The Happiest Millionaire

Despite a phenomenal cast, "The Happiest Millionaire" really never takes off.

This is probably because the star of the film should have been butler Tommy Steele who begins the picture on a high note with the clever tune Fortuosity. Steele is toothy and with that broad smile, he could easily captivate audiences. Unfortunately, he soon falls into a rather supporting role to an eccentric Biddle family.

Fred MacMurray is all right for the part but his monotone voice is annoying at times. As his wife, Greer Garson, is wonderful. She depicts that regal elegance that made her so famous through the years. She is just an older, elegant version of Mrs. Miniver and all the other great roles she had in the 1940s.

Gladys Cooper is a rather tame Auntie here. Cooper was always at her best when she was an upper class mean person. The upper class is certainly there but where is her usual nastiness? Ditto for Geraldine Page. Page as Lesley Ann Warren's prospective mother-in-law causes mayhem as she usually did in pictures. This being a musical comedy, her usual frustrations are missing and we could have used them there.

Enough with the alligator scenes already. MacMurray and family wear their bible shirts and practice boxing. MacMurray is anxious for the U.S. to be prepared for World War 1 and he urges President Wilson for this preparedness.

The big surprise of this film is that all our players could carry a tune. I thought that the argument scene between Cooper and Page would have been exacerbated.

The film falters as we have seen the bar-room brawls and social fights among the upper classes in society before.

A combination of desires- to top "Mary Poppins" and to capitilize on the then-current trend of big-budget, three-hour musical films playing to roadshow audiences- caused Walt Disney to make this film, the last he personally oversaw. He hired several of the same people to work on it that had worked on "Poppins", including the songwriting team of the Sherman brothers, the chereography team of Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood, and supporting cast member Hermoine Baddely in much the same role of the acerbic maid. In addition, he spent freely on costumes and production and hired an impressive cast, including Fred Macmurry, Greer Garson, Tommy Steele, Gladys Cooper, Geraldine Page, and in their film debuts, Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson.

The result was a pleasent, somewhat entertaining but all-around silly and, for the most part, instantly forgettable confection. Yes, it's fine for the whole family, but it will be hard for the kiddies (and even the adults) to stay awake as the rather simple story is stretched to nearly three hours, with a series of plotlines connected by merely a shimmer all going on at once. Macmurry is at his least inspired, making the title character into a bumbling, blustering idiot; it's pretty hard not to cheer whenever someone shows him up, verbally or physically. The songs are nice enough, but only one or two really stick in the memory, and half of them are totally irrelevant. (I saw the restored roadshow edition; there are a variety of other editions that cut out several of the songs) Still, Tommy Steele is likable as the forever perky Irish butler (He gets a very hummable song to sing called "Fortuosity") and the chereography certainly is lively. The songs, for all the irrelevance of many of them, really move the picture along, as it slows down considerably whenever the screenplay takes over.

It's too bad Disney's last film couldn't have been better, but oh, well. That's life.

When I was a boy, I'm in my 40s now, my mother would get Disney albums in the mail. They contained music from the soundtracks of movies. Consequently, I was familiar with the songs long before I had seen the films. 'Happiest Millionaire' was one of them, but I have never seen the movie until 2004 when I bought it on DVD, and it was fantastic!

The version on the disc lasts close to 3 hours. It is a 'Roadshow Edition,' and that is entirely enjoyable. It begins with a music overture. In the middle of the film is an intermission, and after the movie is over, there is another musical medley with the word 'Exit' on the screen. That must have been there to remind people to leave the theater!

I see that on IMDb it gets an average rating of 5.5. Maybe that comes from the shorter, lesser cuts of the film. This restored edition is much better than that. My children loved it, too! They were literally glued to the screen for the duration of the movie.

This is easily the most musical of any film I have ever seen. That is one of the reasons the movie is so entertaining. Tommy Steele looks as if he is having a lot of fun, and that feeling is contagious.

'Happiest Millionaire' was released in 1967, the year after Walt Disney died, but he loved this film. The music is by the Sherman brothers, the same duo who gave us the unforgettable tunes in 'Mary Poppins.' I think it is sad that these kinds of films are no longer made. The great family oriented musicals are gone. Can anyone recommend 'Moulin Rouge' or 'Chicago' to their children?

