The Happiest Days Of Your Life

THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE [1950 / 2015] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
Digitally Restored! British Screen Classic! Uproarious Comedy Farce!

From acclaimed director Frank Launder, ‘THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE’ is a precursor to the hugely successful St. Trinian’s series, set in Nutbourn College, the most established and respectable of boy’s schools.

A military mistake billets a girl’s school to share the college’s premises, to the outrage of their horrified headmaster and headmistress, played with comic mastery by Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford. Initially the two are hostile to one another. However, with a staff of dazed, eccentric teachers and a student body of knowing and troublesome children, they are forced to pull together as the situation stumbles from the sublime to the ridiculous!

FILM FACT: The acting was much praised, in particular Joyce Grenfell 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 successful on its release, being the fifth most popular film at the British box office for the 1950s.

Cast: Alastair Sim, Margaret Rutherford, John Turnbull, Richard Wattis, John Bentley, Guy Middleton, Percy Walsh, Arthur Howard, Edward Rigby, Harold Goodwin, Gladys Henson, Muriel Aked, Joyce Grenfell, Bernadette O'Farrell, Myrette Morven, Patience Rentoul, Lilian Stanley, Kenneth Downey, Laurence Naismith, Stringer Davis, Stanley Lemin, Olwen Brookes, Alan Broadhurst, Vivien Wood, Nan Munro, Russell Waters, George Benson, Angela Glynne, Patricia Owens, Margaret Anderson, Betty Blackler, Fred Marshall, John Rhodes, Jim Davis, Keith Faulkner, William Simonds, George Cole (uncredited), Beryl Ede (uncredited), Charlotte Mitchell (uncredited), Pat Pleasance (uncredited) and Mackenzie Ward (uncredited)

Director: Frank Launder

Producers: E.M. Smedley-Aston, Frank Launder, Mario Zampi (uncredited), Sidney Gilliat and Stephen Harrison (uncredited)

Screenplay: Frank Launder (screenplay), John Dighton (screenplay) and John Dighton (play)

Composer: Mischa Spoliansky

Cinematography: Stanley Pavey (Director of Photography)

Image Resolution: 1080p (Black-and-White)

Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1

Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio

Subtitles: English SDH

Running Time: 82 minutes

Region: Region B/2

Number of discs: 1

Studio: British Lion Films / STUDIOCANAL

Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE’ [1950] is a film comedy classic, set in Nutbourne College in 1949. They say that your school days are meant to be the happiest days of your life but that theory is tested to the limit at Nutbourne College when the headmaster and teachers realise they are expecting twice as many students as they had previously thought. As they search frantically for a means to accommodate this influx of students, they miss perhaps the most vital piece of information of all: the new students are girls from St Swithin's Girls' School.

Horror of horrors, St Swithin’s has been billeted at Nutbourne College due to a mix up at the Ministry of Schools. With hostilities increasing between the mortified headmaster and headmistress, hilarity ensues and romances blossom. The situation comes to a head when parents and school governors arrive at the school on the same day and the warring heads realise they will have to work together to avert catastrophe.

‘THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE’ is very funny, as well at the same time totally hilariously bonkers and I loved the reversal of traditional roles, which is typical of this type of British humour, which is at its best. But best of all this film is great anarchic fun with plenty of deliciously witty lines of dialogue, delivered to perfection by Sim and Rutherford. As the story progresses, the pair grow from being hostile with each another to working together and finding mutual respect and admiration. As two of the finest comedy actors of their day, Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford enliven every moment of screen time they have, and when the two of them are together it’s an especial thrill. Able support is provided by the brilliant Joyce Grenfell, who plays Miss Gossage, Margaret Rutherford’s put-upon younger assistant who is constantly being belittled.

You can tell that ‘THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE’ started out as a stage play by John Dighton, who helped to adapt it for the screen, and the best lines are very theatrical in style, and the plot is tightly structured. It certainly works on the screen and especially running 81 minutes, does not waste any time but keeps the pace up and the laughs thick and fast. The British comedy classic would go onto bring us the enduringly popular St Trinian’s film franchise.

