Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Released by the Disney studios to follow up on the success they had with Mary Poppins, and to compete with all the other musicals that were so popular at the time, The Happiest Millionaire had some wonderful performers and some great Sherman Brothers songs (responsible not only for the music in Mary Poppins, the Jungle Book and other Disney movies, but also theme park songs such as Its a Small World and There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow).

Kind of a coming of age / finding yourself sort of tale, the Happiest Millionaire can be a little difficult to describe, simply because it goes in so many directions. It isn't focused, and I've known of people who put it down a lot for that reason ... it probably -isn't- one of the greatest stories ever written, or great art in some sort of classical style. But it's a lot of fun, and it's got a beat you can really dance to! ;)

The story is kind of 'narrated' by John Lawless (Tommy Steele), who has just arrived in America, and finds himself in the role of butler to an extremely eccentric millionaire. Anthony Biddle (Fred MacMurray) is fabulously wealthy. He also keeps alligators for pets, teaches his daughter to box, and likes a diet of chocolate cake.
Though a great deal of the laughter and humor (and several of the songs) come from Anthony and his butler (and the various other members of the household), the actual plot comes from his daughter Cordelia's (Lesley Ann Warren) growing up and trying to figure out who she really is. Raised as a tomboy with an excellent right hook (did I mention her father was eccentric?), she appreciates the way her dad has raised her, but also feels a need to explore her feminine side.
So its off to a boarding school, dances, and dating, as Cordie learns what she has been missing. Eventually she meets the right fellow for her, Angier Duke (John Davidson), of a prominent New York family, and while contending with caring but troublesome relatives on both sides, the two head toward marriage.

To some extent, the story is based on reality. The Biddles really were a prominent Philadelphia family, the Dukes really were a prominent New York family (pretty much responsible for the founding of Duke University), and most of the story points do have at least a grounding in reality. But this isn't meant to be a history lesson, its classic Disney escapism, and its the best kind.

The movie doesn't preach. It doesn't beat you over the head with any morals. It simply entertains. And yet, within that entertainment, I kind of feel it does make a strong stand for individuality. Biddle is very opinionated, and has raised his family to be the same. Cordelia, in turn, takes her own stands. While this often keeps her from fitting in smoothly, she maintains her own personal integrity, and in time finds somebody who can really appreciate her own unique personality.

And these two (Cordelia and Angier) just seem to compliment each other so well! Where Cordie is a bit shy and quite uncertain in the area of romance (consider her upbringing), Angier is very smooth and quite 'practiced' for lack of a better word. And when Angier is pressured by his mother to forsake his own dreams to follow her plan for his life, it's strong-willed Cordelia who provides both challenge and support to aid him in following his own path.

The music is good. The tunes and lyrics are catchy (even if not quite on par with the best of Mary Poppins), and for weeks after watching it, I'll always catch myself singing or humming Fortuosity, Are We Dancing, or I'll Always be Irish. The show is just plain fun! And silly! Don't forget silly. I first saw this on a video tape maybe 15 - 20 years ago, and have enjoyed rewatching it frequently.

And now the Happiest Millionaire has been released on DVD, in a special 'Road Show Edition' which has put back in something like 18 or 20 minutes of material (including an extra song and several extra verses of other songs) that were cut after early viewings of the film.
Understand, as a long-time fan of the Happiest Millionaire, I had to buy this DVD, and I really got a kick out of seeing the extra song and the extra verses and the extra scene and so on. BUT ... I have to admit, they were cut for a reason. The film was already a long one, running at about two and a half hours. Replacing the earlier material pushes it dangerously near the three hour mark.
Furthermore, in their original versions, some of the songs had so many verses that some of them did seem very monotonous. Let's Have a Drink, especially, was much improved in its shorter version, with some of the other songs sharing the same feeling, though to a lesser extent. The longer version presented in the road show edition was enjoyable as an extra, but I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the movie nearly as much if I'd originally seen the extended version.

So my advice ... if you are already a Happiest Millionaire fan, buy the DVD for the extra material, high quality and the longer stability ... but if you've never seen it, avoid the road show version until you've grown to love the 'regular' release, even if that means going for the VHS version rather than the DVD.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV