Happy Is the Bride

1958 British film by Roy Boulting

4 March 1958 (1958-03-04)

Running time

84 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish

Happy Is the Bride is a 1958 black and white British comedy film written and directed by Roy Boulting and starring Ian Carmichael, Janette Scott, Cecil Parker, Terry-Thomas and Joyce Grenfell.^[1] It is based on the 1938 play Quiet Wedding by Esther McCracken, previously filmed in 1941.^[2]

Plot

In a quiet summer corner of Wiltshire that is forever England, David and Janet decide to tie the knot. However, this serves as the signal for everyone else to assume control of the situation, much to the couple's dismay and the father of Janet's growing despondency. One way or another the wedding – if there is one – is going to be an unforgettable occasion.^[3]

Cast

Ian Carmichael as David Chaytor
Janette Scott as Janet Royd
Cecil Parker as Arthur Royd
Terry-Thomas as policeman
Joyce Grenfell as Aunt Florence
Eric Barker as vicar
Edith Sharpe as Mildred Royd
Elvi Hale as Petula
Miles Malleson as 1st magistrate
Athene Seyler as Aunt Harriet
Irene Handl as Mme. Edna
John Le Mesurier as Chaytor
Thorley Walters as Jim
Nicholas Parsons as John Royd
Virginia Maskell as Marcia
Brian Oulton as 2nd magistrate
Joan Hickson as Mrs. Bowels
Cardew Robinson as George the verger
Sam Kydd as foreman
Arthur Mullard as house redecorator (uncredited)

Reception

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Anthony Asquith's pre-war version of Quiet Wedding had a slight but friendly charm.This frantic remake has only a fraction of the earlier film's virtues; it is altogether a badly managed affair, lacking real wit, style or grace. An exaggerated comedy of absurdities, most of them are pushed too stridently for success. Miles Malleson and Terry-Thomas, as a deaf magistrate and a rural policeman respectively, have their moments, however."^[4]

Leonard Maltin called the film a "mild farce".^[5]

Bosley Crowther in The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Boulting has assembled and directed a typically fine British cast, which plays the farcical proceedings with skill and apparent enjoyment...all the characters are amusing. That's usually the way in a Boulting film."^[6]

Box office

Kinematograph Weekly listed it as being "in the money" at the British box office in 1958.^[7] It was one of the twelve most popular films of the year in Britain.^[8]

References

^ "Happy Is the Bride". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
^ "Quiet Wedding (1941)". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012.
^ "Happy Is the Bride (1958) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
^ "Happy Is the Bride". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 25 (288): 21. 1 January 1958 – via ProQuest.
^ "Happy Is the Bride (1958) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
^ Crowther, Bosley (30 June 1959). "Screen: Marital Farce; ' Happy Is the Bride' in Premiere at Guild (Published 1959)". The New York Times.
^ Billings, Josh (18 December 1958). "Others in the Money". Kinematograph Weekly. p. 7.
^ "Britain's Money Pacers 1958". Variety. 15 April 1959. p. 60.