Here Comes Happiness (1941)

I guess the depression and Claudette Colbert woke up a lot of young ladies on the social register who realized they were heading into meaningless marriages with social climbing men, causing them to run away to avoid such a travesty. In Mildred Coles' case, she is engaged to a man her dizzy Billie Burke like mother (Marjorie Gateson) adores but whom her father (Russell Hicks) knows is totally worthless. She rents a swanky but cheap apartment and is soon hanging out with "the gang" which includes the hard working Edward Norris, luckily for her single, and luckily for her realistic when it comes to making a real living. Parties with his pals (which includes a gregarious man who is able to balance a cocktail on his head while standing on an ironing board) leads to an evening at Coney Island, and even when her faithful maid (Marie Blake) recognizes her, she is able to hide her identity. It's obvious that when Norris discovers the truth, he's not going to be happy, but in this less than an hour long comedy, don't expect much reality, only some amusing comedy that takes a slap at the face of the upper crust who made it through the depression without waking up to the reality of the world, and plenty of dry wit that only a writer from Warner Brothers could hope to switch from pen to paper.Obscure leading actor are given their chance to show what they can do, and while Norris was certainly a busy actor in various studio's "B" units, Coles only had a very short career, perhaps best known for being the young ingénue whom Kay Francis taught the ways of womanly wiles in "Playgirl" (RKO, 1941). Sharp-nosed Vera Lewis offers much amusement as a cynical landlady, very suspicious when Hicks shows up and she overhears Coles referring to him as "daddy". Gateson is a combination of her snobbish matron and dimwit, too dumb to even recognize the social machinations of the useless Richard Ainley. Of Norris's gang, there is one dizzy dame who sounds remarkably like Gracie Allen and the typical tough dame with the heart of gold who flips wisecracks off her tongue as if it was the sweetness of telling a dog how ugly it was which still made it wag its tail. This ain't gonna change the history of film in anyway, but it does come off as rather amusing.

Here Comes Happiness was released in March of 1941, so we hadn't been dragged into the war yet. Mildred Coles plays Jessica Vance, the young heiress who isn't so sure she wants to marry the society bigshot that her mother has picked out for her. She gets her own apartment, meets the locals, and tries to find her own prince charming. It's a lot like watching an episode of Father Knows Best - no surprises, no big names, plain, simple entertainment based on misunderstandings. One of Warner Brothers shorties - only 57 minutes. Edward Norris does a good job as one of the suitors. Keep an eye out for William Hopper, the son of Hedda Hopper, as Blaine's original best man. This was one of the last films directed by Noel Smith -- he only made a couple more after this. It's also ironic that they keep talking about going to Honolulu, since in just a few months, terrible things were about to happen there...

A picture from the days when Hollywood ground out pictures just to be sure there were two on the bill. That's right, once upon a time when you went to a movie theatre there were two films, an A and B plus a cartoon, previews, and even sometimes a newsreel or short. An evening out was an evening out. Here Comes Happiness was a B picture but one whose theme is timeless and whose plot resurfaces even today (2004). Poor little rich girl finds happiness with common man thanks to helpful and understanding father who knows his money can't really buy happiness regardless of what his wife thinks.The picture has no recognizable actors except for Russell Hicks, the father, and Edward Gargan, the chauffer, both veteran character actors of many B movies. You recognize them from having seen them so often but you never know there names.Why watch? It's still a pleasant hour and frothy fun.