Happy Go Lovely

As a huge fan of both Gene Kelly and Danny Kaye from a young age, it was something of a no-brainer for me when I came across this film on one of those public domain movie channels on my old Roku box, and saw that it starred the wonderful Vera-Ellen. Ellen was a co-star of Danny Kaye's in many of his movies, and was of course the unforgettable 'Miss Turnstiles' in Gene Kelly's all-time great 'On The Town.' With that kind of pedigree I am surprised that Vera-Ellen didn't star in more movies, and upon seeing this lovely little film musical, that feeling of surprise has only been strengthened.

Okay, so the plot isn't anything new; dance troupe struggle to get the finance needed to put on their show, and the film's budget is minuscule in comparison to the mega M-G-M Musicals of the period, but don't let either of those two things put you off. Vera-Ellen sparkles as small time singer and dancer 'Janet Jones' while David Niven is wonderfully engaging as the somewhat stiff and reserved B.G Bruno, the successful businessman who comes in to the life of Ellen's character through a misunderstanding.

It's predictable fair, but its two leads make Happy Go Lovely a much better film that it should, and otherwise would have been without them. A thoroughly charming, innocent and enjoyable film.

I was having just about the worst day of my life. Then I stumbled on this cute film, watched it, and now I'm ready to go out & kiss a streetlamp.

I have to admit, I only watched it for 2 reasons: VERA-ELLEN'S LEGS. But it's really so much more. The plot is actually quite clever and creatively woven. It's almost like a Shakespearean comedy with all of its delightful misunderstandings. And of course there's also... VERA-ELLEN'S LEGS.

The only unfortunate aspect of this film is that the version I purchased (the "100 Family Classics" collection by Mill Creek Entertainment) doesn't have the best video quality, and I've heard the same about the Alpha release. The brightness and contrast are a bit too high, so a lot of the scenes seem bleached out especially when Vera is dancing in a white dress. But I suppose you can fiddle with the controls of your TV set to compensate. I can only imagine how it looked on the big screen back in '51. The stage sets, costumes & colours are otherwise dazzling & delightfully creepy--sort of in a "Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" vein.

As far as the romance goes, this is just perfect. Not sappy, not contrived, not melodramatic. Just 100% ahhhhhh. Too bad, you poor schmucks, your miserable lives will never be as charming as this. Har har har. Wait, what am I laughing at? My life sucks just as bad as yours. Oh hell. Time to watch this movie again.

As a lightweight British post-war comedy, it's fine. David Niven's really charming, Vera-Ellen's trying like crazy. As a musical, it's very odd. There's nearly no 'musical' in it, and when you finally get to the two on-stage numbers near the end, you'll be glad. There's one long imitation Gene Kelly odyssey piece about a little girl in a big city that's strangely small and mean and bad. It looks like it should at the start, but I'd swear there wasn't any choreography design per se, just the general idea of a Kelly avant-garde set. Large scope, small stage, and the routines are so disjointed, you'll wonder how dancers learned the sequences. But as a comedy, it's quite adequate. Vera-Ellen mostly shines as she usually does though it looks like a bit of a struggle to hold onto the lead position. Fortunately for her, pretty soon she'll get a boost from David Niven. He's really the reason you'd want to see this movie, he just couldn't be more forthright, very plainly happy to be there. Caesar Romero's miscast but he's also obviously happy to be working. Both those big presences, Niven's nuanced, Romero's steamrolling, make this a piece of film worth keeping. And of course, as always, the number one attraction is how Vera-Ellen wore the clothes!

David Niven et al are charming in this tale involving the confused identity of Niven's character. The love story and humor were more interesting to me than the musical aspects which seemed rather weak except for Vera-Ellen's dancing talent. Depending on your interest, you can fast-forward these scenes. The confused identity situations seemed more natural and less contrived than most movies and certainly were better than today's TV situation comedies.

David Niven is especially good at being David Niven! Ceasar Romero does well, if a little extreme, in his role.

For my money Vera-Ellen was the best all-round female dancer from Hollywood's golden era. There were better tap-dancers such as Eleanor Powell or Ann Miller, but Vera-Ellen was extremely good at all types of dance including balletic movement. She also had just about the most beautiful pair of legs I have ever seen & they are wonderfully show-cased in this movie. Rooprect in his review says there are two reasons for watching this movie, "VERA-ELLEN'S LEGS". For the ladies there are two handsome, suave & sophisticated men, David Niven & Cesar Romero, but Vera-Ellen's legs are reason enough for me! In his review of "Happy Go Lovely", jacob chiong says the plot is "simple & easily digestible, the humour is light & clean". That very succinctly sums it all up, really!.