Death Takes a Holiday

A tuckered out Death (Fredric March) decides to take some time off and allow life spring eternal over a three day vacation. Taking the identity of a recently expired prince he shacks up with a group of upper crust at an Italian Villa amusing and edifying himself while mystifying and fascinating others. The prince quickly charms the ladies while intimidating them at the same time. One, Grazia ( wonderfully performed by Evelyn Venable) falls completely under his unintentional spell however and contemplates seeing her existence through with him.

March flirts with going full Bela Lugosi in moments but charms and tones down enough to pose some interesting viewpoints and inquiries on this thing called life. Retaining his suave cold demeanor throughout he linchpins both the terror and humor of the film while director Mitchell Leisen tarts matters up with his usual lavish set design. And who could fault death for hanging with the conspicuous consumption crowd as opposed to the skid row consumptive crowd? A disturbingly entertaining film.