Mein Sohn entdeckt die Liebe

Originaltitel: The Happy Time

1952
Approved
1 Std. 34 Min.

IMDb-BEWERTUNG

6,7/10

598

IHRE BEWERTUNG

Charles Boyer, Linda Christian, Marcel Dalio, Bobby Driscoll, Louis Jourdan, and Kurt Kasznar in Mein Sohn entdeckt die Liebe (1952)

Spring inspires lessons in love and life for a French family in 1920s Ottawa, especially for teenage Robert, who's blind to the attentions of an American neighbor girl, because he's infatuated with the beautiful new maid, fleeing life as a magician's assistant. Robert's mother bemoans some of the Bonnard family male role models available to Robert: his party animal grandfather, roguish traveling salesman uncle Desmond, and an uncle who carries a water cooler filled with wine everywhere while his wife does all the work. As Desmond's temporarily off the road, he also targets the maid.

trailer wiedergeben2:34

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Füge eine Handlung in deiner Sprache hinzuSpring inspires lessons in love and life for a French family in 1920s Ottawa, especially for teenage Robert, who's blind to the attentions of an American neighbor girl, because he's infatuat... Alles lesenSpring inspires lessons in love and life for a French family in 1920s Ottawa, especially for teenage Robert, who's blind to the attentions of an American neighbor girl, because he's infatuated with the beautiful new maid, fleeing life as a magician's assistant.Spring inspires lessons in love and life for a French family in 1920s Ottawa, especially for teenage Robert, who's blind to the attentions of an American neighbor girl, because he's infatuated with the beautiful new maid, fleeing life as a magician's assistant.

Siehe Produktionsinformationen bei IMDbPro

IMDb-BEWERTUNG

6,7/10

598

IHRE BEWERTUNG

Siehe Produktionsinformationen bei IMDbPro

Auszeichnungen
- 2 Gewinne & 5 Nominierungen insgesamt

Videos1

Trailer 2:34

Official Trailer

Fotos3

Benutzerrezensionen23

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9Irene212

If this film has a flaw, I don't know what it is.

Except maybe the title. The film has been described as heartwarming in other posts, but it's more sophisticated than it is sentimental. It is funny and charming throughout, and strongly flavored with emotion. Frank words like erection and intercourse are never used (English is more naked than French, Boyer says at one point), but the moment when the young boy has his first sexual feelings, as he watches a magician's luscious blonde assistant, leaves no doubt about the movie's sexual theme, which is handled with exquisite tenderness.

There is nothing flashy about the film-making-- the stage play was opened up rather minimally, allowing the strength of the writing and the acting to shine. And both do. It's hardly worth singling out any one performer, the ensemble works so well together, though the three Bonnard brothers-- Boyer, Jourdan, Kasznar-- are particularly fine, especially when they gang up on the schoolmaster. This is an all but forgotten movie-- witty and wise, graceful and bold-- that has true greatness in it.

7CinemaSerf

The Happy Time

Aside from "Treasure Island" (1950) this might be my favourite film featuring the charming Bobby Driscoll. He's the teenage "Robert/Bibi" who is completely oblivious to the affections of his next door neighbour because he only has eyes for the new maid "Mignonette" (Linda Christian). His obsessiveness starts to affect his schoolwork, and when the lovelorn "Peggy" (Marlene Cameron) doctors a rather risqué copy of "Paris Match" and gets him into hot water, things get so serious as to require the intervention of his dad (Charles Boyer) and two uncles (Louis Jourdan and Kurt Kasznar). They question him about the naughty photos and respect his denial whilst also clocking really quite quickly just what is troubling their young charge. Boyer is also on good form here, and I thought Richard Fleischer's amiable direction allowed the deftly adapted script to tell us a story of pubescent love mixed with familial concern and affection and peppered with some lovely, quite witty, observational humour. Driscoll was seventeen or so when he made this, so he probably had some genuine hormones to add to this genuinely quite enjoyable comedic drama. Don't be put off by the rather ropey title track, it's really quite good fun, this.

8cocgle

Not Quebec

this is a minor detail but the family is not Quebecois, the are actually French-speaking Ontarians.

The father and his brothers are French and (Protestant!!)immigrants to Ottawa (Ontario) and the mother is of Scottish descent. This explains in part why the film did not garner much enthusiasm among French Canadians who generally viewed being protestant and French as being akin to treason.

