Happy Anniversary

"Happy Anniversary" is a 'modern' comedy that tries to be edgy. It just forgot one thing...to be funny. So, with several curse words and references to premarital sex, it's not enough to make the film interesting. I think the problem is that it tries too much to be hip and not enough time focusing on fun.

The film finds a happy couple who have been married 13 years, Chris and Alice Walters (David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor). But when they receive the gift of a TV for their anniversary, trouble is brewing. Chris prides himself for not having a TV in the house and he doesn't listen to his family--he just demands they remove it. Then, though the course of the film, they bicker about not just the TV but other things...none of which is all that interesting.

I just found this comedy to be a bit tedious AND I really hated the character of Chris. He was supposed to be a modern and permissive dad but was actually a selfish jerk. Not much fun.

David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor, two talented actors, are miscast in this stagy comedy about a married couple whose past catches up to them just before they celebrate their wedding anniversary. The addition of a new to the household television set is the catalyst for a series of not terribly funny mishaps and lots of arguing. The dialogue is trite and stilted, especially coming from the mouths of the child actors, although all concerned sound as though they're reading their lines directly from cue cards. Had the film been shot in colour, it might have livened things up, but as it stands,the black and white photography just adds to the dreary proceedings.Happy Anniversary bubbles like flat champagne.

The real question is how the source material, a play by these screenwriters called "Anniversary Waltz," managed to captivate Broadway audiences for 18 months and tour extensively. (MacDonald Carey and Kitty Carlisle must have helped.) It's a prurient, shrill sex comedy about how a happily married couple with two 1950s-adorable kids endure a domestic crisis involving a) television's entry into their home and b) the revelation to her parents that they enjoyed premarital sex. It's smug and leering, and so's this loud film version, with a rather clueless David Niven and a posturing Mitzi Gaynor, directed by the seldom-reliable David Miller. The stately black-and-white photography (including some sumptuous 1959 NYC locations) helps, as does Carl Reiner in a capable best-friend supporting turn, as does Patty Duke as the daughter. Phyllis Povah and Loring Smith, as the parents, are tedious, as is the rest of the supporting cast, as is a screenplay that seemingly chuckles at how naughty it's being. You get to see Niven smash a bunch of television screens, and Gaynor does attractively croon one song. But it's 1950s sex comedy at its most lascivious and boring, at the same time.

In 1959, there were several precursors to the typical "1960s sex comedy," including Pillow Talk and Happy Anniversary. In this hormone-based comedy, David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor are married with two kids and too busy to focus on each other anymore. Of course, we all know it that means when The Niv comes home from work early, gets into his bathrobe, and calls Mitzi up to the bedroom. Then, with phone calls, kids barging in, and their cook interrupting, they sigh and face the rest of the day without their afternoon diversion. Niv complains and reminds his wife how much fun they had the year before they were married, sneaking off to hotel rooms and going to dive bars.

When Mitzi's parents (whom The Niv naturally hates) come over for dinner, Niv drinks one too many cocktails and lets the cat out of the bag. Mitzi's folks are shocked and disgusted that he sampled the goods before the wedding, and when he reminds them, "Well, I married her, didn't I?" it doesn't go over well. Of course there are fights and humiliations and vows never to forgive, and by the end of the night, The Niv is banished to the couch while Mitzi hides behind her locked bedroom door.

If you like to chuckle about jokes old movies get past the censors, you might like this one. While out to lunch on a date without their family responsibilities, The Niv promises to never lose his temper again. Mitzi is so grateful, she asks if there's anything she can do for him. He smiles and the scene cuts to show the outside of a hotel. When they come home later that afternoon, they're all smiles and giggles. I thought it was entertaining because David Niven's comic timing is wonderful, and it was funny to see him take all his frustrations out on his wife instead of reverting to his playboy ways. I normally can't stand Mitzi Gaynor, but if there's anyone who can make her look good, it's The Niv. Try it out with a bunch of your girlfriends and cocktails this weekend!

As a young girl, my all-time favorite film star was David Niven. I went to as many of his films as I could. Happy Anniversary was a hilariously funny film. Of course, since television became such an American staple, some might not find the humor in it. I call TV the plug-in drug! So, I have always felt this very funny film was a masterpiece.