The Happiest Millionaire (Disney) (1967)

Rare Antique Autos Set The Stage For Walt Disney’s Film Musical To help set the scene of Philadelphia’s exclusive Walnut Street during 1916 for the musical, “The Happiest Millionaire,” the Disney prop department rounded up as handsome a set of antique autos as can be found anywhere. Borrowed from the collections of Lindley F. Bothwell of Woodland Hills, California, and the Briggs-Cunningham Auto Museum in Costa Mesa, California, the rare cars are in perfect working order. Most of them are worth much more than their modern counterparts. Included in the colorful fleet is a 1911 Rolls Royce which once belonged to Czar Nicholas of Russia. This model is the celebrated ‘Silver Ghost,” a six-cylinder, 50-h.p. touring car named for its color and for the silence of its engine. It was an expensive but very popular vehicle in its day, and remained in production almost unchanged from 1907 to 1926. In “Millionaire,” the story of Philadelphia’s rich eccentric Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, actor John Davidson, portraying Angier Duke, courts pretty Cordelia Biddle, played by Lesley Ann Warren, in a sporty 1913 Mercer Raceabout, one of America’s finest and best-known early sports cars. It was a light, powerful car with a four cylinder, T-head engine that promised speeds close to 75-miles-per-hour. Altogether, only 600 of these Raceabouts were built. Also prominently featured is a 1911 Daimler Limousine which once belonged to King George V of England. This fancy, enclosed touring car was a forerunner to the popular Mercedes, developed by the same company. Other cars used include Model T Fords, a 1912 Packard limousine, a 1906 Mitchell and a 1913 Mercedes “Big Bertha.” The wealthy Biddle clan had a great interest in the burgeoning auto industry. In 1918, some members of the family founded their own motor car company in Philadelphia, and produced a sport coupe aptly named, ‘The Biddle,” with advertisements promising “thrills of speed with perfect control.” The car was equipped with a Deusenberg motor. Filmed in Technicolor, ‘““The Happiest Millionaire” stars Fred MacMurray, Tommy Steele, Greer Garson and Geraldine Page, co-stars Gladys Cooper and Hermione Baddeley, and introduces Miss Warren and Davidson. Norman Tokar directed from a screenplay by A J Carothers. Bill Anderson co-produced the Buena Vista release with Walt Disney. Top Hollywood Costume Designer Has A Field Day With “Millionaire”’ To handle the monumental task of costume designing for their $5 million musical production, ‘The Happiest Millionaire,’ Walt Disney and coproducer Bill Anderson selected Bill Thomas, one of Hollywood’s most respected costume designers. Mat HAP 2-M (Available in standard 2 col. width and coarse screen) Each of a dozen stars, including Fred MacMurray, who essays the title role, plus 150 extras and scores of dancers were fitted individually during the five-month shooting schedule. Almost 250 costumes were made for the principal players, while over 3,000 © 1967 Walt Disney Productions “There are those” is the title of a dainty little minuet in which Gladys Cooper and Geraldine Page hurl verbal poison darts at each other. Miss Cooper represents the Biddle family and Philadelphia society, while Miss Page upholds the honor of the Duke family and New York society in this scene from Walt Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire” in Technicolor. Tommy Steele, in the role of butler John Lawless, is unhappily caught in the middle of the verbal barrage. Mat HAP 2-L (Available in standard 2 col. width and coarse screen) © 1967 Walt Disney Productions John Davidson serenades Lesley Ann Warren to the tune of “Detroit” in this scene from Walt Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire.” The song tells of how the young couple falls in love, and takes them through four seasons and numerous costume and scene changes. Filmed in brilliant Technicolor, “The Happiest Millionaire” stars Fred MacMurray, Tommy Steele, Greer Garson and Geraldine Page, co-stars Gladys Cooper and Hermione Baddeley, and introduces Miss 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. complete outfits valued at $250,000 were required for the entire production. The film’s most elaborate gowns are worn by stars Greer Garson, Geraldine Page, Gladys Cooper and Lesley Ann Warren. “And believe me,” says Bill, “these lovely women made the job relatively easy. They are model types. They know clothes and know how to wear them. I always try to satisfy the stars as well as the producer. If an actor isn’t happy in the clothes he’s wearing, he won’t be able to do his best in front of the camera. By hashing out the differences of opinion beforehand, we avoid a lot of problems.” And that working attitude is probably one of the reasons why some of the top female glamour stars insist that Thomas be signed as the designer before they will agree to make a movie. At one time or another he has designed wardrobes for almost every major film star in the business. His enviable position in the industry is the result of a thorough apprenticeship. Bill’s first job was at Western Costume Company in Hollywood while he was still attending design school. ‘‘My first task there was matching socks;’ he laughingly recalls, adding, “You simply can’t start any lower than that.” After a three-year wartime interruption during which he served with the U.S. Air Force, he resumed his studies at the Chouinard Art Institute, becoming the only Hollywood designer ever to have received his training under the G.I. Bill. Following graduation, he worked as an assistant to designer Walter Plunkett at MGM. But it was not long until his creativity caught the eye of the late Irene, who was at that time the head designer at the studio. He became her assistant and has always credited their long association as the greatest single contributor to his current success. In January of 1949, while still in his twenties, Bill was signed to a longterm contract by Universal-International Studios, where he served as head designer for ten years before leaving to enter the less restricted field of free lance designing. Thomas won his first Oscar in 1961 for his work in “Spartacus,” and has since received nominations for ‘Seven Thieves,” “Babes in Toyland,” “Bon Voyage,” “Toys in the Attic,” “Inside Daisy Clover” and “Ship of Fools.” “T’m still a free lancer. But I kinda consider the Disney lot my home base. And with more elaborate Disney musicals being planned for the coming years, I’m hoping they’ll want me to stick around.” Filmed in Technicolor, ‘““‘The Happiest Millionaire” features eleven new songs by the Sherman Brothers. Norman Tokar directed from a screenplay by A J Carothers. Bill Anderson is coproducer of the Buena Vista release. Page 13