Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

MartinHafer I understand that musicals and dancing were very popular back in the day. However, in the case of "Happy Go Lovely", the film really worked well and was a lovely comedy but every time they had dance numbers, the tempo of the film slowed to a crawl. It's a shame, but really think eliminating the production numbers or cutting back on them would have helped the film.The story is set in Edinburgh, which is a bit odd since it's about an American stage production and its leader, Mr. Frost (Caesar Romero). He's in a bind because the production has run out of money and the creditors are threatening to close them down before they can even open. Later, when he and others mistakenly think one of the chorus girls is a rich man's girlfriend, Frost kisses up to Janet Jones (Vera-Ellen) and gives her the lead...hoping to make her rich 'boyfriend', Mr. Bruno happy. The hope, of course, is that Bruno will then agree to finance the show. Here's where the film gets interesting, Janet actually does meet Bruno (David Niven) but thinks he's a reporter. And when she asks him to pretend to be Bruno, he agrees! What's next, apart from a lot of dull dancing? See the film.I'd give this one a seven. Without all the dancing, I'd probably give it an 8. But the comedy is sparkling and fun and the rest is filler...to much at times.

blanche-2 Vera-Ellen, David Niven, and Cesar Romero star in "Happy Go Lovely," a 1951 British musical.It's a backstage musical about a show being done in Scotland, the money problems of the director/producer (Romero), and plenty of mistaken identity all around.The story is light and cute, and pretty Vera-Ellen dances beautifully. My problem with this film is the actual musical. It looked lousy, with hackneyed dance routines for the chorus, and the music was forgettable. If it had a few numbers like the musical in "Band Wagon," it would have knocked the film up a few levels and the copyright might have been renewed.Thanks to the cast of Vera-Ellen, Romero, and David Niven, it is quite pleasant. Hard to see graceful and lovely Vera-Ellen without thinking of her sad life, plagued by anorexia, arthritis, and the loss of a child. She was a gentle presence on the screen with beautiful dance ability.

Lee Eisenberg This dull attempt at eye candy casts Vera-Ellen as an American dancer performing in Edinburgh who gets mistakenly linked to a local businessman (David Niven). It's a totally predictable movie. Cesar Romero, as the nervous impresario, is the only reason to watch it. In fact, I kept wishing that Romero would start acting like his interpretation of the Joker on "Batman"! But seriously, there's no reason to waste your time on "Happy Go Lovely". Ridiculous movies should be fun, like "Killer Klowns from Outer Space". Yes, it's partly that I've never been into romantic comedies or musicals. I usually heckle these sorts of movies like on "Mystery Science Theater 3000".

imdb-8006 As a lightweight British post-war comedy, it's fine. David Niven's really charming, Vera-Ellen's trying like crazy. As a musical, it's very odd. There's nearly no 'musical' in it, and when you finally get to the two on-stage numbers near the end, you'll be glad. There's one long imitation Gene Kelly odyssey piece about a little girl in a big city that's strangely small and mean and bad. It looks like it should at the start, but I'd swear there wasn't any choreography design per se, just the general idea of a Kelly avant-garde set. Large scope, small stage, and the routines are so disjointed, you'll wonder how dancers learned the sequences. But as a comedy, it's quite adequate. Vera-Ellen mostly shines as she usually does though it looks like a bit of a struggle to hold onto the lead position. Fortunately for her, pretty soon she'll get a boost from David Niven. He's really the reason you'd want to see this movie, he just couldn't be more forthright, very plainly happy to be there. Caesar Romero's miscast but he's also obviously happy to be working. Both those big presences, Niven's nuanced, Romero's steamrolling, make this a piece of film worth keeping. And of course, as always, the number one attraction is how Vera-Ellen wore the clothes!