louise pursues a career as a typist and joins a firm where no women had been employed. Her friendship with Alice Abbott brings her to New Haven where she meets and marries a man that never amounts to anything, but who leaves her for another woman without any qualms, leaving Louise to do whatever she can with four small children.

At this point in her life, she meets Harold Pierson, a lovable man who had big visions, but who never was able to have the recognition he deserved. Louise and Harold were made for one another. Their love will get them through some rough patches, but they manage to keep their spirits and give all the children careers of their own.

Rosalind Russell makes this film come alive. Ms. Russell was such a lovable actress that no matter what she appeared in, she always managed to please us. Jack Carson, an underrated actor, was perfect as her second husband Harold Pierson. Mr. Carson and Ms. Russell seem to be having a great time while making the movie. Ann Doran is the loyal friend Alice and Ann Todd plays the young Louise.

"Roughly Speaking" is one of the most positive films that came out of Hollywood in the forties because it shows us a determined woman with a great heart who raises above of what life gave her.

This was a real surprise. I found it hard to switch channels once I started watching the movie. The dialogue was witting and the whole movie charming. The movements between segments of the movie were abrupt but everything else I liked a lot.

Rosalind Russell plays Louise Randall Pierson (someone I've never heard of, but this is based on her autobiography). Directed by Michael Curtiz, it showcases Russell and the often underrated Jack Carson as they face financial feast and famine and an ever-expanding family. Russell is tough, and unapologetic, and Carson is her equal. The film, coming from 1945, has a strange cliff hanging effect, as it ends with the beginning of World War II, and you wonder what will happen next. At the time it must have hit home for a lot of families with men (and women) fighting overseas. But I would strongly recommend it as a movie to watch before the films "Since You Went Away", with Claudette Colbert which chronicles life at home during the war, and "Best Years of Their Lives", which is probably the best coming-home-from-war film ever made. The three would make a great sequential view of life from the turn of the century to post WWII America. 8.5 out of 10.

Rosalind Russell was just right for this movie. Bette was a great actress, but I cannot imagine her as Auntie Mame. Same with the heroin of Roughly Speaking. Russell played it just right, with a touch of laughter and a touch of pathos. It is about a woman who lives through: Divorce, polio, the Depression, one monetary failure after another, and finally seeing her sons off to fight in WWII. However, you see that it makes her family stronger, they learn to fight thru their problems and come out better for it. It is this movie that made me fall in love with Jack Carson. Jack Carson never really made it as a top, top star. In fact in most of his movies he played a buffoon or a jerk. But in Rougly Speaking he plays the kind of man most women wish we were married to. It is my opinion that he pretty much played himself. I recommend it: It comes on TCM regularly, if you have not seen it you are in for a real treat. Watch out for Roughly Speaking you will love it.