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      The Happy Time

      1952 1 hr. 34 min. Comedy List
      Reviews 74% 100+ Ratings Audience Score A large French-Canadian family suddenly expands when father Jacques (Charles Boyer) invites an out-of-work magician's assistant to be their live-in maid. At the same time, charming ladies' man Uncle Desmond (Louis Jourdan) comes back to town to replace a sales manager who has died, and subsequently begins a romance with the new maid. Jacques' son Bobby watches these interactions with confused curiosity as he makes the tough transition from boyhood to adolescence. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      steve d Forgettable but entertaining. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Sparkling adaptation of the Broadway hit, with Kurt Kasznar recreating his original role. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member (First and only viewing - 4/1/2010) Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Although one must question the sanity of these French Canadians who consider puberty "The Happy Time," this film is hilarious--loaded with laugh lines. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Yes, this movie is silly and splashy, but it is at heart a very sweet story about love and coming of age. The dialogue is brilliant, with lots of subtle humour mixed between the more obvious jokes. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member The Happy Time – A wonderful comedy about a family in Ottawa. Bobby Driscoll plays the bordering-on-teenage son who becomes enraptured by the lovely maid Mignette that his Father, played by Charles Boyer, has hired. There are some wonderful moments that were pretty subversive for the period. Boyer and his brothers boisterously confront a cruel schoolmaster who has not only been beating Driscoll with a strap but for something he didn’t do. Toward the end, Boyer gently and encouragingly explains to Driscoll that desire is natural and good (!) but that alone it is hollow. Desire with love, he says, giving himself and the boy’s mother as an example, is how it should be and that it is the most wonderful thing in the world. Here, here, Charles (and the screenwriters)! Boyer’s portrayal of the passionate and optimistic father is absolutely winning. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      The Happy Time

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      Critics Reviews

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      Manny Farber The Nation The Happy Time takes a sweet look at a twelve-year-old being indoctrinated into the mysteries of life in 1910 in Ottawa. Nov 25, 2020 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Charming melodrama of domestic misadventures. Rated: B- Apr 30, 2016 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis A large French-Canadian family suddenly expands when father Jacques (Charles Boyer) invites an out-of-work magician's assistant to be their live-in maid. At the same time, charming ladies' man Uncle Desmond (Louis Jourdan) comes back to town to replace a sales manager who has died, and subsequently begins a romance with the new maid. Jacques' son Bobby watches these interactions with confused curiosity as he makes the tough transition from boyhood to adolescence.
      Director
      Richard Fleischer
      Screenwriter
      Earl Felton
      Production Co
      Stanley Kramer Productions
      Genre
      Comedy
      Original Language
      English