The Happiest
Millioniaire
(1967, U.S.) color 141/159/164 minutes
With: Fred MacMurray (Anthony J. Drexel Biddle), Tommy Steele (John Lawless), Greer Garso (Mrs. Cordelia Biddle), Geraldine Page (Mrs. Duke), Gladys Cooper (Aunt Mary Drexel), Hermione Baddeley (Mrs. Worth), Lesley Ann Warren (Cordelia Biddle), John Davidson (Angie Duke), Paul Petersen (Tony Biddle), Eddie Hodges (Livingston Biddle), Joyce Bulifant (Rosemary), Sean McClory (Sgt. Flanagan), Jim McMullan (Lt. Powell), William Wellman Jr. (Lt. Grayson), Aron Kincaid (Walter Blakely), Larry Merrill (Charlie Taylor), Frances Robinson (Aunt Gladys)
***
Plot Outline (IMDb): A happy and unbelievably lucky young Irish immigrant, John Lawless, lands a job as the butler of an unconventional millionaire, Biddle. His daughter, Cordelia Drexel Biddle, tires of the unusual antics of her father--especially since the nice young men around town all fear him. Wouldn't you fear a father-in-law that keeps alligators for pets and teaches boxing at his daily Bible classes? Cordelia decides to run off to boarding school and promptly finds the man of her dreams. Unfortunately, his family doesn't approve of Biddle's outrageous antics, either.
***
Walt Disney had such high hopes for this, his eagerly-awaited followup to his smash hit MARY POPPINS. Unfortunately, THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE was all but a complete failure at the boxoffice. One wonders what the reason was, for this is an entertaining and lively full-scale musical, very similar in many ways to its predecessor. Perhaps lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place...
Considered by some too long and labroriously paced, this lovely musical extravaganza takes Disney's tried and true live-action formula to heretofore unseen lengths. One wonders if the story, about a depressed wealthy man, was something the working-class slobs in the audience coudn't care less about!
There are several versions extant of this film; the current video version is the shortest, at 118 minutes. A re-release ran almost three hours!
Still, THM may be one of Disney's best live-action films, against all odds. It runs very much along the lines of the grand M-G-M musicals. Timeless as it is, it dates well, showing a small-town in America right on the edge of impending world war. For better or worse, the film is filled with glorious songs.
THM's greatest crime, one of disinformation, is that it depicts rich people as harmless eccentrics, a myth which couldn't be further from the sinister truth.
Disney perrenial Fred MacMurray is just great in this plum role (his neoconservative stance notwithstanding). Fred breathes real character into this essential unlikable archetype. The icky teenage lovers are played by John Davidson and Lesley Anne Warren, both sterile to a fault.
THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE may simply have been too long a movie for a casual Kiddie Matinee crowd of the day, but be sure to give it a try on video, because it is quite amazing in its own way.
Video/DVD availability: VHS/DVD (Disney Home Video)
Walt Disney Pictures / Buena Vista Pictures
Story: Cordelia Drexel Biddle, Kyle Crichton
(from their book "My Philadelphia Father")
Screenplay: Kyle Crichton, A.J. Carothers
Music: Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman
Cinematography: Edward Colman
Produced by Bill Anderson, Walt Disney
Directed by Norman Tokar