By Frank Miller
Happiness Ahead
Brief Synopsis
An heiress falls for a singing window washer.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Mervyn Le Roy
Director
Dick Powell
Bob Lane
Josephine Hutchinson
Joan Bradford
John Halliday
Henry Bradford
Frank Mchugh
Tom [Bradley]
Allen Jenkins
Chuck
Film Details
Also Known As
Gentlemen Are Born
Genre
Comedy
Drama
Musical
Romance
Release Date
Oct
27,
1934
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
First National Productions Corp.
Distribution Company
First National Pictures, Inc.; The Vitaphone Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 26m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9 reels
Synopsis
Wealthy society woman Joan Bradford finds high society boring. With her father's secret permission, she slips out of a New Year's Eve party where her engagement to Jelliffe Travis is to be announced and, on impulse, enters a Chinese restaurant. Seated alone, she soon joins the party at the next table and meets Bob Lane, an employee of a window washing company. Afraid that her money will scare Bob away, she rents an apartment and pretends to be poor, telling Bob That her maid, Anna, and Anna's boyfriend, Chuck, the Bradford's chauffeur, are casual friends. Bob and Joan begin dating and plan to marry as soon as Bob can save the money to start his own company. Joan, meanwhile, tries to explain matters to her society-conscious mother and is seen by Bob driving away with Chuck. Joan secretly borrows the money from her father Henry, hoping to speed things up, but Bob, who is washing windows himself after a threat from gangsters frightened some of his crew, sees the transaction and misunderstands. He breaks with Joan, pretending he only wanted her money, and then visits Henry to return the check and tell him that Joan was two-timing him with Chuck as well. Henry realizes what has happened and rushes with Bob to stop Joan from leaving on an airplane with Jelliffe. With her father's enthusiastic support, Joan and Bob are reunited.
Director
Mervyn Le Roy
Director
Cast
Dick Powell
Bob Lane
Josephine Hutchinson
Joan Bradford
John Halliday
Henry Bradford
Frank Mchugh
Tom [Bradley]
Allen Jenkins
Chuck
Ruth Donnelly
Anna
Dorothy Dare
Josie
Marjorie Gateson
Mrs. Bradford
Gavin Gordon
Jelliffe Travis
Russell Hicks
Meehan
Mary Forbes
Mrs. Travis
J. M. Kerrigan
Boss of window washers
Mary Treen
Girl
Mary Russell
Girl
Jane Darwell
Landlady
Crew
William Clemens
Editing
Mort Dixon
Composer
Sammy Fain
Composer
Leo F. Forbstein
Vitaphone Orch Conductor
Tony Gaudio
Photography
John Hughes
Art Director
Irving Kahal
Composer
Bert Kalmar
Composer
Brian Marlow
Screenwriter
Orry-kelly
Gowns
Harry Ruby
Composer
Harry Sauber
Original Story
Harry Sauber
Screenwriter
Allie Wrubel
Composer
Photo Collections
1 Photo
Happiness Ahead - Movie Poster
Happiness Ahead - Movie Poster
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Film Details
Also Known As
Gentlemen Are Born
Genre
Comedy
Drama
Musical
Romance
Release Date
Oct
27,
1934
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
First National Productions Corp.
Distribution Company
First National Pictures, Inc.; The Vitaphone Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 26m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9 reels
Articles
Happiness Ahead
Mervyn LeRoy and Dick Powell worked a nice switch on the plot of their Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), in which blue blood Powell went slumming to find success on his own as a supposedly penniless singer-songwriter. For this amiable comedy with music, it's the leading lady, Josephine Hutchinson, who forsakes her patrician roots after falling for window washer Powell on New Years Eve. She rents a tenement apartment so he'll thing she's another member of the unemployed, but things get a little complicated when he spots her collecting her allowance from daddy and draws the wrong conclusions. Although the film lacks Busby Berkeley's eye-popping musical numbers, it features a quintet of songs that show off Powell's tenor and his ability to milk a comic number, particularly when paired with one of Warner's most reliable comics, Frank McHugh. Making her starring debut after drawing attention as the title character in Eva La Galliene's stage adaption of Alice in Wonderland, Josephine Hutchinson is charmingly serious in her pursuit of Powell, while the film also offers strong turns for members of the studio's stock company, including Allen Jenkins, Ruth Donnelly and Marjorie Gateson. The film did well enough to merit two remakes, as Here Comes Happiness (1941), with Edward Norris and Mildred Coles, and Love and Learn (1947), with Jack Carson and Martha Vickers.
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
Happiness Ahead
Mervyn LeRoy and Dick Powell worked a nice switch on the plot of their Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), in which blue blood Powell went slumming to find success on his own as a supposedly penniless singer-songwriter. For this amiable comedy with music, it's the leading lady, Josephine Hutchinson, who forsakes her patrician roots after falling for window washer Powell on New Years Eve. She rents a tenement apartment so he'll thing she's another member of the unemployed, but things get a little complicated when he spots her collecting her allowance from daddy and draws the wrong conclusions. Although the film lacks Busby Berkeley's eye-popping musical numbers, it features a quintet of songs that show off Powell's tenor and his ability to milk a comic number, particularly when paired with one of Warner's most reliable comics, Frank McHugh. Making her starring debut after drawing attention as the title character in Eva La Galliene's stage adaption of Alice in Wonderland, Josephine Hutchinson is charmingly serious in her pursuit of Powell, while the film also offers strong turns for members of the studio's stock company, including Allen Jenkins, Ruth Donnelly and Marjorie Gateson. The film did well enough to merit two remakes, as Here Comes Happiness (1941), with Edward Norris and Mildred Coles, and Love and Learn (1947), with Jack Carson and Martha Vickers.
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's working title was Gentlemen Are Born, a title used later in 1934 for another Warner Bros. picture. Dick Powell sings the film's theme song, "Happiness Ahead," before the credits roll. Contemporary sources note that this was the film debut of Josephine Hutchinson, an alumna of Eva LaGallienne's Civic Repertory Co. According to Variety, "Massaging Window Panes," was used in the vaudeville act of Arthur and Morton Beck before it was used in the film. Hollywood Reporter reports that the Acme Window Cleaning Co. sued Warners for their use of the names Acme Window Cleaning Co. and Peerless Window Cleaning Co. Because the Acme company in the film was portrayed as unscrupulous, the real Acme Co. asked $100,000 in damages. The outcome of the suit has not been determined.