‘THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE’ is the latest classic film to benefit from a full digital restoration and is part of the Vintage Classics collection which showcases iconic classic British films and delivers brand new extra content that has never been seen before. I give the digital restoration of ‘THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE’ a superb five out of five stars and recommend it to both fans of the original film and those, like me, who are fairly new to the idea of watching classic British comedy films.

Blu-ray Image Quality – Once again STUDIOCANAL presents us with another stunning 1080p Black-and-White image presentation and of course it is enhanced with a standard 1.37:1 aspect ratio. It also presents us with a film that is full of deeply crushed monochrome blacks which stand up remarkable well, making this a real visual treat. Stanley Pavey (Director of Photography) produces some brilliant and stunning cinematography. Generally speaking, depth and clarity are very pleasing and the majority of the close-ups, in particular, look very good. During the outdoor footage, shadow definition is also convincing. Contrast levels are stable, but there are areas of the film where minor inherited fluctuations are visible. Light grain is present throughout the entire film, but it is slightly toned down. There are no traces of problematic sharpening corrections and serious transition or stability issues to report. To sum it all up, STUDIOCANAL have once again done a stunning restoration of ‘THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE’ that will please fans of the film and especially of seeing the brilliant actor Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford working together in another stunning Classic British Comedy. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.

Blu-ray Audio Quality – STUDIOCANAL presents us with only one standard audio track and that is a 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio track. The sound is very crisp and clear, plus there are no sudden drops in dynamic activity. Rather predictably, and the dynamics is okay and suits this audio presentation. All the usual clicks, pops, crackle, and background hiss you had with these old films, have been totally removed and the dialogue is stable and exceptionally easy to follow and of course a vast improvement over the bog standard and inferior previous DVD release. So all in all STUDIOCANAL have done a really sterling professional job.

Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:

