''The Happiest Days of Your Life'' is a 1950 British

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 o ...

directed by

Frank Launder Frank Launder (28 January 1906 – 23 February 1997) was a British writer, film director and producer, who made more than 40 films, many of them in collaboration with Sidney Gilliat. Early life and career He was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire ...

, based on the 1947 play of the same name by

John Dighton John Gervase DightonCollections"John Dighton"''British Film Institute''. Retrieved 30 August 2020. (8 December 1909 – 16 April 1989) was a British playwright and screenwriter. Dighton was born in London to Basil Lewis Dighton, of West Ken ...

. The two men also wrote the screenplay. It is one of a stable of classic British film comedies produced by

and

Sidney Gilliat Sidney Gilliat (15 February 1908 – 31 May 1994) was an English film director, producer and writer. He was the son of George Gilliat, editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1928 to 1933. Sidney was born in the district of Edgeley in Sto ...

for

British Lion Film Corporation British Lion Films is a film production and distribution company active under several forms since 1919. Originally known as British Lion Film Corporation Ltd, it entered receivership on 1 June 1954. From 29 January 1955 to 1976, the company was k ...

. The film was made on location in

Liss Liss, Lyss or LISS may refer to *Liss (band), a Danish musical group * Liss (name), a given name and surname *Liss, Hampshire, a village in England **West Liss, the oldest part of Liss village **Liss Forest, a hamlet near Liss ** Liss Athletic F. ...

and at

Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having closed for redevelopment ...

, London. In several respects, including some common casting, it was a precursor of the '' St. Trinian's'' films of the 1950s and 1960s.

Plot

In September 1949, confusion reigns when St Swithin's Girls' School is accidentally billeted at Nutbourne College: a boys' school in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. The two heads, Wetherby Pond (

Alastair Sim Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his ...

) and Muriel Whitchurch ( Margaret Rutherford), try to cope with the ensuing chaos, as the children and staff attempt to live in the newly cramped conditions (it being impossible to share dormitories or other facilities), and seek to prevent the children taking advantage of their new opportunities. Additional humour is derived from the departure of the Nutbourne College domestic staff and their hurried (and not very effective) replacement with the St Swithin's School Home Economics class. The main comedy is derived from the fact that the parents of the St Swithin's girls would consider it improper for their daughters to be exposed to the rough mix of boys in Pond's school, and from the consequent need to conceal the fact that the girls are now sharing a school that's full of boys. Pond is offended at the suggestion that his boys are not suitable company for the young ladies of St Swithin's, but he needs to appease Miss Whitchurch to salvage his chances of an appointment to a prestigious all-boys school for which he is in the running, and which depends on his ability to prevent his current post presenting the appearance of a beer garden. Matters come to a head when a group of school governors, from the prestigious establishment to which Pond has applied to become the next headmaster, pay a visit at the same time as the parents of some of the St Swithin's girls. Frantic classroom changes are made, and hockey, lacrosse and rugby posts and nets are swapped about, as pupils and staff try to hide the unusual arrangement. Two simultaneous tours of the school premises are arranged: one for the girls' parents, and a separate one for the governors, and never the twain must meet! The facade finally collapses when the parents become obsessed with seeing a girls' lacrosse match at the same time as one of the governors has been promised a rugby match. The punchline is delivered – a clever swipe at post-war bureaucracy – when, weeks too late, a Ministry of Schools official arrives, to declare everything sorted out. "You're a co-educational school, I believe; well I've arranged for ''another'' co-educational school to replace St Swithin's next week... Oh, it appears they're ahead of schedule." At this point, several more coachloads of children and staff appear noisily, and utter chaos reigns. Fade out on Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford, quietly discussing in which remote and unattractive corner of the British Empire they might best try to pick up the pieces of their respective careers, with her mentioning having a brother who " grows groundnuts in Tanganyika."

Cast

as Wetherby Pond * Margaret Rutherford as Miss Whitchurch *

Guy Middleton Guy Middleton Powell (14 December 1906 – 30 July 1973), better known as Guy Middleton, was an English film character actor. Biography Guy Middleton was born in Hove, Sussex, and originally worked in the London Stock Exchange, before ...

as Victor Hyde-Brown * Joyce Grenfell as Miss Gossage * Edward Rigby as Rainbow *

Muriel Aked Muriel Aked (9 November 1883 – 21 March 1955) was an English film actress. Early life, family and education Aked was born in Bingley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England to George Henry Aked and his wife Emma (née Bairstow). She was a student ...

as Miss Jezzard * John Bentley as Richard Tassell *

Bernadette O'Farrell Bernadette O'Farrell (30 January 1924 – 26 September 1999) was an Irish actress. She was born in Birr, County Offaly, Irish Free State. She was married to the film writer, director and producer Frank Launder from 1950 until his death in 1997. ...

