Nick and Nora's Disney Journey [The Return]

THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE (1967) 
*Starring: Fred MacMurray, Greer Garson, Lesley Ann Warren, Eddie Hodges, Tommy Steele, Geraldine Page, Paul Petersen, John Davidson 


This is a story about an Irish immigrant who is hired by a wealthy family obsessed with education, good morals, and physical fitness. Tommy Steele plays the Irish butler, John Lawless, and his opening song 'Fortuosity' is quite catchy, needless to say (music by the Sherman Brothers, no surprise there). John happens upon a notice in the paper that the Biddle family is in desperate need of a butler. Hoping to snag the job, he makes his way to their home, and is almost immediately put to work as he meets each member of the family. MacMurray is the pater, and Garson is the mater, with Warren, Hodges, and Petersen as their children. The gist of the tale is that Cordy (Warren) is a bit of a tomboy with an innate sparring ability, and due to her frustrations with this skill acting as a natural repellent to potential suitors, she decides to go off to college and ingratiate herself into high society. She meets a young man at a party and desperately wants to marry him, and upon her return home, she breaks the news of her engagement to her parents. Both families are overjoyed but much to the young couple's chagrin, both sides weasel their way into making decisions about the celebration.



Apparently, this was based on the real life Biddle family, and was adapted from a play written by Cordy Biddle. In my humble opinion, it should have remained a play without Disney's insistence to turn it into a movie musical. The music was fairly enjoyable (thank you Sherman Brothers), and the cast did their best, but there was little humor, and I could not find it in me to care about any of the characters or what was happening on-screen. RATING: 2/5