''The Life of Riley'' is a 1949 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Irving Brecher and starring William Bendix,

Rosemary DeCamp Rosemary Shirley DeCamp (November 14, 1910 – February 20, 2001) was an American radio, film, and television actress. Life and career Early life Rosemary Shirley DeCamp was born in Prescott, Yavapai, Arizona on November 14, 1910 to William ...

and

James Gleason James Austin Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter born in New York City. Gleason often portrayed "tough-talking, world-weary guys with a secret heart-of-gold." Life and career Gleason w ...

. It was based on the popular radio show of the same title.

Synopsis

A well-meaning factory employee is struggling financially. His career gets a lift when he receives a promotion, but this causes resentment among his fellow workers who believe it is due to the fact his daughter is engaged to the factory owner's son.

Main cast

* William Bendix as Chester A. Riley *

as Peg Riley *

as Gillis *

Bill Goodwin William Nettles Goodwin (July 28, 1910 – May 9, 1958),Palm Spr ...

as Sidney Monahan *

Beulah Bondi Beulah Bondi (born Beulah Bondy; May 3, 1889 – January 11, 1981)According to the State of California. ''California Death Index, 1940–1997''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At ...

as Miss Martha Bogle *

Meg Randall Meg Randall (born Genevieve Roberts;''The Milwaukee Journal'', September 18, 1949, Jesse Daniels, Hollywood, "It Paid Her to Do Nothing", Milwaukee, WI, p. 5. August 1, 1926 – July 20, 2018) was an American film actress. She was active in moti ...

as Barbara "Babs" Riley * Richard Long as Jeff Taylor * Lanny Rees as Junior Riley * Mark Daniels as Burt Stevenson * Ted de Corsia as Norman * John Brown as Digby "Digger" ODell *

Victoria Horne Victoria Horne (November 1, 1911 – October 10, 2003) was an American character actress, appearing in 49 films (uncredited in 25 of these) during the 1940s and 1950s. Early years Horne was born on November 1, 1911, in New York City, to Ig ...

as Lucy Monahan * William E. Green as Carl Stevenson

Radio adaptation

William Bendix and Rosemary DeCamp reprised their roles in an hour-long radio adaptation of the film that was presented on ''

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

'' on May 8, 1950.

References

Bibliography

* James Monaco. ''The Encyclopedia of Film''. Perigee Books, 1991.

External links

* 1949 films 1949 comedy films American comedy films Universal Pictures films Films directed by Irving Brecher Films with screenplays by Irving Brecher Films based on radio series Films scored by Frank Skinner American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{1940s-comedy-film-stub