La ragazza di provincia

Anyone who has seen ' White Christmas ', ' On the Town ' and especially ' Call Me Madam ' will know that Vera-Ellen was enchanting to watch. But in these films she had excellent support, and here sadly she is paired with Tony Martin, who is in no way her equal. Robert Flemyng who is also the third man in the film is not right either, his acting stilted and unconvincing. But it is after all Vera-Ellen's last screen performance and in many ways she is as much fun, and as gloriously watchable as in her previous films. The story is banal; Vera-Ellen inherits money and goes to Scotland and there has a good time for the first time in her life. Although somewhat dully directed the film holds and despite mediocre songs there is a certain joy of life and in my opinion she was a loss to the cinema. Her dancing is extraordinary in a ballet sequence ( more of a musical than ballet, but well choreographed and designed, ) and see it if you can. The UK has great Cinemascope and not pan and scan version on DVD.

The locations are finely filmed, and is worth seeing simply for her performance.

I really must come to the defence of "Let's Be Happy"; a near-forgotten little gem. My family and I enjoyed this film twice,on it's initial release,so I'll admit to a certain amount of nostalgia in my review. This was the last time Vera-Ellen appeared on screen;a pity,given her talent and charm. It's not difficult to share her enthusiasm as she travels to Scotland to enjoy her inheritance and while the plot may be considered tame by the many detractors,there is a naive appeal about the way it all unfolds. Robert Flemyng essays a certain Gaelic charm as he escorts the heroine on a guided tour of Scotland (nice location shots too). This was also the last time Tony Martin appeared on screen in a musical. The songs are pleasant and he is in good voice,particularly singing 'One Is A Lonely Number";a lovely,haunting ballad. Three other musicals released in N. Z. in 1957;"Silk Stockings", ''Funny Face" and "Les Girls",may now enjoy a 'cult' following,but,strange as it may seem, they all irritate me in ways that "Let's Be Happy" does not. I'm looking forward to replacing my poor quality video copy with the wide-screen DVD.

N. B. Since writing the above review, I have purchased the fully restored, wide-screen DVD which I will relish watching forever.

Let's Be Happy is a musical film shot in Scotland by a British film company and released in America under the Allied Artist banner. It also has two American stars, Tony Martin and Vera-Ellen and both made their final big screen appearance in this production. Musicals were certainly becoming rarer and rarer on the screen by 1957.

If people have followed my reviews on Tony Martin's films, one my criticisms is why he was never teamed with his wife Cyd Charisse in any movie. Cyd was under contract to MGM and Tony did occasional films there as well. Both would move on to the nightclub phase of their careers as their primary venue and they were one of the biggest acts on that circuit for many years. I think Let's Be Happy was created with both of them in mind, but apparently Cyd was otherwise occupied with work at MGM. She did do Silk Stockings that same year over at that much bigger studio. So Vera-Ellen was brought in instead.

The story is a slight one and the songs by Nicholas Brodszky and Paul Francis Webster are pretty forgettable, but they're done well as sang by Tony and danced to by Vera-Ellen. She's a Vermont farm girl who gets an inheritance from her grandfather of $5000.00 approximately, kept in a secret compartment because apparently grandfather did not trust banks. And as a good Scots girl, she decides to visit the old country.

She meets Tony on the plane and the two seem to hit it off. But along the way an impoverished title played by Robert Flemyng gets the idea that Vera-Ellen is really loaded and in the tradition of European nobility down on its luck, they woo the rich American.

Let's Be Happy does boast some really nice cinematography of Edinburgh, a city which definitely believes in keeping its ancient look up for the tourists. It's a pleasant enough 90+ minutes of entertainment, but I do so wish Tony Martin had done this with Cyd Charisse.

I like a lot of the older movies, including B movies and less than stellar musicals. While this one had the Scottish scenery going for it, that's about all as far as I am concerned. Tried to go it, but just couldn't. Too many "ouchies." Vera-Ellen, while good in other things, was a bit painful to watch in this. Same for Tony Martin. The redhead was, to me, hard on the eyes and nerves. The lord character was lackluster.

Surprised at the comments of other reviewers that Cyd Charise should have had the female lead. Good grief. Get some proportion. While Tony Martin was married to Cyd Charise, there is a huge difference in their movie presence and draw. They don't cast parts to be cutesy.

Ms. Charise played and co-starred with major stars in top films. Mr. Martin never did. There's no comparison. This was way too low a production for Ms. Charise. While Mr. Martin enjoyed success as a recording artist, a strong actor, he wasn't. I didn't even care for his singing in this. Forget the acting, on anyone's part.

Definitely give this one a pass - as in pass up. Good performances can override a bad script/plot. That didn't happen here.

Vera-Ellen presumably enjoyed the trip to Britain six years years earlier to make 'Happy-Go-Lovely' since she returned to make a second musical remake in Technicolor of an old British film - also set in Edinburgh - for producer Marcel Hellman, again with a director and male lead imported from Hollywood. (Since she promptly retired upon completing it doesn't suggest she cared much for the final result.)

Only the British supporting cast (including a few authentic Scots) and actual shots of Vera-Ellen in Paris and Edinburgh - as well as the rather drab look of the piece overall - confirm that it was indeed made in Britain since it remains largely studio-bound; while the musical numbers are stagy and look shoe-horned into the film.

The annoying, ever-present incidental music by Nicholas Brodsky is at least the subject of one nice little joke on the soundtrack. While the rare opportunity it furnishes to see Zena Marshall in Technicolor is sadly compromised by the fact that they've made her a harshly made-up brassy redhead on the make.