''The Happy Time'' is a 1952 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

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 Robert Cletus Driscoll (March 3, 1937 – March 30, 1968) was an American actor known for his film and television performances from 1943 to 1960. He starred in some of the Walt Disney Studios' best-known live-action pictures of that period ...

, comes of age in a close-knit French-Canadian family. The film stars

Charles Boyer Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...

and

Louis Jourdan Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) 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), '' Lett ...

as his father and uncle respectively. The play was also adapted into a musical in 1967 by composer

John Kander John Harold Kander (born March 18, 1927) is an American composer, known largely for his work in the musical theater. As part of the songwriting team Kander and Ebb (with lyricist Fred Ebb), Kander wrote the scores for 15 musicals, including ''Cab ...

, lyricist

Fred Ebb Fred Ebb (April 8, 1928 – September 11, 2004) was an American musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Riv ...

, and librettist

N. Richard Nash Nathan Richard Nusbaum (June 8, 1913 – December 11, 2000), known as N. Richard Nash, was an American writer and dramatist best known for writing Broadway shows, including '' The Rainmaker''. Early life Nash was born Nathan Richard Nusbau ...

, and starred Robert Goulet.

Plot

Young Robert "Bibi" Bonnard (

) grows up in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, with his parents, Jacques (

) 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 Kurt Kasznar (born Kurt Servischer; August 13, 1913 – August 6, 1979) 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 ...

), who ignores the complaints of his hard-working dressmaker wife Felice (

Jeanette Nolan Jeanette Nolan (December 30, 1911 – June 5, 1998) was an American actress. Nominated for four Emmy Awards, she had roles in the television series '' The Virginian'' (1962–1971) and ''Dirty Sally'' (1974), and in films such as ''Macbeth'' ...

) 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 Linda Christian (born Blanca Rosa Henrietta Stella Welter Vorhauer; November 13, 1923 – July 22, 2011) was a Mexican film actress, who appeared in Mexican and Hollywood films. Her career reached its peak in the 1940s and 1950s. She played Mara ...

), 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 (

), a traveling salesman and notorious

ladies' man A ladies' man or lady's man is a man who enjoys spending time socially with women, who strives to please them and that women find attractive. Ladies' man or lady's man may also refer to: Literature * ''Ladies' Man'' (novel), a 1978 novel by R ...

. 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

as Jacques Bonnard *

as Uncle Desmonde Bonnard * Marsha Hunt as Susan Bonnard *

as Uncle Louis Bonnard *

as Mignonette Chappuis * Marcel Dalio as Grandpere Bonnard *

as Felice Bonnard *

Jack Raine Thomas Foster "Jack" Raine (18 May 1897 – 30 May 1979) was an English stage, television and film actor. He was a leading man of the British cinema in the late twenties and early thirties in such films as ''The Hate Ship'' (1929), '' Raise the ...

as Mr. Frye *

Richard Erdman Richard Erdman ( John Richard Erdmann; June 1, 1925 – March 16, 2019) was an American character actor and occasional film and television director. He appeared in more than 160 films and television productions between 1944 and 2017, mostly i ...

as Alfred Grattin, * Marlene Cameron as Peggy O'Hare * Gene Collins as Jimmy Bishop *

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''. 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.

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