Special Feature: Interview with Andy Merriman on Margaret Rutherford [2015] [1080p] [1.78:1] [11:18] Here we get a personal view on the actress Margaret Rutherford by Andy Merriman, who is the author of “Margaret Rutherford: Dreadnought with Good Manners” that was published in 2009. Andy starts talking about Margaret Rutherford’s early childhood that was very tragic, where her early was overshadowed by tragedies involving both of her parents and her father was William Rutherford Benn, a journalist and poet. Unfortunately her father murdered his father, the Reverend Julius Benn, a Congregational Church minister, by bludgeoning him to death with a chamber pot. Following the inquest, William Benn was certified insane and removed to Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum. Seven years later, on 26th July, 1890, was discharged from Broadmoor and reunited with his wife and legally dropped his surname. Hoping to start a new life far from the scene of their recent troubles, the Rutherford’s moved to Madras in India and unfortunately her mother sadly committed suicide. But they decided the best option for Margaret Rutherford was to be returned to Britain when she was only three years old to live with her aunt Bessie Nicholson in Wimbledon in London. At the time the young Margaret Rutherford had a very lonely childhood, especially when informed that her father died of a broken heart soon after, so when Margaret Rutherford was 12 years old she was shocked to learn from a tramp that arrived at her Aunt’s home that her father had actually been readmitted to Broadmoor Hospital in 1903, where he remained under care until his death in 1921 and Margarete felt her life was destined for tragedy and feared that she might succumb to similar maladies, which haunted Margaret Rutherford for the rest of her life, and suffered intermittent bouts of depression and anxiety and was eventually diagnosed as “Bi-polar” and always maintained that she was an orphan. When Margarete left school, began a career in Repertory Theatres in the 1920s, and wanted to be a great actress like Helen Terri and had her first real stage debut at the Old Vic in 1925 at the age of 33. But in the end people felt she was destined to be a comedy actress and always got parts as a scatty woman and felt it was a great regret in her acting career. Margarete Rutherford made her first appearance in the London's West End in 1933, but her talent was not recognised by the critics until her performance as Miss Prism in John Gielgud's production of “The Importance of Being Earnest” at the Globe Theatre in 1939. In 1941 Noël Coward's “Blithe Spirit” opened on the London stage at the Piccadilly Theatre, with Noël Coward himself directing and Margarete Rutherford received rave reviews from audiences and critics alike for her lusty portrayal of the bumbling medium Madame Arcati, a role which Noël Coward had earlier envisaged for her and later on Margarete Rutherford again played the part of Madame Arcati in David Lean's film ‘Blithe Spirit’ [1945] to the delight of Noël Coward. Margarete Rutherford also appeared on the stage as the officious headmistress in “The Happiest Days of Your Life” at the Apollo Theatre in London in 1948 and appeared in 400 appearances and on one night Frank Launder turned up to see her performance in the play and of course went onto play the same character with fellow actor Alastair Sim in the hilarious British comedy film ‘The Happiest Days of Your Life.’ Although Margaret Rutherford was a bit hit in this comedy film, but on reflection, Margarete Rutherford said that the nine week schedule of filming was very tiring and preferred performing in the stage play. Margaret Rutherford won the Academy Award® and the Golden Globe Award for her role as The Duchess of Brighton in the film The V.I.P.s [1963] and at the time Elizabeth Taylor demanded a massive dressing room with over the top features, whereas Margaret Rutherford only demanded for a her dressing room a Baby Belling’s stove so Margaret could cook her favourite food eggs and bacon. We also find out whenever Margaret held a party and was always very generous towards her fellow actors, so in doing so was very well respected from everyone and also very well loved, so much so Margaret Rutherford was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1961 and a Dame Commander (DBE) in 1967. Margaret Rutherford at the age of 53, married character actor Stringer Davis aged 46, after a courtship that lasted for 15 years, who appeared in the film ‘The Happiest Days of Your Life’ as the Reverend Rich. So despite a short interview, again it was packed full of fascinating information and was a joy hearing Andy Merriman, who obviously admired Margaret Rutherford and doing his book must have been a joy finding out all the fascinating information about this much loved British character actress.

Special Feature: Interview with Martin Rowson on Ronald Searle [2015] [1080p] [1.78:1] [8:19] Here we find Martin Rowson [Cartoonist] being interviews in his home and studio and growing up as a child and being influenced with Ronald Searle the British artist and his distinctive satirical cartoons, especially the ones depicting the naughty young girls in perhaps best remembered as the creator of St Trinian's School series. But his early foray into cartooning was in January 1942, where he was stationed in Singapore. After a month of fighting in Malaya, he was taken prisoner along with his cousin Tom Fordham Searle, when Singapore fell to the Japanese and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner, where he drew all the other prisoners who were suffering from starvation and dying from deadly diseases and had to hide them from the Japanese guards that he hid under the mattresses of prisoners dying of cholera. His first prison was in Changi Prison and then in the Kwai jungle, working on the Siam-Burma Death Railway and eventually contracted both beri-beri and malaria during his incarceration, which included numerous beatings, and his weight dropped to less than 40 kilograms and was liberated in late 1945 with the final defeat of the Japanese. After the war, he served as a courtroom artist at the Nuremberg trials. But of course Ronald Searle really came to fruition when he did the Black-and-White drawings for the St. Trinian film titles. At the height of cartoonist Martin Rowson career he was sent of original of ink pens personally from Ronald Searle, because he knew the work of Martin’s cartoon drawings, which Martin felt very honoured to have a personal item from an fellow artist he so admired. In later in his life around 1975, Ronald Searle and his and his wife lived and worked in the mountains of Haute Provence in France, because of what he suffered and endured from the Japanese, just wanted to be left alone, but one bit of luxury he bestowed upon himself, is that every day at midday he would open a bottle of champagne, and Michael says, “who can blame him.” Again, this was a very short special feature, but despite this, it was a really fascinating insight to the fantastic Ronald Searle.

