The Happiest Days of Your Life
Encyclopedia
The Happiest Days of Your Life is a 1950
British
comedy film directed by Frank Launder
, based on the play by John Dighton
. The two men also wrote the screenplay. It's one of a stable of classic British film comedies produced by Frank Launder
and Sidney Gilliat
for British Lion Film Corporation. The film was made on location
and at Riverside Studios
, London. In several respects, including some common casting, it was a precursor of the more anarchic St. Trinian's films of the 1950s.
) and Muriel Whitchurch (Margaret Rutherford
), try to cope with the ensuing chaos, as the children and staff attempt to live in the newly cramped conditions (it being impossible to share dormitories or other facilities), and seek to prevent the children taking advantage of their new opportunities.
Additional humour is derived from the departure of the Nutbourne College domestic staff and their hurried (and not very effective) replacement with the St Swithin's School Home Economics class.
The main comedy is derived from the fact that the parents of the St Swithins girls would consider it improper for their daughters to be exposed to the rough mix of boys in Pond's school, and from the consequent need to conceal the fact that the girls are now sharing a school that's full of boys. Pond is offended at the suggestion that his boys are not suitable company for the young ladies of St Swithin's, but he needs to appease Miss Whitchurch in order to salvage his chances of an appointment to a prestigious all-boys school for which he is in the running, and which depends on his ability to prevent his current post presenting the appearance of a bear garden.
Matters come to a head when a group of school governors, from the prestigious establishment to which Pond has applied to become the next headmaster, pay a visit at the same time as the parents of some of the St Swithin's girls. Frantic classroom changes are made, and hockey, lacrosse and rugby posts and nets are swapped about, as students and staff try to hide the unusual arrangement.
Two simultaneous tours of the school premises are arranged: one for the girls parents, and a separate one for the Governors; and never the twain must meet! The facade finally collapses when the parents become obsessed with seeing a girls lacrosse match at the same time as one of the Governors has been promised a rugby match.
The punchline is delivered - a clever swipe at wartime bureaucracy - when, weeks too late, a Ministry of Schools official arrives, to declare everything sorted out. "You're a co-educational school, I believe; well I've arranged for ANOTHER co-educational school to replace St Swithin's next week... Oh, it appears they're ahead of schedule." At this point, several more coachloads of children and staff appear noisily, and utter chaos reigns.
Fade out on Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford, quietly discussing in which remote and unattractive corner of the British Empire they might best try to pick up the pieces of their respective careers, with her mentioning having a brother who, "grows groundnuts in Tanganyika
."...
as one of the teaching staff of St Swithin's; while Alastair Sim
's portrayal of the kindly headmaster, Wetherby Pond, was seen as one of his strongest ever roles.
The film was very successful on its release, leading to an unofficial sequel, The Belles of St Trinian's
, in 1954: another comedy about a girls' school at which chaos reigned, which was also produced by Launder and Gilliat. Several members of the cast of The Happiest Days of Your Life were retained for the sequel, including Alastair Sim
, Joyce Grenfell
, Richard Wattis
and Guy Middleton
with Ronald Searle
again providing the cartoons for the film titles..
Pond: "Madam, I am not in the least interested in where they come from, or whether the Sun never sets upon them. The point is, they can't stay here!"
Upon discovery of a pitched battle in the dormitory between the boys and the girls, Pond is heard to remark "This is a time when little boys should be seen, and not interrupted..."
Pond has been trying to teach an English grammar lesson in the front hall of the school and has been interrupted almost continuously by Miss Whitchurch, passing girls, two men carrying and dropping an iron bedstead, and a woman canvasser talking loudly and insistently to the housekeeper at the front door...
Pond: "What's the use - I might as well try to teach in Waterloo Station."
Housekeeper: "Mr Pond, there's a lady at the door who wants to know if you'll vote for Miss Weston in the election."
Pond's gaze rolls around to face her.
Pond: "Mrs Hampstead, you may inform your lady that if there is a MALE candidate, whether he is Conservative, Socialist, Communist or Anarchist - or for that matter Liberal - he will have my vote."
1950 in film
The year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy film directed by Frank Launder
Frank Launder
Frank Launder was an English writer, director and producer, who made more than 40 films, many of them in collaboration with Sidney Gilliat....
, based on the play by John Dighton
John Dighton
John Dighton was a successful British playwright and screenwriter.Dighton wrote for the stage until 1936, when he made the transition to films...
