The Happy Ending is a 1969 film which tells the story of a repressed housewife who longs for liberation from her marriage.
1953 - and through the course of a
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...
autumn and winter, Mary Spencer (
Jean SimmonsJean Merilyn Simmons, OBE is an English actress. Simmons was named an Officer in the Order of the British Empire in 2003.-Career:...
), and Fred Wilson, (
John ForsytheJohn Forsythe is an American stage, television and film actor. Forsythe starred in three television series, spanning three decades, as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the 1950s sitcom Bachelor Father ; as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the 1970s crime drama Charlie's Angels ,...
), lead an idyllic existence. Mary finishes college early to marry Fred and their perfect wedding mirrors the happy endings of the films Mary loves.
1969 - a suburban house in Denver,
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...
.
The Happy Ending is a 1969 film which tells the story of a repressed housewife who longs for liberation from her marriage.
Synopsis
1953 - and through the course of a
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...
autumn and winter, Mary Spencer (
Jean SimmonsJean Merilyn Simmons, OBE is an English actress. Simmons was named an Officer in the Order of the British Empire in 2003.-Career:...
), and Fred Wilson, (
John ForsytheJohn Forsythe is an American stage, television and film actor. Forsythe starred in three television series, spanning three decades, as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the 1950s sitcom Bachelor Father ; as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the 1970s crime drama Charlie's Angels ,...
), lead an idyllic existence. Mary finishes college early to marry Fred and their perfect wedding mirrors the happy endings of the films Mary loves.
1969 - a suburban house in Denver,
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...
. It is the Wilson's 16th wedding anniversary. On his way to work Fred, a successful tax consultant, tells their maid Agnes (
Nanette FabrayNanette Fabray is an American film, television and musical theatre actress. She is the aunt of actress/singer Shelley Fabares.- Biography :...
), that he has found some vodka hidden in Mary's wardrobe and asks her to keep an eye on his wife. Agnes sees Mary set off for the beauty parlour. At an airline office, however, Mary buys a one-way ticket to
Nassau, BahamasNassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 260,000 , nearly 80 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
. On the flight she recalls the horrors of last year's anniversary party, when Fred had drunk too much and flirted with a blond divorcee and she too had been driven to the bottle and
CasablancaCasablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in the words of one...
, on the television. It somehow sparked a fight with her husband.
At a stop-over she calls home where this years anniversary party has been a different sort of disaster. Her daughter, (Kathy Fields), is scared by the call - it reminds her of the time she had found her mother unconscious after an overdose.
En route for Nassau, Mary meets Flo, (
Shirley JonesShirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. She starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma!, Carousel, and The Music Man. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a prostitute in Elmer...
), an old college friend she has not seen since 1953. While Mary settled down to married life, Flo has been the mistress of a series of married men. She is on her way to
Nassau, BahamasNassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 260,000 , nearly 80 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
to meet her latest, Sam,(
Lloyd BridgesLloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor. Bridges starred in television series, and appeared in more than 150 films.-Early life:...
). When Mary tells her she has had to get away from Fred, Flo promises to look after her. In Nassau Mary enjoys the life of sun and sand and the long, empty stretches of beach. One evening , at a casino, Mary becomes the object of Franco's, (
Bobby DarinBobby Darin was an American singer and musician.Darin performed widely in a range of music genres, including pop, jazz, folk and country...
's),attention. A hustler from Los Angeles who is down on his luck, Franco mistakenly assumes the beautiful woman is also a very wealthy woman. With a fake Italian accent he fools Mary into thinking he is a journalist who writes about film stars. She agrees to go to 'his' boat, but Franco quickly loses interest when it transpires Mary is not that wealthy, and confesses his fakery. Walking into the ocean Mary recalls the occasion of her suicide attempt - she had returned from having a face lift to find that Fred was in
Reno-Places:United States*Reno, Nevada*Reno, Indiana*Reno, Ohio*Reno, Pennsylvania*Reno, Lamar County, Texas*Reno, Parker County, Texas*Reno County, Kansas*Reno Township, Michigan*Reno Township, MinnesotaCanada*Reno No...
with a girl. Her daughter Marge had found her and she had been rushed to hospital. Out of hospital her drinking had resumed, she had spent reckless amounts of money, and crashed her car whilst drunk.
Now, in Nassau, Sam asks Flo to marry him, and she agrees. Mary flies back home. Agnes meets her and helps her move into rooms she has rented away from Fred and Marge. She takes a job and enrolls in night classes at the University. It is here that Fred finds her, one evening.
"What went wrong?" he asks. "All our friends are married, and they're happy."
The film was rated 'M' certificate, and has a running time of 117 minutes.
It was nominated for
Academy AwardsThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
for
Best Actress in a Leading RolePerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, (
Jean SimmonsJean Merilyn Simmons, OBE is an English actress. Simmons was named an Officer in the Order of the British Empire in 2003.-Career:...
) and Best Music, Song (
Michel LegrandMichel Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist of French and Armenian descent....
,
Alan BergmanAlan Bergman is an American lyricist and songwriter.Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows...
and
Marilyn BergmanMarilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University. She and her husband Alan Bergman, whom she married in 1958, were born in the same hospital and raised in the same Brooklyn neighborhood,...
, for "
What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?"What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" is a song with lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman and original music written by Michel Legrand for the 1969 film The Happy Ending and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song....
").