The Merry Frinks is a weird, prickly delight

Is this for you?

If you like movies where the 'happy ending' is actually just someone finally picking themselves over everyone else, you’ll dig The Merry Frinks. It’s definitely not for folks who want a cozy, sentimental family portrait. If you get annoyed by characters who make genuinely selfish choices because they’re just done, you’ll probably hate this. Honestly, I loved it.

Aline MacMahon is doing some heavy lifting here. She plays a mother who has been treated like furniture for years, and you can see the exact moment she stops caring in her eyes. It’s not a big, dramatic monologue scene. It’s just a look. A look that says, 'I’m out.'

The rest of the family? A collection of leeches. They act like her leaving is an act of treason rather than a logical reaction to living in a house full of people who treat her like a maid who doesn't get paid. There’s this one scene in the kitchen where they’re all shouting over each other, and the framing makes the room feel like a cage. You can practically smell the stale coffee and resentment.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Merry Frinks (1934) through its definitive frames.

It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in Big Pie Raid, though with way more emotional bruising. The movie doesn't try to make you feel bad for her leaving, which is refreshing. Most films would force a scene where she cries in a car or looks back longingly at the house. This one just lets her walk.

The pacing is a bit weird. It drags in the middle when the family tries to get the money back, and frankly, I stopped paying attention to their schemes. Who cares? They’re awful. I was just waiting for the scenes where she gets to spend her new fortune on something incredibly trivial.

Some quick notes from my notebook:

• The wallpaper in that dining room is genuinely aggressive. It makes me anxious just looking at it.
• Hugh Herbert is... well, he’s Hugh Herbert. If you like him, you’ll be happy. If you don't, he’s a bit of a distraction.
• There’s a moment with a hat that I still don't quite get, but it was funny in a weird, quiet way.
• The dialogue doesn't always flow, but it feels like real people talking over each other in a bad mood.

It’s not a masterpiece, and it’s not trying to change cinema forever. It’s just a sharp, cold glass of water on a hot day. Sometimes, that’s all you need. ☕