The Happy Time

Last updated
The Happy Time
Poster of the movie The Happy Time.jpg
theatrical poster
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Screenplay byEarl Felton
Based on Samuel A. Taylor
(based on the Play by)
Robert Fontaine
(And the Book by)
Produced byEarl Felton
Starring Charles Boyer
Louis Jourdan
CinematographyCharles Lawton Jr.
Edited by William A. Lyon
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin
Production
company
Stanley Kramer Productions
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • October 30, 1952 (1952-10-30)(New York City)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Happy Time is a 1952 American comedy-drama film directed by the award-winning director Richard Fleischer, based on the 1945 novel of the same name by Robert Fontaine, which Samuel A. Taylor turned into a hit play. A boy, played by Bobby Driscoll, comes of age in a close-knit French-Canadian family. The film stars Charles Boyer and Louis Jourdan as his father and uncle respectively. The play was also adapted into a musical in 1967 by composer John Kander, lyricist Fred Ebb, and librettist N. Richard Nash, and starred Robert Goulet.

Contents

Plot

Young Robert "Bibi" Bonnard (Bobby Driscoll) grows up in Ottawa, Ontario, with his parents, Jacques (Charles Boyer) and Susan (Marsha Hunt), and his roving rogue of a grandfather, Grandpere (Marcel Dalio). Across the street is his uncle, amiable drunkard Louis (Kurt Kasznar), who ignores the complaints of his hard-working dressmaker wife Felice (Jeanette Nolan) and her worries about the future of their daughter Yvonne. Louis agitates about meeting his prospective son-in-law, Alfred Grattin, a teetotaler bank clerk who wishes to marry Yvonne. Next-door neighbour and schoolmate Peggy O'Hare (Marlene Cameron) has a crush on Bibi, but he is as yet too young to understand.

On his birthday, Bibi is taken to see the vaudeville acts at the theatre where his violinist / conductor father works. During the magic act, the Great Gaspari tries to steal a kiss from Mignonette Chappuis (Linda Christian), the assistant he is in the process of sawing in half. She storms offstage and quits. Jacques offers her a job as a maid, which she gladly accepts. Bibi is intrigued, but a little confused about his feelings for the new addition to the household. Equally fascinated, but not at all perplexed as to why is another unexpected arrival, Uncle Desmonde (Louis Jourdan), a traveling salesman and notorious ladies' man. He has been summoned back to take the place of the recently deceased sales manager, though he informs his employer it is only until a replacement can be found.

Uncle Desmonde starts courting Mignonette, but though she is attracted to him, she tells him she is fed up with living on the road and wants to settle down. He shows her the picture of a lovely house he expects to inherit, weakening her resistance.

Meanwhile, Peggy becomes jealous of Bibi's attentions to Mignonette. Bibi has already gotten into trouble for bringing La Vie Parisienne to school. When a dirty picture is found by the principal, Mr. Frye, Peggy falsely claims she saw Bibi draw it. Bibi denies it, angering Frye. He straps Bibi on the hand three times, and tells him it will be repeated every day until he confesses. When the adult Bonnards find out, they see Frye and straighten him out, though with great difficulty.

When they return in triumph, Desmonde discovers that Mignonette has quit after finding out that he lied about the house, and because she is under the impression that he has been sneaking into her bedroom and stealing kisses when she is asleep. Bibi confesses that he is the guilty party. Desmonde then realizes that Mignonette is not like all of his other women. He finds her and they become engaged.

The adults explain Peggy's behavior to Bibi. To Peggy's delight, Bibi forgives her and makes her his girl. Then his voice breaks.

Cast

Production

Richard Fleischer had previously worked with Stanley Kramer and Carl Foreman on So This is New York. They borrowed Fleischer from RKO after the director had some additional reshoots on His Kind of Woman . Fleischer brought with him his regular writer, Earl Felton. He says Kurt Kasznar wanted too much money to reprise his Broadway performance so Kramer and Fleischer cast Zero Mostel instead. However then Harry Cohn became aware of the casting and overruled it - as Mostel was politically suspect due to communist sympathies. Kasznar was cast. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Jourdan</span> French actor (1921–2015)

Louis Jourdan was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case (1947), Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), Gigi (1958), The Best of Everything (1959), The V.I.P.s (1963) and Octopussy (1983). He played Dracula in the 1977 BBC television production Count Dracula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Driscoll</span> American actor (1937–1968)

Robert "Bobby" Cletus Driscoll was an American actor who performed on film and television from 1943 to 1960. He starred in some of the Walt Disney Studios' best-known live-action pictures of that period: Song of the South (1946), So Dear to My Heart (1949), and Treasure Island (1950), as well as RKO's The Window (1949). He served as the animation model and provided the voice for the title role in Peter Pan (1953). He received an Academy Juvenile Award for outstanding performances in So Dear to My Heart and The Window.

