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Directed by Richard Brooks
Brooks’ personal ode to then-wife Jean Simmons casts her as a dashingly gorgeous, alcoholic Denver housewife fleeing a mid-life identity crisis. With unapologetically goofy romanticism and hyper-dated (yet still relevant) nods to suburban consumerism, The Happy Ending’s well-paced multiple-flashback structure unfolds as a surprisingly dark and languid treatise on the nature of love. Conrad Hall’s sumptuous imagery, a delightfully quirky Michel Legrand score, and an all-star cast (including excellent support from Shirley Jones and Nannette Fabray, as well as Tina Louise, Dick Shawn and Bobby Darin) make this top-notch and underappreciated work of cinema worthy of new attention.
United Artists. Producer: Richard Brooks. Screenwriter: Richard Brooks. Cinematographer: Conrad Hall. Editor: Murray Jordan. Cast: Jean Simmons, John Forsythe, Shirley Jones, Lloyd Bridges, Teresa Wright, Nanette Fabray. 35mm, Color, 112 min.
