Invitation to Happiness ** (1939, Irene Dunne, Fred MacMurray, Charlie Ruggles, Billy Cook, William Collier Sr, Marion Martin) – Classic Movie Review 11,898

Irene Dunne plus Fred MacMurray equals an Invitation to Happiness (1939).

Director Wesley Ruggles’s 1939 Paramount Pictures romantic drama film Invitation to Happiness stars Irene Dunne, Fred MacMurray and Charles Ruggles.

Arrogant socialite Eleanor Wayne (Dunne) meets and weds talented heavyweight boxer Albert ‘King’ Cole (MacMurray), but then his ambitions to win the championship threaten their future.

Exceptionally nice stars Dunne and MacMurray, on good form in their prime, give the impetus to an unsurprising romancer, with the amiable script following the same old course we have seen a thousand times. The lively, scene-stealing acting from the director’s brother Charles Ruggles (as trainer Pop Hardy) jollies things up when they seem to be flagging.

Invitation to Happiness is too easy-going, maybe, but thoroughly likeable – and you can see why it was a substantial hit in its day. The always genial Dunne and MacMurray make a sprightly, appealing team.

Also in the cast are Billy Cook, William Collier Sr, Marion Martin, Eddie Hogan, Oscar O’Shea, Burr Caruth, Gordon Jones, Allen Wood, Don Laterre, Mack Gray, Bob Evans, Charles Randolph, Russ Clark, and Jack Roper.

Fred MacMurray stars in Invitation to Happiness (1939).

Invitation to Happiness is directed by Wesley Ruggles, runs 97 minutes, is made and released by Paramount Pictures, is written by Claude Binyon, based on a story by Mark Jerome, is shot by Leo Tover, is produced by Wesley Ruggles,  is scored by Frederick Hollander [Friedrich Hollaender], and is designed by Hans Dreier and Ernst Fegté, with costumes by Edith Head.

The cast are Irene Dunne as Eleanor Wayne, Fred MacMurray as Albert ‘King’ Cole, Charlie Ruggles as Henry ‘Pop’ Hardy, Billy Cook as Albert Cole Jr, William Collier Sr as Mr.Wayne, Marion Martin as Lola Snow, Oscar O’Shea as Divorce Judge, Burr Caruth as Butler, Eddie Hogan as The Champ, Gordon Jones, Allen Wood, Don Laterre, Mack Gray, Bob Evans, Charles Randolph, Russ Clark, and Jack Roper.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,898

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