as Miss Harper *

Richard Wattis Richard Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, the ...

as Arnold Billings * Gladys Henson as Mrs. Hampstead * John Turnbull as Conrad Matthews *

Percy Walsh Percy Walsh (24 April 1888 in Luton, Bedfordshire – 19 January 1952 in London) was a British stage and film actor. His stage work included appearing in the London premieres of R.C.Sherriff's '' Journey's End'' (1928) and Agatha Christie's ''And ...

as Monsieur Joue *

Arthur Howard Arthur Howard (born Arthur John Steiner; 18 January 1910 – 18 June 1995) was an English stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born in Camberwell, London, Howard was the younger son of Lilian (née Blumberg) and Ferdinand "Frank" ...

as Anthony Ramsden * Harold Goodwin as Edwin *

Laurence Naismith Laurence Naismith (born Lawrence Johnson; 14 December 1908 – 5 June 1992) was an English actor. He made numerous film and television appearances, including starring roles in the musical films '' Scrooge'' (1970) and the children's ghost fil ...

as Dr. Collet * Stringer Davis as Rev. Rich *

Olwen Brookes Olwen Brookes (26 November 1901 – 17 September 1976) was an English actress, known for '' An Inspector Calls'', '' The Happiest Days of Your Life'' and ''The First Night of Pygmalion''. Her career spanned over a quarter of a century, and as wel ...

as Mrs. Parry *

Russell Waters Russell Waters (born 10 June 1908, Glasgow, Lanarkshire – died 19 August 1982, Richmond, Surrey) was a Scottish film actor. Waters was educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, Glasgow and the University of Glasgow. He began acting with the ...

as Mr. West *

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

as Mr. Tripp *

Angela Glynne Angela Glynne (7 September 1933 in Middlesex, England – 22 April 2008 in Northridge, California aged 74) was a British film actress. Selected filmography * ''Bank Holiday'' (1938) * ''Those Kids from Town'' (1942) * ''Gert and Daisy Clean ...

as Barbara Colhoun * Keith Faulkner as Unsworth * George Cole as Junior Assistant Caretaker at Ministry of Education (uncredited)

Reception

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' noted an "Uninhibited and energetically handled farce...Occasionally slapdash, but frequently amusing"; and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it "witty, warm, sometimes biting and wholly charming." ''

BFI Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lot ...

'' states that Alastair Sim's portrayal of headmaster Wetherby Pond "is one of his greatest creations", but that both he and Margaret Rutherford were "decisively upstaged" by supporting actress Joyce Grenfell, as one of the teaching staff of St Swithin's.

Box Office

The film was successful on its release, being the fifth most popular film and the second-biggest money maker at the British box office for 1950. According to ''Kinematograph Weekly'' the 'biggest winners' at the box office in 1950 Britain were ''The Blue Lamp'', ''The Happiest Days of Your Life'', ''Annie Get Your Gun'', ''The Wooden Horse'', ''Treasure Island'' and ''Odette'', with "runners up" being ''Stage Fright'', ''White Heat'', ''They Were Not Divided'', ''Trio'', ''Morning Departure'', ''Destination Moon'', ''Sands of Iwo Jima'', ''Little Women'', ''The Forsythe Saga'', ''Father of the Bride'', ''Neptune's Daughter'', ''The Dancing Years'', ''The Red Light'', ''Rogues of Sherwood Forest'', ''Fancy Pants'', ''Copper Canyon'', ''State Secret'', ''The Cure for Love'', ''My Foolish Heart'', ''Stromboli'', ''Cheaper by the Dozen'', ''Pinky'', ''Three Came Home'', ''Broken Arrow'' and ''Black Rose''.

Legacy

'' The Belles of St Trinian's'' (1954) is a similar comedy about a girls' school at which chaos reigned, which was also produced by Launder and Gilliat and featured several members of the cast of ''The Happiest Days of Your Life'', including

, Joyce Grenfell, George Cole,

and

, with

Ronald Searle Ronald William Fordham Searle, CBE, RDI (3 March 1920 – 30 December 2011) was an English artist and satirical cartoonist, comics artist, sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the creator of St Trinian's S ...

providing the cartoons for the titles.

References

Bibliography

*The Great British Films, pp 142–143, Jerry Vermilye, 1978, Citadel Press,

External links

* * *
Jaymes Young – Happiest Year Song Lyrics
a
Cover Lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Happiest Days Of Your Life, The 1950 films 1950 comedy films British comedy films British films based on plays London Films films Films with screenplays by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat Films directed by Frank Launder 1950s high school films Films set in boarding schools Films set in 1949 British black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films