''Happy Go Lovely'' is a 1951 British
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
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 ol ...
in
Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
, directed by
H. Bruce Humberstone
H. Bruce "Lucky" Humberstone (November 18, 1901 – October 11, 1984) was an American film director. He was previously a movie actor (as a child), a script clerk, and an assistant director, working with directors such as King Vidor, Edmund Gould ...
and starring
Vera-Ellen,
David Niven
James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...
, and
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor and activist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years.
His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in c ...
. The film was made and first released in the
UK, and distributed in the US by
RKO Radio Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
in 1952.
Plot
When chorus girl Janet Jones is late for rehearsal in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Bates, the chauffeur for B. G. Bruno, gives her a ride in Bruno's limousine, starting rumours that she is engaged to the wealthiest man in Scotland. American producer John Frost, her employer, has just had the star of his next show, ''Frolics to You'', walk out on him because of his desperate financial situation. He replaces her with Janet, hoping that Bruno will back his revue, or at least that he can use Bruno's reputation to fend off impatient creditors. Her dressmaker, Madame Amanda, gives her more clothes, and sends the bill to Bruno. Janet's roommate, Mae Thompson, convinces her to continue the deception.
When Bruno receives the bill, he goes to the theatre to investigate. Janet mistakes him for reporter Paul Tracy, who was supposed to interview her. Finding Janet very attractive, Bruno does not correct her error. The two fall in love. Bruno amuses himself by continually asking Janet about her relationship with the millionaire.
Finally, Bruno gives Frost a cheque for £10,000. When Janet finds out, however, she confesses everything. On the opening night of ''Frolics to You'', Bruno takes a box seat. Frost summons the police to have Bruno arrested as an impostor. In between performing on stage, Janet tries to make "Paul Tracy" hide or leave. During the hectic proceedings, Janet blurts out that she loves him. The police catch Bruno, but the inspector in charge recognizes him, much to the surprise of Janet and Frost, and all ends well.
Cast
*
David Niven
James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...
as B.G. Bruno
*
Vera-Ellen as Janet Jones
*
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor and activist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years.
His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in c ...
as John Frost
*
Bobby Howes
Bobby Howes (4 August 1895 – 27 April 1972) was a British entertainer who was a leading musical comedy performer in London's West End theatres in the 1930s and 1940s.
Biography
Born in Battersea, Surrey, his parents were Robert William H ...
as Charlie, Frost's assistant
*
Diane Hart
Diane Lavinia Hart (20 July 1926 – 7 February 2002) was an English actress in both films and the theatre in the West End Theatre of London, political campaigner, and inventor.
Born in 1926, Hart was educated at various convents and then at ...
as Mae
*
Gordon Jackson as Paul Tracy
*
Barbara Couper
Barbara Couper (1903–1992) was a British stage, film and television actress. She made her stage debut in 1925 and played leading roles at Stratford in the 1930s. Her screen work included several films and much television.
Selected filmography ...
as Madame Amanda
*
Henry Hewitt as Dodds, Bruno's assistant
*
Gladys Henson
Gladys Henson (27 September 1897 – 21 December 1982) was an Irish actress whose career lasted from 1932 to 1976 and included roles on stage, radio, films and television series. Among her most notable films were ''The History of Mr. Polly ( ...
as Mrs. Urquhart, Janet and Mae's landlady
*
Hugh Dempster
Hugh Dempster (3 August 1900 – 30 April 1987) was a British theatre and film actor.
Born in London, Dempster made his stage debut in 1920, and began his screen career in the silent film era. His credits included ''Vice Versa'', ''Anna Karenin ...
as Bates
*
Sandra Dorne
Sandra Dorne (born Joan Smith; 19 June 1924 – 25 December 1992) was a British actress.