<i>These Old Shades</i> 1926 novel by Georgette Heyer

These Old Shades (1926) is a historical romance written by British novelist Georgette Heyer. The novel is set around 1755: Heyer refers to the Duke of Avon's participation in the 1745 uprising as ten years previous; in addition the Prince of Condé is said to be about 20 years old. However, she also refers to Madame de Pompadour as actively involved with Louis XV, whereas her relationship with the King ended at about 1750.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Fleischer</span> American film director (1916–2006)

Richard Owen Fleischer was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave.

<i>The Gorgeous Hussy</i> 1936 film by Clarence Brown

The Gorgeous Hussy is a 1936 American period film directed by Clarence Brown, and starring Joan Crawford and Robert Taylor. The screenplay was written by Stephen Morehouse Avery and Ainsworth Morgan, which was based on a 1934 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams. The supporting cast includes Lionel Barrymore and James Stewart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcel Dalio</span> French actor (1899–1983)

Marcel Dalio was a French movie actor. He had major roles in two films directed by Jean Renoir, La Grande Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939).

<i>Legend of the Lost</i> 1957 film

Legend of the Lost is a 1957 Italian-American adventure film produced and directed by Henry Hathaway, shot in Technirama and Technicolor by Jack Cardiff, and starring John Wayne, Sophia Loren, and Rossano Brazzi. The location shooting for the film took place near Tripoli, Libya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurt Kasznar</span> Austrian-American actor (1913–1979)

Kurt Kasznar was an Austrian-American stage, film and television actor who played roles on Broadway, appearing in the original Broadway productions of Waiting for Godot, The Sound of Music and Barefoot in the Park. He also appeared in feature films and had many notable parts in television, including the science fiction series Land of the Giants.

Austrian Americans are Americans of Austrian descent, chiefly German-speaking Catholics and Jews. According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were 735,128 Americans of full or partial Austrian descent, accounting for 0.3% of the population. The states with the largest Austrian American populations are New York (93,083), California (84,959), Pennsylvania (58,002), Florida (54,214), New Jersey (45,154), and Ohio (27,017).

<i>The Family Secret</i> (1924 film) 1924 film by William A. Seiter

The Family Secret is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by William A. Seiter and featuring child star Baby Peggy. It is based on Editha's Burglar, a story by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in 1881 by St. Nicholas Magazine and adapted for the stage by Augustus E. Thomas.

<i>Back Street</i> (1941 film) 1941 film by Robert Stevenson

Back Street is a 1941 American drama film directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Charles Boyer and Margaret Sullavan. It is a remake of the 1932 film of the same name, also from Universal. The film is adapted from the 1931 Fannie Hurst novel and the 1932 film version which it follows very closely, in some cases recalling the earlier film scene-for-scene. It is a sympathetic tale of an adulterous couple.

<i>The Happy Time</i> (musical)

The Happy Time is a musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and a book by N. Richard Nash loosely based on a 1950 hit Broadway play, The Happy Time by Samuel A. Taylor, which was in turn based on stories by Robert Fontaine. The story had also been made into a 1952 film version.

<i>Made in Paris</i> 1966 film by Boris Sagal

Made in Paris is a 1966 American romantic-comedy film starring Ann-Margret, Louis Jourdan, Richard Crenna, Edie Adams, and Chad Everett. The film was written by Stanley Roberts and directed by Boris Sagal.

<i>Child of Divorce</i> 1946 film by Richard Fleischer

Child of Divorce is a 1946 American drama film directed by Richard O. Fleischer. It was the first film that he directed. RKO had adapted the play to film before as the 1934 film Wednesday's Child.

<i>Anything Can Happen</i> 1952 American film by George Seaton

Anything Can Happen is a 1952 American comedy-drama film directed by George Seaton, starring José Ferrer and Kim Hunter.

<i>The Oldest Profession</i> 1967 film

The Oldest Profession is a 1967 internationally co-produced comedy film. It features contributions from six different film directors, each one doing a segment on prostitution through the ages.

<i>The Light Touch</i> 1951 film by Richard Brooks

The Light Touch is a 1951 American crime drama film film directed by Richard Brooks and starring Stewart Granger, Pier Angeli and George Sanders. It was produced and released by Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

<i>Tonight We Raid Calais</i> 1943 film by John Brahm

Tonight We Raid Calais is a 1943 American film directed by John Brahm and starring John Sutton, Lee J. Cobb, and Annabella.

References

  1. Fleischer, Richard (1993). Just Tell Me When to Cry: A Memoir . Carroll and Graf. p.  80-81. ISBN   9780881849448.