And yet, this is not necessarily a kids' movie. Walt Disney had the genius to understand that things need to appeal to everyone. That was the inspiration behind Disneyland.

Out of four stars, I rate this: ***

"The Happiest Millionaire" is a lively musical adaptation of the hit 1957 Broadway play that starred Walter Pidgeon as Anthony Drexel Biddle. The play was written by Kyle Crichton, who adapted it from a biographical book he co-wrote with Biddle's daughter Cordelia, "My Philadelphia Father."

As adapted to the screen by AJ Carothers (who would go on to create the TV sitcom "Nanny and the Professor"), "Millionaire" tells the story of eccentric millionaire Biddle and his family in 1916 Philadelphia.

The movie actually isn't really about Biddle at all, instead it focuses on his daughter Cordelia [Lesley Ann Warren in her big screen debut] and her impending romance with Angier Duke [John Davidson in his big screen debut].

The two youngsters fall in love much to the dismay of Angier's mother [Geraldine Page]. The clash between Philadelphia "old money" [the Biddles] and New York's nouveau riche [the Dukes] comes into play, but ultimately love conquers all in the final reel.

Thrown in for good measure is Tommy Steele as "John Lawless", an Irish immigrant whose landed a job as the Biddles' new butler. He's the film's "narrator" of sorts and oversees the proceedings as they unfold.

The score is provided by Disney veterans Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman [of "Mary Poppins" fame], and while this score does not exactly reach the caliber of their work in "Poppins" it's not entirely bad either. There are some "gems": "Fortuosity", "Let's Have A Drink On It", "Valentine Candy" and "Are We Dancing" among them.

The choreography by Marc Beaux and Dee Dee Wood ["Poppins" and "The Sound of Music"] is brought to life by both Tommy Steele and Lesley Ann Warren.

Screen legend Greer Garson is Cordelia Drexel Biddle, Sr. and generally plays it straight opposite MacMurray's eccentric-slightly goofy portrayal. Also in the cast Gladys Cooper ["My Fair Lady"] as Aunt Mary, Paul Petersen ["The Donna Reed Show"] as Anthony, Jr., Eddie Hodges as Livingston and Hermoine Baddeley ["Mary Poppins"] as the Biddle's maid.

At an original 164 minute running time, "Millionaire" may seem to some a bit excessive in length, and while this may be true it is still in my opinion a very entertaining movie which for some reason or another Disney has ignored [save for an occasional 3 am screening on "The Disney Channel"]. It took Anchor Bay Entertainment to save this gem from relative obscurity when in 1998 they licensed the film from the Disney studios and released it on VHS and DVD in both a general release and road show edition. Disney finally got wise and finally dusted off the film's soundtrack and released the long out-of-print score in August 2002.

I recommend this film for it's music, it's light-heartedness and a compelling motion picture debut by the multi-talented Lesley Ann Warren.

I remember the first time I saw this terrific film. I was nine going on ten and living in Westchester County, New York, at the time. "Happiest Millionaire" was the Christmas attraction at Radio City Music Hall that year [1967] and it was a delight! The performances, particularly those of Tommy Steele, Fred MacMurray, and Leslie Ann Warren are all bursting with effervescence and energy, and the Sherman brothers' songs, if not up to their work on "Mary Poppins," (But, then, what could be?) are consistently pleasant and enjoyable. As the last complete film that Walt Disney was to oversee before his death, it's one of his best latter-day works.

Which is why I find the critical drubbing it's taken over the years, particularly Leonard Maltin's in his book "The Disney Films," so hard to understand. "Happiest Millionaire" is what many family films try to be today, rarely succeeding. I was given a video of it as a present recently and found it just as enjoyable as I did 32 years ago, if not more so. Plus, living in the Philadelphia area as I do today, there's the historical interest, as well.

In short, "Happiest Millionaire" was great in 1967, and even better today. If you can see it, by all means do. You'll be in for a rare treat and a hidden treasure from the Disney vaults!