. The two men also wrote the screenplay. It's one of a stable of classic British film comedies produced by Frank Launder
Frank Launder
Frank Launder was an English writer, director and producer, who made more than 40 films, many of them in collaboration with Sidney Gilliat....
and Sidney Gilliat
Sidney Gilliat
Sidney Gilliat was an English film director, producer and writer.He was born in the district of Edgeley in Stockport, Cheshire. In the 1930s he worked as a scriptwriter, most notably with Frank Launder on The Lady Vanishes for Alfred Hitchcock, and its sequel Night Train to Munich , directed by...
for British Lion Film Corporation. The film was made on location
Liss
Liss is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 3.3 miles northeast of Petersfield, on the A3 road, on the Hampshire/West Sussex border....
and at Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios is a production studio, theatre and independent cinema on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.-History:In 1933, the...
, London. In several respects, including some common casting, it was a precursor of the more anarchic St. Trinian's films of the 1950s.
Plot
Set in 1949, confusion reigns when St Swithin's Girls School is accidentally billeted at Nutborne College: a boys school. The two heads, Wetherby Pond (Alastair SimAlastair Sim
Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE was a Scottish character actor who appeared in a string of classic British films. He is best remembered in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 film Scrooge, and for his portrayal of Miss Fritton, the headmistress in two St. Trinian's films...
) and Muriel Whitchurch (Margaret Rutherford
Margaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest...
), try to cope with the ensuing chaos, as the children and staff attempt to live in the newly cramped conditions (it being impossible to share dormitories or other facilities), and seek to prevent the children taking advantage of their new opportunities.
Additional humour is derived from the departure of the Nutbourne College domestic staff and their hurried (and not very effective) replacement with the St Swithin's School Home Economics class.
The main comedy is derived from the fact that the parents of the St Swithins girls would consider it improper for their daughters to be exposed to the rough mix of boys in Pond's school, and from the consequent need to conceal the fact that the girls are now sharing a school that's full of boys. Pond is offended at the suggestion that his boys are not suitable company for the young ladies of St Swithin's, but he needs to appease Miss Whitchurch in order to salvage his chances of an appointment to a prestigious all-boys school for which he is in the running, and which depends on his ability to prevent his current post presenting the appearance of a bear garden.
Matters come to a head when a group of school governors, from the prestigious establishment to which Pond has applied to become the next headmaster, pay a visit at the same time as the parents of some of the St Swithin's girls. Frantic classroom changes are made, and hockey, lacrosse and rugby posts and nets are swapped about, as students and staff try to hide the unusual arrangement.
Two simultaneous tours of the school premises are arranged: one for the girls parents, and a separate one for the Governors; and never the twain must meet! The facade finally collapses when the parents become obsessed with seeing a girls lacrosse match at the same time as one of the Governors has been promised a rugby match.
The punchline is delivered - a clever swipe at wartime bureaucracy - when, weeks too late, a Ministry of Schools official arrives, to declare everything sorted out. "You're a co-educational school, I believe; well I've arranged for ANOTHER co-educational school to replace St Swithin's next week... Oh, it appears they're ahead of schedule." At this point, several more coachloads of children and staff appear noisily, and utter chaos reigns.
Fade out on Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford, quietly discussing in which remote and unattractive corner of the British Empire they might best try to pick up the pieces of their respective careers, with her mentioning having a brother who, "grows groundnuts in Tanganyika
Tanganyika groundnut scheme
The Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme was a plan to cultivate tracts of what is now Tanzania with peanuts. It was a project of the British Labour government of Clement Attlee. It was abandoned in 1951 at considerable cost to the taxpayers when it did not become profitable...
."...
Cast
- Alastair SimAlastair SimAlastair George Bell Sim, CBE was a Scottish character actor who appeared in a string of classic British films. He is best remembered in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 film Scrooge, and for his portrayal of Miss Fritton, the headmistress in two St. Trinian's films...
as Wetherby Pond - Margaret RutherfordMargaret RutherfordDame Margaret Taylor Rutherford DBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest...
as Miss Whitchurch - Guy MiddletonGuy MiddletonGuy Middleton Powell, usually credited as Guy Middleton, was an English film character actor.Middleton was born in Hove, England and originally worked in the London Stock Exchange, before turning to acting in the 1930s...
as Victor Hyde-Brown - Joyce GrenfellJoyce GrenfellJoyce Irene Grenfell, OBE was an English actress, comedienne, diseuse and singer-songwriter.-Early life:...
as Miss Gossage - Edward RigbyEdward RigbyEdward Rigby was a British character actor.-Early life:Rigby was the son of Jamaican-born Dr. William Harriot Coke and his wife Liverpool-born Mary Elizabeth of 17 High Street, Ashford. He was educated at Haileybury, and Wye Agricultural College...
