Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality” – Emily Dickinson
If Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences. Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play "La Morte in Vacanza" by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much. Why he has waited 5,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained.
[Spoiler] After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki. Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert (Guy Standing), and he is sworn to secrecy. Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests. Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes. During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration.
To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia (Evelyn Venable), the daughter of one of Duke’s friends. Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado (Kent Taylor) who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming.
More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 1998 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest. Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching.
(Howard Schumann, talkingpix.co.uk)
In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it.
(Dennis Schwartz, homepages.sover.net)
I've heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line "The Weirdest Love Story ever told!" (this is probably a paraphrase), but at heart, I've never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story. The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story. This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner. Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him; much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role. It's quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes. From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed. It's not perfect; some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound. But I am certainly glad they didn't try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts.
(Dave Sindelar, scifilm.org)
See also the remake: Death Takes A Holiday (1971)
狠狠的讽刺了娱乐至死、资本至上和政治把戏的荒唐无耻，看评论说不好笑，确实不好笑，也不是为了好笑的喜剧，更像是一部严肃主义者——就想剧中的主人公一样——在这样的世界里走投无路后破罐子破摔的荒诞剧。
这部电影还是提出了一个问题：
说是喜剧，介是个悲剧，说是悲剧，介是个喜剧。拧巴有余，食材不足，毕竟美利坚那边的事儿，我们看着是隔靴搔痒，high不太起来。
主讲新冠肆虐大美利坚这茬子事，苹果华为之争、霉霉恋情绯闻、弗洛伊德事件等也面面俱到影射。好莱坞啊，全美最大民主党左派大本营，众星接下此片应该也是闻出了剧本的现实讽刺意义，梅姨亲自演特朗普挖苦；大表姐也真会挑剧本，《母亲！》直指默克尔难民政策，这部则辛辣开刷当今整个病态美国。
话说外圈的月亮干啥去了。
荒诞又真实。这就是我最担心的情况，科学家被政客和商人孤立和边缘化，最后普通民众被洗脑。
结尾晚餐挺有禅意的，世界末日终于到了，甜茶的祷告词真的很美，看看评论发现好多人圣诞节看这部，有被治愈到，not alone
层层递进的讽刺荒唐 把美国各个阶层黑了个遍 网飞还是猛 卡司华丽 小李子造型就是Leonard翻版 A妹演唱会的歌挺好听 ps有两个彩蛋
还是挺喜欢的，《疯狂的外星人》后传《疯狂的地球人》——“毁灭吧，赶紧的，累了！”
很多时候这甚至不是一部电影，而是一个人借助电影的媒介逼逼叨叨2个小时自己对整个社会的一坨不满；而你接受的意愿在很大程度上取决于你是否能接受这两个小时无比高强度的信息流的冲击以及“世界末日不是什么值得好笑的”。确实作为一部drama完全不好笑是有失偏颇的，但这却完完全全正是我的type
低于预期，但看着也挺唏嘘这个疯魔艹蛋又真实存在还得活在里面的世界。多半星因为是甜茶颜狗呀。
看刚上院线的评论以为扑街了，结果我很喜欢，直截了当的黑色幽默。
当你意识到这就是当下世界的现实，电影的幽默就会变成一种恼火和痛苦，快毁灭吧。但看的还是很痛快，或许未来某一天，它会成为一部预言电影也说不定。
表面是讽刺喜剧，内核是现实悲剧。经历了全球疫情灾难，我们应该何去何从，政客、资本家、媒体人、学者粉墨登场、各展嘴脸，人们仍然不会思考，而是继续一场末日狂欢。还是那句话，好的喜剧内核是悲剧。
证明者：新冠
2021-2022跨年在家看的，挺有意思的，讽喻现实的荒诞喜剧，彗星撞地球也可以改成任何毁灭性的大灾难（比如疫情），不是技术上解决不了，而是权力、利益、贪婪等东西阻碍了问题的解决…最终导致人类的灭亡…（甜茶好可爱（看到和小李子睡了之后我才认出大魔王
火力全开了，这个世界需要更多的讽刺喜剧！尤其是在这个年代。
21年最后一天看完的，超豪华的卡司，讽刺的本意是好的，但夹杂了太多没有用的环节导致观感极其分裂。。。
电影版snl 但是太长了 后半段越看越没意思… 讽刺了100多分钟的美国 最后给出的结论是 就算美国再烂 那也还是地表最强宇宙中心 全世界都离不开我大美利坚！这才真的太过讽刺… 以拯救者的姿态可怜全世界 但其实只是单纯为了满足自身的道德优越感。
四星的电影，我愿意给五星，因当下的环境而更精彩😂（其实应该弄的更劲些）
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