L'extravagante Mlle Dee

You Gotta Stay Happy was produced by William Dozier who at the time was married to Joan Fontaine. I think Fontaine was trying to lighten her image a bit and decided to try this throwback comedy involving a missing runaway heiress. Very familiar territory from the Thirties, postwar audiences wanted a little more realism.

Anyway she was able to land James Stewart as her leading man and he even accepted second billing here. Well, in affect she was the boss on this set. And they got a good cast of familiar faces from past screwball comedies to help this along.

Watching this, I couldn't help thinking that Joan Fontaine was going into territory Jean Arthur knew by heart. If Arthur was the heiress, this thing might have been a classic. This picture would have been so right for Jean Arthur.

I particularly enjoyed Percy Kilbride playing Pa Kettle under a different name. He's a farmer with a tribe of kids in Oklahoma where pilot James Stewart and his animal, human, and vegetable cargo have landed. Eddie Albert as Stewart's co-pilot and sidekick is also just fine.

It's an enjoyable comedy, but it will never be in the first rank of films of either Fontaine or Stewart.

Well, this wasn't "It Happened One Night" but, the plot line was similar. Rich girl (Joan Fontaine) secretly hops aboard a transport plane to escape a loveless marriage. Jimmy Stewart, the pilot, finds her and is annoyed to have a pretty girl hiding on board. In Hollywood guys always get mad finding a pretty stowaway, yeah, right. Anyhow, after a plane crash and lots of hanging around, nature takes over ... and you know... Actually, I enjoyed it. A little escapist comedy, that managed to entertain. Eddie Albert is good too, as Stewart's side-kick. I'd rank it a respectable 6 1/2. Also, Fontaine is as always, very feminine.

In New York, the spoiled Diana "Dee Dee" Dillwood (Joan Fontaine) is an indecisive millionaire that has broken with her various fiancées. Her uncle and her psychiatrist convince Diana to get married with Henry Benson (Willard Parker) and they go to a fancy hotel. Meanwhile the pilot Marvin "Marv" Payne (James Stewart), who owns an air flight company with two old airplanes with his friend Bullets Baker (Eddie Albert), lodges in the wedding suite on the next door of Dee Dee and Henry expecting to rest to fly to California on the next morning. Dee Dee flees from the wedding night and hides in Marv's room. She uses a strong sleeping pill and on the next morning, she does not wake up. Marv and Bullets take her to the airport and she convinces them to take her to California with them and a chimpanzee; a soppy couple that has just married; an embezzler with a wallet full of money; a coffin with a body; and frozen seafood. After a storm, passenger and crew are stranded in a farm of a hospitable family where Dee Dee learns that the she will find her true love when she kisses the right man.

"You Gotta Stay Happy" is a delightful screwball comedy with James Stewart and Jean Fontaine that show wonderful chemistry. I saw this movie yesterday and I laughed a lot with the funny situations, especially when the poor Marv wants to sleep and is interrupted many times. It is amazing how Hollywood does not present a tribute to Jean Fontaine (96), to her sister Olivia de Havilland (97), to Maureen O'Hara (90) and to Lauren Bacall (89) and any other actor or actress from the Golden Age still alive in the Oscar ceremony. Ms. Lauren Bacall is still filming but it would be heartwarming to see Ms. Jean Fontaine, Ms. Olivia de Havilland and Ms. Maureen O'Hara reunited again, after all those years. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Though screwball comedies like Bringing Up Baby and It Happened One Night had run their cycle by World Way II, Universal was persuaded to try it again with this frothy story about runaway heiress Fontaine escaping her stuffy groom for the charms of pilot Jimmy Stewart who is running a shoestring flying service. Stewart's finesse with this genre shows as does Eddie Albert's as yet another snappy best friend. Fontaine is more sweet than brittle with a comedic line, but thanks to a great supporting cast like Porter Hall, Roland Young, Percy Kilbride, and a cigar-smoking chimp,You Gotta works pretty well. The frantic pace relaxes more than it should when the cast gets airborne, but this is a very entertaining film of its kind with more than a few laughs.

You Gotta Stay Happy (1948) : Brief Review -

You gotta enjoy H. C. Potter's version of It Happened One Night (1934). The world can never get over Frank Capra's 1934 classic rom-com, nor can it overlook the influence it left on others over the decades. Potter's You Gotta Stay Happy happens to be one such film, and you gotta see it and enjoy it despite its predictability. The film carries a similar plot, though framed within a different world and set of circumstances. A rich heiress fleeing from her wedding (with a slightly altered marriage subplot) and falling in love with a common man-this is the basic setup, strongly reminiscent of Capra's cult screwball. Interestingly, the female character here is more dominant than the male, which is quite the opposite of the earlier film. To put it simply, You Gotta Stay Happy is about a wealthy heiress, Diana, who is coerced into marriage and decides to run away on her wedding night. She barges into a neighboring hotel room belonging to a pilot, Marvin, who lets her stay the night. Diana instantly starts liking him, and by the next day, manages to tag along with him on his journey. During the trip, Marv too falls for her, but things take a downturn when he discovers her true identity and her recent marriage. I never imagined I'd enjoy Joan Fontaine in such a charming and comedic role, but I absolutely did. James Stewart and she make a fine couple, though-just to set the record straight-they're not quite on par with Gable and Colbert's finesse. Yet, there's a definite spark between them, and their chemistry lends a certain enchantment to the film. H. C. Potter has directed several delightful comedies, and this one stands out as another hidden gem in his oeuvre. Not a masterpiece, but certainly a delightful watch. This film brings back memories of a bygone era-when movies like these were made with such warmth. Now, all we can do is cherish the memories because they don't make it like this anymore.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.