Review of The Happy Time (1952) by Adam R — 06 Jan 2008

The Happy Time â?? A wonderful comedy about a family in Ottawa. Bobby Driscoll plays the bordering-on-teenage son who becomes enraptured by the lovely maid Mignette that his Father, played by Charles Boyer, has hired.

There are some wonderful moments that were pretty subversive for the period. Boyer and his brothers boisterously confront a cruel schoolmaster who has not only been beating Driscoll with a strap but for something he didnâ??t do.

Toward the end, Boyer gently and encouragingly explains to Driscoll that desire is natural and good (!) but that alone it is hollow. Desire with love, he says, giving himself and the boyâ??s mother as an example, is how it should be and that it is the most wonderful thing in the world.

Here, here, Charles (and the screenwriters)! Boyerâ??s portrayal of the passionate and optimistic father is absolutely winning.