The Happy Years (1950)

A Masterpiece!

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

What a wonderful thing for this movie finally to be released on DVD! I haven't seen it in over 30 years, but I treasured my memories of it. It was a real treat to see it again. I got to relive adventures with Tough McCarty, Tennessee Shad, Hungry Smead and the White Mountain Canary.This is an excellent family movie, and a great view of Americana at the turn of the century. The cast was very good, and while this will never be a mega-classic like Gone with the Wind, it's worth watching and re-watching.As others have said, the linchpin of the movie is Dink's final conversation with the Old Roman, and it's a great scene.Leo G. Carroll as the crusty Old Roman (aka Latin teacher, also football coach) and a young Dean Stockwell deliver solid performances that make this as lovable classic.***** a funny minor spoiler ****** When I was watching this with my wife, she couldn't figure out why Dink and Tough were going over game plays on the football field at night with nobody else around. I told her, male bonding, it's a guy thing. True in 1896, and true today. ***** end of spoiler *****

Never heard of this little gem until tripping over it on TCM.A jolly good story about growing up the hard way.And making one's way in the formative years of a young man's life in the late 19th c.Dean Stockwell and Leo G. Carroll make this film tick.This film shows why Stockwell was a worthwhile commodity in Hollywood.Carroll was one of the best character actors in the business.Great performances.You will laugh and never want it to end.Highly recommended.The "final exam" is a surprise.

This is one of my favorite movies. Dean Stockwell is great as the main character. This is not your run of the mill story about sweet little boys at some boy school. They all are characters, The main character (Humperdink)Dink is a feisty kid who doesn't take any mess from anyone. He is not annoying or disrespectful. He just feels very strongly about certain things and will let you know. He is a little guy among older boys, But they soon find out he is not a pushover. The supporting characters are great.And I love the message the schoolmaster had. Dinks grades are not the best, and he almost gets expelled. But the school master, played by Leo G Carroll says that even though he may not have good grades his character offers so much more then that and people could learn from people like him too. I adhere to that. I have seen so many A students with nothing to offer but a good grades. I feel grades are important, but they should not count for every thing and at times should not be the most important factor to judge if one is a success. This movies picked up on that Dink was a leader who had roadblocks but he tackled them and that was what was the most important. There is a subplot about him playing football which is also very good. His classmates fall in love with him eventually, like you will.I think this was a part that could of been easily played two different ways. One is the smart azz, disrespectful way that we see so many child stars act today, The parts where the kids are smarter then the adults and go around the whole movie calling adults by their first name. The movie would of failed if it went in that direction. Or the way Dean Stockwell played it. This part has to work for the movie to work. I just got to see this movie by mistake for the second time in my life this morning on TCM. I didn't even know its name until today. But I never forgot the movie and was elated to see it on the TV when I woke up this morning. I am just mad I did not DVR it because it is not on video. Something I found out when went to buy it online. Check this movie out if you can catch it on TV.

The setting may be 1896, but the plot and action are appealing to all ages. Add to this a fun set of characters and charming script, coupled with a superb job of color motion photography that looks as good as if it were filmed today, and you have a perpetual classic.The story eventuates in a wonderful social redemption of a supposedly hopeless boy, though this is by no means done in a maudlin or polly-annish fashion. Rather, care is taken to have the boy go through all manner of personal and social struggles, and the only reason that propriety wins out over social failure is because older characters respect the little trouble-maker's spunk just enough, that he eventually emulates their higher social qualities. Then, these people all find within themselves a degree of improvement as well, for having been part of all this cycle.But I have never seen this done in a more realistic, and at the same time funny and entertaining, manner.The story must have been at least partly garnered from the authors' personal experiences, because the real-life appeal is perfect.Enjoyable also are the beautiful high-society homes, lush countryside, and classic private boarding school campus; the photography, color balance, cinematography are consistent and beautiful throughout. Despite the affluent setting, the characters are real and likable, and face everyday situations with everyday humanity, just like the rest of us.The main character, Dean Stockwell, is brilliant in his performance. Though only 13 or 14 at the time, his acting skill is as fine as any of the great actors through the decades. This professionalism, partly inherited from his superbly skilled actor-parents, propelled him to an enviable lifetime of roles. Watch for Darryl Hickman as the character "Tough" McCarty. Darryl is a vastly accomplished actor of movies and TV, and is the elder brother of actor Dwayne Hickman, (remembered best for his TV role of "Dobie Gillis."