Moviecut—Stranger in Town

source: Stranger in Town

Happy Ever After

"Quiet Man" goes noisy and gets a lobotomy. For Irish schtick collectors only.

This is a film which is very easy on the eye which sadly doesn't compensate for the poor fare on offering here. The technicolour almost appears oversaturated. It was fighting a losing battle with Eastman Colour. Obviously this film was popular at the time. However many fifties comedies no longer funny. Time has treated them badly. The film has a good cast,with many familiar Irish actors on view. Particularly Barry Fitzgerald who was noted for his subtlety. David Niven trys his best as the unfriendly squire but this sort of comedy was not his forte. The last 30 minutes, when the villagers try to murder Niven are particularly unfunny.

On TV I found this titled TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT. It's right up there with The Quiet Man and The Titfield Thunderbolt. And the cast perform exactly how you want to. Magnificent.

Watching Happy Ever especially with Barry Fitzgerald as one of the colorful Irish villagers I couldn't help think that to really put this comedy over you needed the touch of John Ford, Perhaps a few of the faces of the Abbey Theater players as well. A.E. Matthews is the local squire in his part of Ireland and a most indulgent fellow is he. So indulgent that most of his tenants owe him a lot of money. But he's let it slide. Now however he's gone and died and his heir David Niven wants everyone to cough up what they owe because he's planning to sell the estate. The villagers want to kill him. All but Yvonne DeCarlo who sees Niven as a way of escape from a dreary life. Happily Ever After is sadly one of those films where the fabled charm of David Niven has too big a burden to carry with this film. The film has some good moments, but they're few and far between. David Niven's fans should like this, others I'm not sure.

Mario Zampi's first film in Technicolor at first ominously resembles a piece of twee blarney. But with the arrival of David Niven's aptly named Jasper the cynicism of Zampi's regular scriptwriter Michael Pertwee lets rip and the film just gets funnier and funnier, ending with a priceless sight gag.

David Niven was clearly having fun playing a right cad and a bounder in this outing but at 90 minutes in length "Tonight's the Night" is about 60 minutes too long. Niven plays a completely unlikable squire who riles the Irish townsfolk to the point where they all plot his murder, unfortunately, the residents are about as incompetent as they are funny. With such a talented cast on hand it's a shame this movie boasted nary a good performance -Niven may have been having fun with the part but he's not all that funny in it - and the rest of the cast are such an unlikable lot that we have no idea who to root for.

Really love this movie. David Niven just sparkles and has some of the best lines of his illustrious career, especially the ending one. Supporting cast is superlative too. Everyone really seemed to enjoy making the movie. In addition the perfect song to set the mood. Please, someone put it one DVD or VHS.