''The Happy Time'' is a 1952 American comedy- drama film directed by the award-winning director

Richard Fleischer Richard O. Fleischer (; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) 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. Though he ...

, based on the 1945 novel of the same name by Robert Fontaine, which

Samuel A. Taylor Samuel A. Taylor (June 13, 1912 – May 26, 2000) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Biography Born Samuel Albert Tanenbaum, in a Jewish family, in Chicago, Illinois, Taylor made his Broadway debut as author of the play ''The Hap ...

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 Robert Gérard Goulet (November 26, 1933 October 30, 2007) was an American and Canadian singer and actor of French-Canadian ancestry. Goulet was born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts until age 13, and then spent his formative years in Cana ...

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 Marcel Dalio (born Marcel Benoit Blauschild; 23 November 1899 in Paris – 18 November 1983) 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). ...

). 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

* Charles Boyer as Jacques Bonnard * Louis Jourdan as Uncle Desmonde Bonnard * Marsha Hunt as Susan Bonnard * Kurt Kasznar as Uncle Louis Bonnard * Linda Christian as Mignonette Chappuis *

as Grandpere Bonnard * Jeanette Nolan as Felice Bonnard * Jack Raine as Mr. Frye * Richard Erdman as Alfred Grattin, * Marlene Cameron as Peggy O'Hare * Gene Collins as Jimmy Bishop * Bobby Driscoll as Robert "Bibi" Bonnard

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 ''His Kind of Woman'' is a 1951 film noir starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. The film features supporting performances by Vincent Price, Raymond Burr and Charles McGraw. The direction of the film, which was based on the unpublished story " ...

''. Fleischer brought with him his regular writer,

Earl Felton Earl Felton (1909–1972) was an American screenwriter. He was a regular collaborator with Richard Fleischer, who later wrote that "Earl was crippled from childhood with polio. He had no use of his legs, but he navigated beautifully with a crut ...

. He says Kurt Kasznar wanted too much money to reprise his Broadway performance so Kramer and Fleischer cast

Zero Mostel Samuel Joel "Zero" Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in ''Fiddler on the Roof'', Pseudolus on stage and on ...

instead. However then

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His father, Joseph Cohn, wa ...

became aware of the casting and overruled it - as Mostel was politically suspect due to communist sympathies. Kasznar was cast.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Happy Time, The 1952 films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American black-and-white films Columbia Pictures films 1950s English-language films Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin American films based on plays Films directed by Richard Fleischer Films set in Ottawa 1950s French-language films 1952 comedy-drama films 1950s American films