The Happiest Millionaire (Disney) (1967)

“The Happiest Millionaire” Offers Fred MacMurray His Greatest Performing Challenge The most varied and demanding assignment in his 32 years of motion picture stardom was handed to Fred MacMurray when he was selected by Walt Disney for the title role in “The Happiest Millionaire.” In the film, which also stars Tommy Steele, Greer Garson and Geraldine © 1967 Walt Disney Productions Mat HAP 1-N (1 col. width — coarse screen) Page, MacMurray’s portrayal of Anthony J. Drexel Biddle required him to sing, dance, box, try jujitsu, and work with live, eight-foot alligators. This coveted starring assignment, his sixth for the Disney Studio, comes on the heels of such box office successes as “The Shaggy Dog,” ‘‘The Absent-Minded Professor?’ “Bon Voyage” and “Son of Flubber.” His last Disney film, “Follow Me, Boys!;’ in which he teamed with Vera Miles, set an all-time, single-day box office record at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, and was selected best family film of the year by the Mormon Church. In “Millionaire,” Fred not only talks through the song, ‘‘What’s Wrong With That ?;’ but sings a comic operatic aria and a ballad. Music has 7 Mat HAP 2-S (Available in standard 2 col. width and coarse screen) always been a part of his life. He began his Hollywood career as an accomplished saxophonist and vocalist, recording with the bands of George Olsen and Gus Arnheim. While performing in New York with a band called the California Collegians, a Paramount talent scout, impressed with Fred’s good looks and apparent acting promise, arranged a New York screen test that landed MacMurray a studio contract. His first big role was opposite Claudette Colbert in ‘The Gilded Lily.” The picture, a comedy, was one of the best of the year. It made MacMurray a star overnight. And that ended Fred’s career as a musician, although he still likes to toot on his sax and has even used it in some of his romantic comedy roles. His last screen dance sequence was a Bavarian slap dance done with Eddie Foy in an RKO comedy of the 1930’s. MacMurray has also enjoyed one of the most durable careers in the troubled history of television series. His role as the harassed widower father in “My Three Sons’ is in its eighth season of broadcasting. Fred is married to June Haver, who is now devotiuag herself exclusively to her husband and their adopted twin girls, Katie and Laurie. They live in a rambling colonial house in Brentwood, California. Whenever MacMurray has a few free days, the family hurries to their 2,300-acre ranch by the Russian River in Sonoma County, California, where they keep 350 head of Black Angus cattle and sell breeding stock. An avid camper and fisherman, Fred loves to cook and is a do-it-yourself buff. “The Happiest Millionaire” was directed by Norman Tokar from a screenplay by A J Carothers. Bill Anderson is co-producer of the Buena Vista release. © 1967 Walt Disney Productions Good fortune follows Tommy Steele everywhere he goes as the musical star sings “Fortuosity,” the opening number in Walt Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire.” The film marks Steele’s American motion picture debut. Filmed in brilliant Technicolor, “The Happiest Millionaire” stars Fred MacMurray, Steele, Greer Garson and Geraldine Page, co-stars Gladys Cooper and Hermione Baddeley, and introduces Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson. Page6 Mat HAP 2-R (Available in standard 2 col. width and coarse screen) © 1967 Walt Disney Productions “Let’s have a drink on it!” says Tommy Steele to John Davidson (left), a phrase that just happens to be the title of this highlight dance sequence in Walt Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire.” In Technicolor, the film stars Fred MacMurray, Steele, Greer Garson and Geraldine Page, co-stars Gladys Cooper and Hermione Baddeley, and introduces Lesley Ann Warren and Davidson. Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, whose work on “Mary Poppins” brought them two Academy Awards, have written eleven new songs for the musical comedy. Career Of Britisher Tommy Steele Skyrockets In Three Screen Musicals Following the same path to international stardom taken by Julie Andrews, Sean Connery, and Hayley Mills, British acting-singing : sensation Tommy Steele has chosen a Walt Disney film, “The Happiest Millionaire,” for his American screen debut. In quick succession, he has also completed starring roles in “Half a Sixpence” for Paramount and ‘Finian’s Rainbow” for Warner Bros. Though his talents are just now reaching American motion picture audiences, Tommy Steele is already an entertainment legend in the British empire. Born in Bermondsey, South London slum, Steele attended school only until he was fifteen, then went to sea in the merchant marine. Playing guitar in a Soho coffee bar while on shore leave in 1956, Tommy was spotted by an agent and persuaded to make a record satirizing America’s new rock ’n roll craze. To everyone’s amazement, the recording was taken seriously by Britain’s teenagers, and within four weeks, Tommy reluctantly became England’s first and greatest rock ’n roll star. During the next three years, Steele appeared in his own TV series, made a string of English motion pictures, and completed triumphant personal appearance tours throughout Europe and such far-flung territories as South Africa and Australia. He has done seven command performances before the British Royal Family. Within the first year, an independent film company produced “The Tommy Steele Story?’ a musical biography of his life. “I called it ‘From the Cradle to the Shave,’ ” quips Tommy. But the film, which cost $75,000, grossed more than $1.5 million in England and Europe. Thoroughly in love with show business, yet totally dissatisfied with his role in it, Tommy canceled all of his contracts and withdrew from the limelight in January, 1960. Refashioning a new career for himself as a star of stage and musical comedy, Steele returned eight months later for roles at the Old Vic and in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical version of “Cinderella” at the London Coliseum. In 1968, Tommy made his West End theatrical debut in the musical “Half a Sixpence?’ The smash hit ran in London for two years before Steele brought the show to Broadway. It was while completing his oneyear commitment with “Half a Sixpence” in New York that Steele was invited to California by Walt Disney to discuss the role of John Lawless, faithful butler and boxing second for Philadelphia eccentric Anthony J. Drexel Biddle in “The Happiest Millionaire.” As a result the role was expanded to become a fitting vehicle for his American film debut. Steele and his wife, Ann, make their home in a 300-year-old converted stable overlooking the Thames at Hampton Wick in England. An avid soccer player, Tommy appears whenever he can with Britain’s famed show business soccer team, whose appearances have greatly assisted fund-raising drives for British charities.