Movie: The Happy Ending (Richard Brooks, 1969)
I recently saw The Producers for the first time, and found it absolutely wonderful, for more than just the obvious reasons. It's no surprise that Gene Wilder can be hysterical (and wet!) or that Mel Brooks is capable of writing an absolutely brilliant parody of Nazi propaganda (the Oscars are cowards for not nominating Springtime for Hitler for Best Song), but I probably laughed most during Dick Shawn's audition scene. I had never heard of Shawn before, but he is fantastic as a hippie so oblivious to his ridiculousness that the audience misinterprets his earnest performance for a comedic one. Some of Shawn's stand up comedy is on YouTube and it's easy to see why when he collapsed and died on stage people thought it was part of his act. It's fun to see him in a small role in The Happy Ending, partly because he plays an almost equally oblivious character, though in an entirely different register. He is a married tax consultant who puts so much effort in conveying the sarcasm behind his constant self-deprecating jokes, he completly fails to realise that everything he says comes off as a confession of his (professional and personal) dishonesty.
Shawn's performance is mucb more subtle than the movie itself, which finds Mary (Jean Simmons) and Fred (John Forsythe) Wilson on the brink of a failed marriage. She is younger than him and has turned to pills, alcohol and cosmetic interventions to ease her sorrows. On the day of their 16th anniversary she spontaneously books a one-way ticket to the Bahamas, leaving Fred, their daughter and her mom (Teresa Wright) in despair. Simmons and Forsythe are quite good and affecting as people who genuinely love each other, and can't understand, despite their best efforts, why they are unhappy together. The movie should have been on their level, but it acts as if it knows exactly what's ailing them: marriage is a form of consumerism devised by American capitalists to sell houses and beauty products, that is incompatible with human desires and behaviour. While it's true that contemporary western societies have a lot of incentives in place that put some pressure on people to marry, there is plenty to argue with the film's reasoning, even aside from marriage being highly valued in communist societies as well.
A film can overcome making a bad argument though. What it can't overcome is pounding you over the head with it. Almost every line serves to drive the same point home, leading to completely unnatural dialogue and to de-individualised characters. Brooks finds that all people respond in exactly the same way to marriage and have the exact same problems, and that individual behavior or psychology don't play any role here. Aside from being unfair to Simmons and Forsythe who do their utmost best to create specific characters, this approach also renders moot the film's non-linearity. It doesn't matter how when, or from which perspective facts are revealed, if all facts lead to the same conclusions anyway. Rumors may be more revealing. Allegedly, the much older Brooks made the film because Simmons' alcohol issues had put a strain on their marriage. With that in mind, The Happy Ending can be seen as Brooks' equivalent of Robin Williams telling Matt Damon it's not his fault in Good WIll Hunting, which makes it a rather nice gesture. As Joan Didion's famous quote puts it, we tell ourselves stories in order to live.
Besides, the film is only tedioius when people open their mouths. Its prologue, set almost entirely to Michel Legrand's score, detailing the courtship of Mary and Fred is rather beautiful and extremely romantic. It lets Forsythe and Simmons express their love for each other purely thorugh their body language and their gestures. It ends with a touch I've never seen before. Once it reaches their wedding, it shows that on just one half of the screen, with the other half being reserved for a montage of wedding scenes from classic Hollywood movies. One of those scenes is followed by a title card stating 'The End' which then occupies the entire half of the screen next to Mary and Fred giving each other their wedding vows. It's the first hint of the film's blunt messaging, but on a purely cinematic level it works incredibly well, as a slightly disorienting jolt that makes you pay attention.
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