As Long As They're Happy

 (UK)

By VARIETY STAFF

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Rank. Director J. Lee Thompson; Producer Raymond Stross; Writer Alan Melville; Camera Gilbert Taylor Editor John D. Guthridge; Music Stanley Black Art Michael Stringer
 
Jack Buchanan
Janette Scott
Jean Carson
Brenda Banzie
Diana Dors
Susan Stephen
 

Generously adapted from the West End stage hit of a couple of seasons back, As Long as They're Happy has been embellished with high quality production values to give it broader and more popular appeal. In transferring the original Vernon Sylvaine piece to the screen, Alan Melville's screenplay takes full advantage of the opportunities of a wider canvas.

Jack Buchanan repeats his original stage role as the stockbroker head of the family whose wife and three daughters are overwhelmed by the arrival of a Hollywood crooner at their suburban London home. The youngest (Janette Scott) is full of adoration; her elder sister (Jean Carson), a Parisienne existentialist, is full of adimiration, while their mother (Brenda de Banzie) sees the chance of some honest fun at the expense of her staid husband. Around these characters, the plot develops into a hearty and good-humored romp, without much attention to storyline.

Nine songs by Sam Coslow get full treatment and although production values are toned down, they strike an effective note. Jerry Wayne, who has the dominant role of the crooner, does four of the numbers, one of which is shared by Buchanan.

Carson, who does a couple of numbers with great effect, always looks attractive, but Scott is too repetitive as the adoring teenager. There is a delightful guest bit by Diana Dors.

(Color) Extract of a review from 1955. Running time: 95 MIN.