The movie is based on a series of short stories by Robert Lafontaine about his childhood in Ottawa's Lower Town. The stories were very popular in the 1940's and became a play. The play has since become a minor staple of high school productions.

8oogiebob-1

Nicely done ensemble about love and truth

The word most frequently used to describe this film is "charming". It is a clever analogy of love in various stages of incarnation from 'first innocent love' to 'new romance' to 'desire to settle down' and also 'the established couple' kind of love. This is mixed up with some lessons on truth and trust. Nicely acted, cozy settings, no bumps or dry spots. Entertaining.

The biographies on the actors here on IMDb are all fascinating, especially the sad one about Bobby Driscoll. It talks of a movie contract being canceled likely because of his severe acne. It also tells of his lonely death as a result of years of hard drug abuse. One can only speculate on whether the drug abuse was related to emotional suffering caused by acne.

This film was made during some transition years for most of the cast. You may recognize academy award nominee, Kurt Kasznar, from his later TV role in the popular Science Fiction series, "Land of the Giants".

roncee

All-time favorite

I saw The Happy Time when it was first released, and I have never had the chance to see it again. Nevertheless, after a half century, I still remember it as a thoroughly delightful experience. The cast - Charles Boyer, Louis Jourdan, and especially Bobby Driscoll - is as memorable as the picture. I would be overjoyed to see it again, but a bit uneasy about whether it's as good as I remember it.

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Wissenswertes
Marsha Hunt was offered the same role in the original Broadway production but turned it down. The part ultimately went to Leora Dana, who met and married Kurt Kasznar during the run of the play.

Zitate
Jacques Bonnard: I think you and I should have a little talk. Sit down, Bibi. Well, there is no need to ask you why you did what you did. The reason is obvious: you did it because... why did you do it?
Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard: I had a desire to know what would happen... if I kissed Mignonette the way Valentino did.
Jacques Bonnard: You were curious.
Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard: Oui, curious.
Jacques Bonnard: Nothing more.
Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard: There is something more, but I don't know what it is.
Jacques Bonnard: Ah. Well. It is this 'something more' of which we shall speak. Now you see, Bibi, this... desire you have, it's a natural one, and since it is natural, it cannot be bad. It becomes bad only when the reason is bad. That is why so many people are mixed up
Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard: I, too, am mixed up.
Jacques Bonnard: Well, of course! So am I. Well, let's try to unmix ourselves, shall we? Now, Bibi, we speak now of love. And where there is love, there is also desire; they go together. Love must have the desire; I don't believe there can be love without it. But, it is possible to have the desire without love, and this is where the world falls apart. For instance, you don't understand why the principal of your school beat you.
Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard: No, papa.
Jacques Bonnard: Well, it is because he has been brought up to believe that the desire is wrong. And since he himself has the desire, he's even more mixed up than we are! He has been brought up in a world where the desire has been used so badly-so badly, believe me-that it itself is thought to be bad; and this is wrong. This is wrong, Bibi. And you know the reason for this condition? It is because so many people are without love.
Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard: Many people?
Jacques Bonnard: Many.
Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard: Uncle Louis?
Jacques Bonnard: You love your Uncle Louis, don't you?
Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard: I love him strongly.
Jacques Bonnard: That's good. He has a great need of love. And without love, one is defeated.
Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard: But this love is different. The love I have for Uncle Louis is different from the love I have for you; this also is different from the way I love maman. And then... Mignonette.
Jacques Bonnard: Eh, oui, Bibi. And this love we speak of now, when it is real, when it is true, it is the greatest love of all. I know; we have it here, in this house, Maman and I; it is the best, it is the most natural. In this way, the world comes down to a house, and a room, and a bed, and if there are two people in love there, then that is the whole world. Of course, you won't know this for many years. You know it is possible never to know it? I hope you will. If you are as lucky as I am, you will.
Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard: I will look for someone like Maman!
Jacques Bonnard: Oh, no! No, no, no, no! On the contrary: the secret is not to imitate. Look for your heart's need, and then she will come. Well, I've talked enough, and still you don't know what I wish to say.
Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard: I think I do.
Jacques Bonnard: Well, perhaps, when we speak of this again, I will find better words.