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Summary: Pet alligators, Bible school with boxing and song...
Review: ..what else could you ask for? This is the kind of movie Disney should be making today. The protagonist is a feminist before it was fashionable, stands up to her dad and up for herself. Her beau chases a dream everyone else thinks is silly, and opts for a career instead of resting on his families laurels. The songs are memorable and the plot something outside the norm. It's fun and funny but talks about real issues and doesn't insult your intelligence.
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Summary: Get both versions!
Review: A carefree millionaire (Disney Style) played by Fred MacMurray lives life his own way, sometimes bordering on Addams Family-esque habbits, such as keeping Alligators as pets and going on a chocolate cake diet? With his two sons soon to leave for school he is disturbed to find that his only daughter is now engaged and will be out of his life too. The story is told somewhat from the cheerful Irish butler's musical point of view. Tommy Steele portrays the butler and steels the show! The film is great traditional Disney fun. I fell in love with non-roadshow version of Happiest Millionaire a few years ago when seeing it on the Disney CHannel and it has become one of my all time favorite films. Then I found out there was a roadshow version, and when I started switching from VHS to DVD a year or so ago I decided to order both versions from Amazon. I recommend fans of the shorter version do what I did and buy both the shorter one, AND this roadshow version. Why? Well, I felt they was so different! I new I loved the shorter version, so I HAD to see the roadshow version! It's just a matter of one having more scenes than the other, but the shorter version is more simple, one you'd watch with your kids, and the longer roadshow version is like, the more adult version. Sometimes you just want to watch the simple, happy short version, and sometimes you want to watch the real deal. I don't know, but I LOVE them both, but when you started out with the short version, it just won't do to only have the roadshow.
Rating: 
Summary: Why roadshows killed the movie musical...
Review: A perfect example of why hugely budgeted, tiresomely lengthy film musicals doomed that genre forever beginning in the mid-1960s, THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE is truly one of the nadirs of the roadshow musical. A huge amount of work went into this film; unfortunately, the material is hard pressed to bear the weight of the roadshow accoutrements. Originally planned as a comedy and not a musical, THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE on view in this new DVD was born as a result of the Disney studio having had such success with MARY POPPINS in 1964, coupled with the industry-shaking phenomenon of THE SOUND OF MUSIC in 1965. Big musicals were considered foolproof at that point, but it was a major miscalculation on the part of the film industry.THA HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE suffers from monotonous pacing, anachronistic costuming and hair styles, a terrible visual look due to the flat, overly bright lighting, and a dearth of production numbers. It's as if a bad '60s sitcom were grafted onto an overly ambitious Broadway musical. The movie wasn't a critical or box-office success, so Disney trimmed 20 minutes from the reserved seat version, and it still didn't catch on. Late 1967 also brought the ruinously expensive DOCTOR DOLITTLE to the screen, and that failure, plus the miscalculation of THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE, began the self-destruction of the film musical. Seeing the latter in its full-length version in 1999 doesn't evoke feelings of nostalgia, rather, it lets us see very clearly how the movie musical died. Sad but true.
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Summary: One and Only Genuine Original Family Band
Review: Alright, I admit it - John Davidson was my schoolgirl crush. I grew up watching Happiest Millionaire and to this day I just love that guy. My question is, now that I've got Happiest Millionaire in my video collection, when can we expect One and Only Genuine Original Family Band? I've tried asking Disney Store people but no one seems to remember the movie. Anyone out there know what I'm talking about? It's another great musical with Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson. Classic Disney. Let's call Michael Eisner if we have to. This movie has got to be made available.
Rating:
Summary: Happy to Watch
Review: Cheerful music, pretty people, cute clothes and based on a true story. Entertaining even if it is years and years old. This is the "lost" or "hidden" Disney film - I loved it as a kid and now my kids adore it too. Glad it's still in print.
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Summary: delightful Disney musical
Review: Fred MacMurray, Tommy Steele, Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson star in the classic Disney musical THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE, a delightful story centering on the Biddle family of Philadelphia. Cordy Biddle (Lesley Ann Warren) becomes engaged to Angie Duke (John Davidson). When this should be a happy occasion, Angie's snooty mother (Geraldine Page) still ensures that Angie hangs onto her apron strings. Cordy's mother (Greer Garson) tries to sort things out while Aunt Mary (Gladys Cooper) engages in some bitchy repartee with Mrs Duke! The entire production is flawless, and while Leonard Maltin has criticised this film for being too long, I think the time flies by. The Sherman brothers songs are strong throughout, and the supporting cast, including a very young Joyce Bulifant, are wonderful. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the worst musicals of the 60s.
Review: High expectations following MARY POPPINS were bitterly dashed with the release of THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE from the Disney Studios. In 1967, the era of cultural and political revolution, Disney presented us with Fred MacMurray and tried to pass him off as a free-thinking eccentric. In spite of the lavish production values, the entrenched conservatism of the mileu and the dated hi-jinks offered up fail to make this spiritless enterprise sparkle. Tommy Steele and Hermoine Baddeley prove that they, at least, know what they're doing, but nothing in this picture remotely "works." This video company presents this best-forgotten picture in a multiplicity of formats and yet Warner Brothers has yet to release Judy Garland's great A STAR IS BORN in widescreen in ANY format. Hello???
Rating: 
Summary: A BIT under-rated, but NOT a great movie...
Review: How can Walt Disney top "Mary Poppins?" He can't. But that didn't stop him from trying. "The Happiest Millionaire" is the first of many tries--and it's easy to understand why it flopped miserably in it's original release. Thankfully with this release, the film can be seen and judged on its own merits. Silly but very likable songs, and great performances all the way around help the TRIFLE of a story work it's way towards a typical Disney ending. Compared with other bloated musicals of the same period ("My Fair Lady," Paint Your Wagon," and "Camelot"), it holds up pretty well. And like the other films, it hasn't dated very well, unlike the completely TIMEless "Mary Poppins."
Rating:
Summary: An Unusual Find
Review: How often do you find a millionaire that is actually happy? Well, Fred MacMurray shows that if you can be yourself, regardless of your money, then you can be happy.
I watched this movie as a child, but haven't seen it for years. I was so thrilled to rediscover it here, and be able to buy it for my little girl. As the first scene began, I found myself singing along to songs that I didn't know I remembered.
If you want to introduce your young children (the younger the better) to some old classic musicals, you should start with this one (and Mary Poppins). The wit and charm of these old classic movies is definately lacking in todays world of film.
All in all, this movie is hilarious, well cast, well written, and fun.
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Summary: Disney Family Video teaches Great Family Values!
Review: I am a fan of Fred MacMurray and so I love this film. However, aside from that this movie is great because is portrays a family that is very close. They are unique and proud of it. The children are taught that being different is good and that the family is most important. I believe that one of America's major problems is that the families are so divided. I love the relationship Cordy has with her father and the relationship between the parents. Cordy's life does not revolve around her friends. Those types of relationships are needed in the world today. The father does not come off looking like a goofball with a wife who has to "fix" him and make him socially acceptable. It is very refreshing to see a Disney movie that is portraying famliy values. I also love the fact that it is a musical by the Sherman Brothers. It is based on the book "My Philadelphia Father" by Cordelia Drexel Biddle. I read the book and loved it. The video is very similar.
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