Special Feature: Interview with Michael Brooke [2015] [1080p] [1.78:1] [12:30] Here Michael Brooke is a freelance writer and author specialising in British and central/eastern European cinema and talks about the John Dighton play “The Happiest Days of Your Life,” that opened in Brighton in January 1948, and then transferred to the London stage in March 1948 and it did a staggering 400 performances, which of course starred Margaret Rutherford in the same role, and the play was based on real life bungling and incompetence post-war bureaucracy by the Ministry of Schools just after the Second World War finished, where one school had to join up with another school at very short notice. Because director/producer Frank Launder went to see the play and felt it would be an ideal British comedy film to compete against the Ealing comedy films that were successful at the time, which included ‘Hue and Cry,’ ‘Kind Hearts and Coronets’ and ‘Passport to Pimlico’ to name a few. So when the film ‘THE HAPPEIST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE’ was released it was a box office smash hit and people thought it was an Ealing comedy film. Frank Lauder and Sidney Gilliat had a very long term business partnership and they started their collaboration in the 1930s as jobbing screenwriters and their first project was the film ‘Seven Sinners’ [1936], they also wrote the screenplay for the Alfred Hitchcock film ‘The lady Vanishes,’ they also went onto to the screenplays for director Carol Reed, and also dabbled in serious drama projects like ‘The Young Mr. Pitt’ [1942] Then both of them moved into directing films, but their first job was as co-directors for the film ‘Millions Like Us’ [1943] which was a British propaganda film, showing life in a wartime aircraft factory in a documentary, which was funded by the Ministry of Information, and based on non-combatants with their help towards the Second World War. They also did other similar type films like ‘Two Thousand Women’ [1944] and ‘Waterloo Road’ [1945]. Michael Brooke then goes onto to talk about screenwriter John Dighton who was sadly an unforgotten figure, but never the less was very prolific in his art and in a very short period wrote screenplays for ‘Kind hearts and Coronets,’ ‘The Happiest Days of Your Life’ and ‘The Man In The White Suite.’ Michael Brooke then goes onto to talk about the screen appearance of Alistair Sim and Margaret Rutherford, where they both of course appeared together in ‘The Happiest Days of Your Life’ and tried to outdo each with their screen performances, in a very light hearted way and both actors gave great praise about each other. Near the end of the interview Michael Brooke talks more about Alistair Sim and his acting career and especially more about his more serious performances in the 1941 film ‘Cottage to Let’ which was set in World War II Scotland, its plot concerns Nazi spies trying to kidnap an inventor and had been let to annoyingly inquisitive Alastair Sim, who was a very mysterious visitor and who may or may not be a German spy and is very ambiguous right up the end of the film. Despite once again being a very short interview, Michael Brooke sure packs in a lot of information.

Finally, ‘THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE’ [1950] is a finely tuned expression of classic comedic chaos of its time. The Nutbourne College, a stately British boarding school, is the setting for a hysterical battle of the sexes in which opposing headmasters vie for territory and control. The battle appears in illustrated form at the head of the film, behind the credits, drawn by famed English illustrator Ronald Searle. Featuring frenetic and fast-paced music by Russian-born composer Mischa Spoliansky, and the opening sequence sets the stage for mayhem and it is just unfortunate that the credits cover up so much of the wonderful detail. Regardless, Ronald Searle’s illustrations capture the energy of the film, giving clear indications of the humour and havoc to follow. His first foray into feature film title design, Ronald Searle’s illustrations also set the stage for a series of collaborations with producers Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. Along with Alastair Sim, the group would go on to work together on the St. Trinian’s series franchise of the classic British films. ‘THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE’ is perfectly executed and perfectly delightful, capped off by the magnificent Margaret Rutherford and the sublime Alastair Sim. It is the ultimate battle of the sexes and a timeless comedy classic. Very Highly Recommended!

Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado 
Le Cinema Paradiso 
United Kingdom