The Happiest Millionaire is an 1967 American musical directed by Norman Tokar that follows a new butler John Lawless (played by Tommy Steele) who works in a household for the quirky millionaire Anthony Biddle (played by Fred MacMurray) and his family (played by Greer Garson and Lesley Ann Warren).
The movie also stars Gladys Cooper, Geraldine Page, Hermoine Baddeley, John Davidson, Paul Petersen, and Eddie Hodges).
It was released on June 23, 1967. It's notable for being the last live action musical produced by Walt Disney, released after his death.
Tropes for the film:
- Audience? What Audience?: Anthony Biddle asks his Irish butler John Lawless who he's talking to during one of his many addresses to the audience.
- Bar Brawl: John instigates one in order to keep Angie from skipping town.
- Defeat Means Friendship: one of the first times Anthony starts to respect Angie is when, after insulting the sport of boxing, Angie is able to throw Anthony with a jiujitsu throw
- Later in the movie Angie is shown drinking companionably with the man who took a swing at him during the Bar Brawl
- Eccentric Millionaire: Anthony Biddle is very much like this, with a bible study class that is more about boxing and having pet alligators in his conservatory in his Philadelphia mansion.
- Escalating Brawl: Angier finds himself in one that John encouraged to happen.
- Femininity Failure: What the song Valentine Candy is about, as Cordy wonders if she is "valentine candy" (someone a boy would want to date) or "boxing gloves" (a girl into boxing that a boy would not want to date).
- Fighting Irish: John Lawless was the boxing champion of his Irish county
- He claims to the (Irish) police officer that the Bar Brawl was started by Angie claiming that all Irishmen were pigs and that the patrons of the bar were merely defending their homeland
- Grande Dame: "Mother" is related to the type, and Aunt Mary is this.
- High Turnover Rate: The Biddle family has a very hard time keeping house staff, mainly due to Mr. Biddle's penchants for keeping alligators in the conservatory and hosting mixed Boxing/Bible study classes. The only people they seem to be able to hold onto consistently throughout the movie are the butler John Lawless and housekeeper Mrs. Worth, both Irish immigrants.
- Hired on the Spot: John gets hired as a butler just for showing up, without any need for even an interview. Even the aunt that was visiting the residence decided to treat him as the de facto butler before John had ever met any of the family that actually lived in the house.
- "I Am" Song: "I'll Always Be Irish".
- Mistaken for Destitute: During the Fortuosity number, John Lawless at on point extended his hat as a beggar would at the end of a songline; a prosperous man drops some money into it.
- My Beloved Smother: Angier definitely has this problem with his mother, who also intends to control Cordy as well.
- No Fourth Wall: John Lawless will occasionally address the audience or give an Aside Glance when someone else (usually Anthony Biddle) does or says something silly. One time Anthony notices him doing this.
- Not Like Other Girls: Cordy outrights states this tropes as being her situation, and one of the reasons she is willing to go to the boarding school for girls over her father's objections.
- Oireland: John Lawless (played by
Englishman Tommy Steele) invokes this trope, especially in "I'll Always Be Irish", and in his occasional invocation of his shared nationality with fellow Irish people in Philadelphia to get on their good side (such as Mrs. Worth to be able to wait for Mrs. Biddle for his job interview, and with an Irish police officer to get Angie arrested) - Picture-Perfect Presentation: A painting of a Philadelphia street, in 1910s magazine art style, becomes a street.
- Supporting Protagonist: The movie follows the story of the title character and his family, but the POV character is their recently hired butler John.
- Thermal Dissident: Anthony Biddle proclaims loudly how much he loves cold weather, and how it stirs the blood. Angie, feeling that he has to stand up to his future father-in-law to gain his respects, becomes adamant that he prefers hot weather.
