The Happiest Millionaire (Disney) (1967)

Mat HAP 2-J (Available in standard 2 col. width and coarse screen) © 1967 Walt Disney Productions “Let’s have a drink onit”...is not only the title of a highlight musical sequence in Walt Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire,” it might also be the toast to the film’s success being given by the Sherman brothers and Tommy Steele. Song writers Richard M. Sherman (left) and his brother Robert B. Sherman (right) gained two Academy Awards for their work on “Mary Poppins.” They have written eleven new songs for the musical comedy which stars Fred MacMurray, Steele, Greer Garson and Geraldine Page. “Happiest Millionaire’ Second Disney Musical Score By Oscar-Winning Sherman Brothers By the time an actor, writer, director or producer reaches the stage at Santa Monica’s Civic Auditorium to accept an Academy Award, it has usually been at least two years since he completed the creative work for which he is being honored. For instance, Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman wrote the musical score for Walt Disney’s ‘‘Mary Poppins” in early 1962, and it was not until April 5, 1965, that they picked up their ‘‘Poppins” Oscars for Best Score and Best Song. By that time, they were nearing completion of eleven songs for “The Happiest Millionaire,” their second Disney musical, now in release and starring Fred MacMurray, Tommy Steele, Greer Garson and Geraldine Page. During production of “Millionaire,” they penned yet another musical score —for “The One and Only, Genuine, “The Happiest Millionaire’ Has The Happiest Cast In Disney History With fresh new faces like Tommy Steele, Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson, plus the seasoned talents of Fred MacMurray, Greer Garson, Geraldine Page, Gladys Cooper and Hermione Baddeley, Walt Disney’s lavish musical comedy, ‘‘The Happiest Millionaire.” boasts the brightest and most talented cast in Disney history. The story is about Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, a happy Philadelphia millionaire who ran his happy family with a firm hand, and who was as many-faceted a man as American history has to offer. He was a novelist, amateur pugilist, F.B.I. instructor, explorer, editor, Marine instructor, Judo expert and patron of the arts, to name a few of his bents and accomplishments. And, as Fred MacMurray can attest, the Biddle character was just as tough to play on the screen as he was in real life, especially after Walt Disney decided to add a dozen rollicking tunes to the hit Broadway play about Mat HAP 1-F (1 col. width — coarse screen) They’re not dead... cries a gleeful Fred MacMurray, as he finds one of his pet alligators under his bathtub in this scene from Walt Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire.” Earlier in the evening the eccentric millionaire had thought his pet alligators were dead when the water in the tanks had become frozen. Page 10 the fabulous fellow. The title role is a tour de force for Fred, and easily the most difficult and demanding assignment of his long and successful career. The signing of Tommy Steele, once a multi-million-dollar rock ’n roller and recently the toast of Broadway in “Half a Sixpence,” was a Disney inspiration that came about when Walt caught the Cockney performer’s act on a New York trip and talked him into coming out West to discuss ‘‘Millionaire.” Steele caught on with Disney as he had with Broadway, and the role of an Irish butler in the screenplay was beefed up to fit his talents. Miss Lesley Ann Warren, a darkeyed beauty sprinkled with stardust, plays Biddle’s strong-willed daughter, Cordy, a character based on the real life Cordelia Drexel Biddle, who collaborated with Kyle Crichton on the original Broadway play about her famous dad. Lesley Ann played the lead in the Mat HAP 1-G (1 col. width — coarse screen) “He must be some kind of nut’... thinks Hermione Baddeley when she opens the door to find Tommy Steele dancing happily on the Biddle ‘ doorstep in this scene from Walt Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire.” Filmed in brilliant Technicolor, the film stars Fred MacMurray, Steele, Greer Garson and Geraldine Page, co-stars Gladys Cooper and Miss Baddeley. television version of “Cinderella,” and put in a crowd and critic pleasing performance on Broadway in “Drat the Cat.” Another newcomer to the screen, John Davidson, was signed before he wowed the nation over the networks on the Summer Kraft Music Hall show and became an overnight sensation. The handsome actor with the golden voice plays Angier Duke, a real life, very rich New Yorker who woos and wins Cordelia. The inimitable Greer Garson was a natural choice for the role of Mrs. Biddle, the sage lady who keeps the family together and her mercurial husband from blowing his top. The roles of nouveau rich Mrs. Duke and Aunt Mary Drexel, who square off for a comical exchange of tactful yet pointed barbs, demanded high-powered casting. Thus Broadway’s Geraldine Page was signed along with that grand dame of the stage and screen, Gladys Cooper. Both Mat HAP 1-H (1 col. width — coarse screen) Getting acquainted... Eccentric millionaire Anthony J. Drexel Biddle (Fred MacMurray) challenges Angier Duke (John Davidson) to a boxing match the very evening they meet. When Biddle flattens his future son-in-law, Angier responds by throwing Mr. Biddle across the parlor with a jui-jitsu hold. “The Happiest Millionaire” stars MacMurray, Tommy Steele, Greer Garson and Geraldine Page. Original Family Band.” The brothers Sherman, who pooled their musical talents at the suggestion of their famous song-writing father, Al Sherman, have written more than 110 songs for Disney feature films since joining the studio in 1960. Among these have been hits for such films as “The Parent Trap,” “Bon Voyage,” “Summer Magic,”’ “Winnie the Pooh,” “That Darn Cat” and “The Jungle Book.” Among their songs for ‘““‘The Happiest Millionaire,” is a tune called “Fortuosity,” another title coined in the tradition of “‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”’ In Technicolor, “The Happiest Millionaire” was co-produced by Bill Anderson and directed by Norman Tokar. A J Carothers screenplay is based upon the book and Broadway play by Kyle Crichton and Cordelia Drexel Biddle. actresses have received Academy Award nominations for recent film performances. Hermione Baddeley essays her third comic role for Disney Studios as the earthy, exuberant Irish cook in “Happiest Millionaire.” Her first was as a dish-dropping Cockney maid in ‘‘Mary Poppins,’’ her second as a tight-fisted Boston matron in “The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin.” Eddie Hodges and Paul Petersen, both teen-age favorites and fine young talents, play Biddle’s sons in the picture and warble a hilarious duet, “Watch Your Footwork.” Joyce Bulifant, an exuberant blond, plays Cordy’s boy-hungry roommate. Filmed in Technicolor, “The Happiest Millionaire’ was directed by Norman Tokar from a screenplay by A J Carothers. Bill Anderson co-produced the Buena Vista release with Walt Disney. © 1967 Walt Disney Productions Music is a family affair in the household of millionaire Anthony J. Drexel Biddle. Here Biddle (Fred MacMurray) enlists his daughter (Lesley Ann Warren), the cook (Hermione Baddeley) and the butler (Tommy Steele) in the dance sequence entitled, “I'll Always Be Trish.” Filmed in brilliant Technicolor, “The Happiest Millionaire” stars MacMurray, Steele, Greer Garson and Geraldine Page. Mat HAP 2-K (Available in 2 col. width and coarse screen