Career
Also known as Sandra Holt, Dorne was often known in the 1950s as the B-film Diana Dors. As a platinum blonde, she was a regular female lead ...
as Betty
*
Joyce Carey
Joyce Carey, OBE (30 March 1898 – 28 February 1993) was an English actress, best known for her long professional and personal relationship with Noël Coward. Her stage career lasted from 1916 until 1987, and she was performing on television ...
as Bruno's Secretary
*
John Laurie
John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish actor. In the course of his career, Laurie performed on the stage and in films as well as television. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom ''Dad's Army'' (196 ...
as Jonskill, one of the creditors
*
Wylie Watson
Wylie Watson (6 February 1889 – 3 May 1966) (born John Wylie Robertson) was a British actor. Among his best-known roles were those of "Mr Memory", an amazing man who commits "50 new facts to his memory every day" in Alfred Hitchcock's film ' ...
as Stage Door Keeper
*
Joan Heal
Joan Heal (17 October 1922 – 12 April 1998) was an English actress and singer, known for her appearances in revue in the 1940s and 1950s.
Life and career
Heal was born in Vobster, Somerset, and educated at Bath High School and later the Old ...
as Phyllis Gardiner, the former star
*
Hector Ross
Hector Ross (1914-1980) was a British stage, film and television actor.
Partial filmography
* '' Night Beat'' (1947) - Don Brady
* ''Bonnie Prince Charlie'' (1948) - Glenaladale
* '' The Man Who Disappeared'' (1951) - Dr. Watson
* ''Happy Go L ...
as Harold
*
Ambrosine Phillpotts
Ambrosine Phillpotts (13 September 1912 – 12 October 1980) was a British actress of theatre, TV, radio and film. ''The Times'' wrote, "She was one of the last great stage aristocrats, a stylish comedienne best known for playing on stage an ...
as Lady Martin
*
Molly Urquhart
Molly Sinclair Urquhart (6 January 1906 – 6 October 1977) was a Scottish actress and theater director.
Early life
Urquhart was born in Glasgow as Mary Sinclair Urquhart. She was the daughter of post office clerk Ann McCallum and sea-going e ...
as Madame Amanda's Assistant
Musical numbers
# "MacIntosh's Wedding" - Sung by Joan Heal, danced by
Vera-Ellen and Chorus.
# "One-Two-Three" - Sung and danced by Vera-Ellen (dubbed by
Eve Boswell
Eve Boswell (born Éva Keleti; 11 May 1922 – 14 August 1998, was a Hungarian pop singer. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Eva's family moved to South Africa, where they worked with the Boswell Circus. After a few years in South Afric ...
) and Chorus.
# "London Town" - Danced by Vera-Ellen and Chorus.
# "Would You - Could You?"' - Sung and danced by Vera-Ellen (dubbed by Eve Boswell)
See also
* ''
And Who Is Kissing Me?'' (1933)
* ''
Paradise for Two'' (1937)
*
List of films in the public domain in the United States
Most films are subject to copyright, but those listed here are believed to be in the public domain in the United States. This means that no government, organization, or individual owns any copyright over the work, and as such it is common property ...
References
Further reading
* Craddock, Jim (2005). ''Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever''.
Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the affluent suburbs northwest of Detroit, Farmington Hills is the second most-populated city in Oakland County, after Troy, with a population of 83,986 at the 20 ...
:
Thomson Gale
Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007.
The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale Gro ...
. .
* Martin, Mick, and Marsha Porter (2003). ''DVD & Video Guide 2004''.
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
:
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...
. .
* Mundy, John (2007). ''The British musical film''.
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
:
Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with th ...
. .
* Tuska, Jon (1991). ''Encounters with Filmmakers: Eight Career Studies''.
Westport, Connecticut
Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
History
...
:
Greenwood Press
Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as Gr ...
. p. 33. .
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{H. Bruce Humberstone
1951 films
1951 musical comedy films
1951 romantic comedy films
British musical comedy films
British remakes of German films
British romantic comedy films
Films shot at Associated British Studios
Films directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
Films set in Edinburgh
Films shot in Edinburgh
British romantic musical films
1950s English-language films
1950s British films