Main Cast: Jean Simmons, John Forsythe, Lloyd Bridges, Teresa Wright, Dick Shawn
Release Year: 1969
Country: US
Run Time: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Suburban housewives console themselves with pills and alcohol to tolerate their spouses' infidelities in The Happy Ending. Mary Wilson (Jean Simmons) is married to Fred (John Forsythe) and she prepares for their 16th wedding-anniversary party with tranquilizers and booze. The guests are clients of Fred's, a successful tax attorney. Harry (Dick Shawn) and wife Helen (Tina Louise) are two of the guests. Helen offers herself to Fred, as Mary entertains thoughts of bedding down with the playboy Sam (Lloyd Bridges) or a young gigolo (Bobby Darin). Agnes (Nanette Fabray) is the level-headed housekeeper who wryly observes the proceedings, and Shirley Jones is on hand as one of the guests. Mary ends up in the hospital in need of a stomach pump after a half-hearted suicide attempt. After the incident, her incredulous husband shallowly suggests that she needs a hobby. All is not well in the suburban Shangri-La in this feature, that tends to sympathize with the female characters. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Review
One of a number of films from the late '60s and early '70s that looked at the problem of life among the upper class (and especially among the wives therein), The Happy Ending has dated considerably since its initial release. In 1969, it seemed fairly fresh and basically honest; now, it's territory that has been traversed many times before, and an air of manipulation and calculation hangs over the screenplay. Still, if a viewer can overlook the obviousness of many of the situations and dialogue that is trite as often as it is insightful, they can find a number of things worthy of their attention. Chief among these is star Jean Simmons' sterling performance. The actress takes an often annoying character and plays her with admirable honesty. The audience may not always like Mary, but it feels as if it understands her. Simmons, of course, takes advantage of the big set piece scenes that come her way, but she's equally good in the small moments that really flesh out the character. John Forsythe does well with a one-dimensional character, Tina Louise provides bite, and Nanette Fabray supplies some much-needed stability. Oscar-nominated song "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life" is only so-so, but Michel Legrand's score is used effectively. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Rita Riggs - Costume Designer, Tom Shaw - First Assistant Director, Richard Brooks - Director, George Grenville - Editor, Alan Bergman - Composer (Music Score), Michel Legrand - Composer (Music Score), Alan Bergman - Songwriter, Fred C. Blau, Jr. - Makeup, Conrad L. Hall - Cinematographer, Richard Brooks - Producer, Geza Gaspar - Special Effects, Chuck Gaspar - Special Effects, Richard Brooks - Screenwriter
The Happy Ending is a 1969 film which tells the story of a repressed housewife who longs for liberation from her marriage.
Synopsis
1953 - and through the course of a Colorado autumn and winter, Mary Spencer (Jean Simmons), and Fred Wilson, (John Forsythe), lead an idyllic existence. Mary finishes college early to marry Fred and their perfect wedding mirrors the happy endings of the films Mary loves.
1969 - a suburban house in Denver, Colorado. It is the Wilson's 16th wedding anniversary. On his way to work Fred, a successful tax consultant, tells their maid Agnes (Nanette Fabray), that he has found some vodka hidden in Mary's wardrobe and asks her to keep an eye on his wife. Agnes sees Mary set off for the beauty parlour. At an airline office, however, Mary buys a one-way ticket to Nassau, Bahamas. On the flight she recalls the horrors of last year's anniversary party, when Fred had drunk too much and flirted with a blond divorcee and she too had been driven to the bottle and Casablanca, on the television. It somehow sparked a fight with her husband. At a stop-over she calls home where this years anniversary party has been a different sort of disaster. Her daughter, (Kathy Fields), is scared by the call - it reminds her of the time she had found her mother unconscious after an overdose.
En route for Nassau, Mary meets Flo, (Shirley Jones), an old college friend she has not seen since 1953. While Mary settled down to married life, Flo has been the mistress of a series of married men. She is on her way to Nassau, Bahamas to meet her latest, Sam,(Lloyd Bridges). When Mary tells her she has had to get away from Fred, Flo promises to look after her. In Nassau Mary enjoys the life of sun and sand and the long, empty stretches of beach. One evening , at a casino, Mary becomes the object of Franco's, (Bobby Darin's),attention. A hustler from Los Angeles who is down on his luck, Franco mistakenly assumes the beautiful woman is also a very wealthy woman. With a fake Italian accent he fools Mary into thinking he is a journalist who writes about film stars. She agrees to go to 'his' boat, but Franco quickly loses interest when it transpires Mary is not that wealthy, and confesses his fakery. Walking into the ocean Mary recalls the occasion of her suicide attempt - she had returned from having a face lift to find that Fred was in Reno with a girl. Her daughter Marge had found her and she had been rushed to hospital. Out of hospital her drinking had resumed, she had spent reckless amounts of money, and crashed her car whilst drunk.
Now, in Nassau, Sam asks Flo to marry him, and she agrees. Mary flies back home. Agnes meets her and helps her move into rooms she has rented away from Fred and Marge. She takes a job and enrolls in night classes at the University. It is here that Fred finds her, one evening. "What went wrong?" he asks. "All our friends are married, and they're happy."
The film was rated 'M' certificate, and has a running time of 117 minutes.