as Rainbow - Muriel AkedMuriel AkedMuriel Aked was a British film actress. She was a student at Liverpool Repertory Theatre for six months but left to do war work. She made her screen debut in 1920 in A Sister to Assist 'Er...
as Miss Jezzard - Richard WattisRichard WattisRichard Cameron Wattis , was an English character actor.He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and Bromsgrove School, after which he worked for the family electrical engineering firm before becoming a professional actor. After his debut with Croydon Repertory Theatre he made many stage...
as Arnold Billings - John BentleyJohn Bentley (actor)John Bentley was a British film actor who emerged in the 1970s as Hugh Mortimer, Meg Richardson's ill-fated new husband in the soap opera Crossroads. He also starred in the jungle adventure series African Patrol as Chief Inspector Paul Derek and made various other guest appearances...
as Richard Tassell - Bernadette O'FarrellBernadette O'FarrellBernadette O'Farrell was an Irish actress.She is best known for playing Maid Marian in the 1950s TV version of The Adventures of Robin Hood...
as Miss Harper
Reception
The acting was much praised, in particular Joyce GrenfellJoyce Grenfell
Joyce Irene Grenfell, OBE was an English actress, comedienne, diseuse and singer-songwriter.-Early life:...
as one of the teaching staff of St Swithin's; while Alastair Sim
Alastair Sim
Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE was a Scottish character actor who appeared in a string of classic British films. He is best remembered in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 film Scrooge, and for his portrayal of Miss Fritton, the headmistress in two St. Trinian's films...
's portrayal of the kindly headmaster, Wetherby Pond, was seen as one of his strongest ever roles.
The film was very successful on its release, leading to an unofficial sequel, The Belles of St Trinian's
The Belles of St Trinian's
The Belles of St Trinian's is a comedy film set in the fictional St Trinian's School, released in 1954. It and its sequels were inspired by British cartoonist Ronald Searle. Directed by Frank Launder and written by him and Sidney Gilliat, it was the first of a series of five...
, in 1954: another comedy about a girls' school at which chaos reigned, which was also produced by Launder and Gilliat. Several members of the cast of The Happiest Days of Your Life were retained for the sequel, including Alastair Sim
Alastair Sim
Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE was a Scottish character actor who appeared in a string of classic British films. He is best remembered in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 film Scrooge, and for his portrayal of Miss Fritton, the headmistress in two St. Trinian's films...
, Joyce Grenfell
Joyce Grenfell
Joyce Irene Grenfell, OBE was an English actress, comedienne, diseuse and singer-songwriter.-Early life:...
, Richard Wattis
Richard Wattis
Richard Cameron Wattis , was an English character actor.He attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and Bromsgrove School, after which he worked for the family electrical engineering firm before becoming a professional actor. After his debut with Croydon Repertory Theatre he made many stage...
and Guy Middleton
Guy Middleton
Guy Middleton Powell, usually credited as Guy Middleton, was an English film character actor.Middleton was born in Hove, England and originally worked in the London Stock Exchange, before turning to acting in the 1930s...
with Ronald Searle
Ronald Searle
Ronald William Fordham Searle, CBE, RDI, is a British artist and cartoonist, best known as the creator of St Trinian's School. He is also the co-author of the Molesworth series....
again providing the cartoons for the film titles..
Quotes
Miss Whitchurch: "Many of our gels come from the colonies. St Swithin's has always specialised in outposts."Pond: "Madam, I am not in the least interested in where they come from, or whether the Sun never sets upon them. The point is, they can't stay here!"
Upon discovery of a pitched battle in the dormitory between the boys and the girls, Pond is heard to remark "This is a time when little boys should be seen, and not interrupted..."
Pond has been trying to teach an English grammar lesson in the front hall of the school and has been interrupted almost continuously by Miss Whitchurch, passing girls, two men carrying and dropping an iron bedstead, and a woman canvasser talking loudly and insistently to the housekeeper at the front door...
Pond: "What's the use - I might as well try to teach in Waterloo Station."
Housekeeper: "Mr Pond, there's a lady at the door who wants to know if you'll vote for Miss Weston in the election."
Pond's gaze rolls around to face her.
Pond: "Mrs Hampstead, you may inform your lady that if there is a MALE candidate, whether he is Conservative, Socialist, Communist or Anarchist - or for that matter Liberal - he will have my vote."
External links
- The Happiest Days of Your life at the St. Trinian's website
- http://www.global-productions.co.uk Global Theatre Company are performing this classic comedy at The Playhouse in Harlow, at Willow Cottage Open-Air Theatre in Essex, and at The Minack Theatre in Porthcurno, Cornwall during Summer 2009. See their website for details of when this great comedy is to be performed: www.global-productions.co.uk