The Happy Years
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''The Happy Years'' is a 1950 film based on the 1910 novel ''The Varmint'' by Owen Johnson. It concerns the adventures of Dink Stover, a boy attending the
Lawrenceville School The Lawrenceville School is a coeducational preparatory school for boarding and day students located in the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Lawrenceville is a member of the Eight Scho ...
in New Jersey.


Plot

Expelled from other preparatory schools, most recently after causing a campus explosion, young John Humperdink Stover is given one last chance by his father to find maturity and discipline along with a proper education. On the way to a new academy, Stover promptly disrupts the trip of a fellow carriage passenger, Mr. Hopkins, by causing the horse to break into a gallop. He is unaware that Hopkins is the Latin teacher and house-master at his school. Promptly given the nickname "Dink," he becomes acquainted with other students like "Tough" McCarty and "Tennessee" Shad and immediately starts getting into fights. The rivalry spills onto the football field and also includes elaborate pranks played on a girl, Connie Brown, during the summer break. On the verge of being kicked out of yet another school, Dink comes to his senses just in time, making his father proud at last.


Cast

*
Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a career spanning seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he first came to the public's attention in films including ''Anchors A ...
as Dink Stover * Darryl Hickman as Tough McCarty * Scotty Beckett as Tennessee Shad * Leo G. Carroll as Mr. Hopkins *
Leon Ames Leon Ames (born Harry L. Wycoff;U.S. Federal Census for 1910 for Fowler, Center Township, Benton County, State of Indiana, access via Ancestry.com January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best rememb ...
as Sam Stover * Elinor Donahue as Connie (billed as Mary Eleanor Donahue) *
Claudia Barrett Claudia Barrett (born Imagene Williams; November 3, 1929 – April 30, 2021) was an American television and film actress. Early life Barrett was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. I. J. Williams. She began takin ...
as Dolly Travers
Robert Wagner Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor of stage, screen, and television. He is known for starring in the television shows '' It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch'' (1975–1978), and '' Hart to Hart'' (1979†...
made his film debut in a small, uncredited role as Adams, the catcher for Cleve House.


Reception

According to MGM records, the movie earned $680,000 in the US and Canada and $175,000 elsewhere, making a loss of $1,096,000 for the studio.


References


External links


''The Happy Years''
at
TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...
* * * 1950 films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1950s English-language films 1950 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films Films scored by Leigh Harline Films set in New Jersey Films directed by William A. Wellman 1950s American films {{romantic-comedy-film-stub