Set in 1916 Philadelphia, the story centers on Anthony J. Drexel Biddle (Fred MacMurray) an eccentric millionaire who thumbs his nose at the conventions of high society expectations and uses his fortune to pursue interests in Christianity, athletics, and theatricals just to name a few. After his daughter Cordy (Lesley Ann Warren) goes off to boarding school with her father's reluctant permission she returns home with fiancee, Angier Buchanan Duke (John Davidson), in tow and finds himself challenged in accepting the situation.
The Happiest Millionaire is based on the book, My Philadelphia Father, by Cordelia Drexel Biddle which chronicled the exploits of her father Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Sr. It had been adapted into a successful Broadway stage production in 1956 with MGM securing the film rights, but nothing came of it. The film rights were then obtained by Walt Disney in the 60s who originally had planned on more of a straightforward biopic, but after the successes of big elaborate roadshow musicals such as Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, and Disney's own Mary Poppins, it was decided to turn the film into a musical epic with the intention to outdo Mary Poppins. Unfortunately the movie ended up less than the sum of its parts because while the Happiest Millionaire does have clear trade craft and effort on display, it falls far short of justifying itself as a musical epic.
I think the biggest issue with the movie is that it just doesn't lend itself to a musical format despite the filmmakers earnest attempts to do so. While true(ish) stories have been adapted to musicals quite successfully with the likes of Sound of Music, The King and I, Evita, or Gypsy are usually based on very turbulent and dynamic stories. While Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Sr. is certainly a point of curiosity for those interested in his roles in WWI and II training marines or his work with Athletic Christianity, his life story just doesn't have enough drama to work well with in the framework of a straight forward film narrative, let alone a musical.
There are large sections of this movie where the titular "happiest millionaire" is completely absent from the movie and instead we focus on Cordy and her relationship with her future husband (whom she later divorced in real life) Angie and even though there's slightly more narrative drive in these scenes, it's a very basic romance that doesn't feel passionate or even all that well developed. The movie does get a little more engaging after intermission when the engagement of Cordy and Angie is announced and there's some mildly funny exchanges and jibes poking fun at the snootiness of the New York High Society of the 1910s, and it does lead to the most memorable musical number, There Are Those, where two wealthy women from New York and Philadelphia exchange thinly veiled insults at each other while the Butler impotently tries to defuse any escalation but even with more focus and drive in the second half there's still remarkably little that actually happens.
Director Norman Tokar is extremely out of his element here as it's clear from the first scene he has absolutely no idea how to handle or frame epic musicals. Having started his career with sitcoms like Leave it to Beaver or the Donna Reed Show Tokar transitioned to Disney movies in the early 60s with some very middle of the road animal movies and a comedies with only one or two standouts getting okay reviews. Why Disney thought it was a good idea to give Mary Poppins director Blackbeard's Ghost and a sitcom director a musical is anyone's guess but it's a huge miscalculation as shots often feel overly empty or tightly cramped. One sequence, a theoretical showstopper, Let's Have a Drink on It is lacking in scope as an elaborate tavern sequence with good choreography and well coordinated flips and jumps isn't given the room or framing it needs to give a proper experience to the sequence as it's either filmed too close to principal actors or at an awkward angle diagonally from a static crane shot.
The music by the usually reliable Sherman Brothers is mostly disappointing. While some songs do stand out such as There Are Those and Let's Have a Drink on It are very well done, the majority of the songs just don't leave much of a lasting impact and don't pack the duos usual heft.
The Happiest Millionaire isn't very good, it's not a terrible film, but a subject matter that doesn't lend itself to musical format and a director who can't maintain pacing or trim bloat result in a rather underwhelming experience by Disney standards.
The Happiest Millionaire is based on the book, My Philadelphia Father, by Cordelia Drexel Biddle which chronicled the exploits of her father Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Sr. It had been adapted into a successful Broadway stage production in 1956 with MGM securing the film rights, but nothing came of it. The film rights were then obtained by Walt Disney in the 60s who originally had planned on more of a straightforward biopic, but after the successes of big elaborate roadshow musicals such as Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, and Disney's own Mary Poppins, it was decided to turn the film into a musical epic with the intention to outdo Mary Poppins. Unfortunately the movie ended up less than the sum of its parts because while the Happiest Millionaire does have clear trade craft and effort on display, it falls far short of justifying itself as a musical epic.
I think the biggest issue with the movie is that it just doesn't lend itself to a musical format despite the filmmakers earnest attempts to do so. While true(ish) stories have been adapted to musicals quite successfully with the likes of Sound of Music, The King and I, Evita, or Gypsy are usually based on very turbulent and dynamic stories. While Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Sr. is certainly a point of curiosity for those interested in his roles in WWI and II training marines or his work with Athletic Christianity, his life story just doesn't have enough drama to work well with in the framework of a straight forward film narrative, let alone a musical.
There are large sections of this movie where the titular "happiest millionaire" is completely absent from the movie and instead we focus on Cordy and her relationship with her future husband (whom she later divorced in real life) Angie and even though there's slightly more narrative drive in these scenes, it's a very basic romance that doesn't feel passionate or even all that well developed. The movie does get a little more engaging after intermission when the engagement of Cordy and Angie is announced and there's some mildly funny exchanges and jibes poking fun at the snootiness of the New York High Society of the 1910s, and it does lead to the most memorable musical number, There Are Those, where two wealthy women from New York and Philadelphia exchange thinly veiled insults at each other while the Butler impotently tries to defuse any escalation but even with more focus and drive in the second half there's still remarkably little that actually happens.
Director Norman Tokar is extremely out of his element here as it's clear from the first scene he has absolutely no idea how to handle or frame epic musicals. Having started his career with sitcoms like Leave it to Beaver or the Donna Reed Show Tokar transitioned to Disney movies in the early 60s with some very middle of the road animal movies and a comedies with only one or two standouts getting okay reviews. Why Disney thought it was a good idea to give Mary Poppins director Blackbeard's Ghost and a sitcom director a musical is anyone's guess but it's a huge miscalculation as shots often feel overly empty or tightly cramped. One sequence, a theoretical showstopper, Let's Have a Drink on It is lacking in scope as an elaborate tavern sequence with good choreography and well coordinated flips and jumps isn't given the room or framing it needs to give a proper experience to the sequence as it's either filmed too close to principal actors or at an awkward angle diagonally from a static crane shot.
The music by the usually reliable Sherman Brothers is mostly disappointing. While some songs do stand out such as There Are Those and Let's Have a Drink on It are very well done, the majority of the songs just don't leave much of a lasting impact and don't pack the duos usual heft.
The Happiest Millionaire isn't very good, it's not a terrible film, but a subject matter that doesn't lend itself to musical format and a director who can't maintain pacing or trim bloat result in a rather underwhelming experience by Disney standards.