The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950)

The Happiest Days of Your Life is a thoroughly engaging, if exceedingly slight, little farce that will especially please viewers with a taste for "Britcoms" (British situation comedies). British farces set in schools are almost a genre unto themselves, and Happiest is one of the sunniest of the lot. As with many good farces, caricature often takes the place of character, but when plot and pacing are of primary importance, this is almost a necessity. Fortunately, Happiest has the supremely talented Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford to play the leads, and the combination of expert technique and endearing personality that these two bring to their parts manages to flesh the roles out beyond their cardboard origins. Sim excels at playing leaders that no one will listen to, and his Wetherby is one of his finest creations, while Rutherford's bizarrely winning combination of smug authority and ludicrousness is given free rein here. Amazingly, both of these stars still manage to have several scenes stolen outright from them by the delicious Joyce Grenfell, whose Gossage is a comic gem. Happiest falls a little short of being absolutely first-rate farce -- the plotting is occasionally too mechanical and the whole doesn't quite add up to the sum of its parts -- but it's a lovely and appealing diversion. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide