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The Happy Ending

Play trailer Poster for The Happy Ending R,  1969,  1h 52m,  Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 38% 8 Reviews Tomatometer 38% 100+ Ratings Popcornmeter
38% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 38% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
When Fred (John Forsythe) asked for Mary's (Jean Simmons) hand in marriage, she thought she had the happy ending she only read about in fairy tales. Now it's 16 years later; Fred has had an affair, and Mary drowns her sorrows in pills and booze, a dangerous combination that nearly resulted in her death the year before. As Mary rushes off to the Bahamas for a relaxing escape from her crumbling marriage, she reflects on the past and wonders just where it all went wrong.

Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker Jul 13, 2020
[A] shudderingly impassioned, history-jangled, cinema-centric drama... Go to Full Review
Variety Staff Variety Apr 8, 2008
A well-developed and acted and potentially significant 'woman's movie' unfortunately drowns in Brooks' over indulgences and over-writing. Go to Full Review
Vincent Canby New York Times May 9, 2005
1/5
The Happy Ending is a kind of false Faces -- a movie that set out to expose the kitsch of Hollywood fantasy. Go to Full Review
Michael Ross Los Angeles Free Press Jan 15, 2020
It may be the most laughless comedy ever made or, for that matter, the quite silliest drama. Go to Full Review
Richard Schickel LIFE Oct 2, 2019
Disgusting. Go to Full Review
Nathanael Hood The Retro Set Dec 28, 2018
8/10
Richard Brooks' The Happy Ending is an odd film snuggled somewhere between the romantic melodrama and the social problem films that came to define his career. Go to Full Review
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The Happy Ending

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Richard Brooks

Director

Jean Simmons

Mary Wilson

John Forsythe

Fred Wilson

Lloyd Bridges

Sam

Shirley Jones

Flo Harrigan

Teresa Wright

Mrs. Spencer

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The Happy Ending

The Happy Ending (1969) The Happy Ending (1969) The Happy Ending (1969) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis When Fred (John Forsythe) asked for Mary's (Jean Simmons) hand in marriage, she thought she had the happy ending she only read about in fairy tales. Now it's 16 years later; Fred has had an affair, and Mary drowns her sorrows in pills and booze, a dangerous combination that nearly resulted in her death the year before. As Mary rushes off to the Bahamas for a relaxing escape from her crumbling marriage, she reflects on the past and wonders just where it all went wrong.
Director
Richard Brooks
Producer
Richard Brooks
Screenwriter
Richard Brooks
Distributor
United Artists
Production Co
Pax Enterprises
Rating
R (Brief Nudity|Some Substance Abuse)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 21, 1969, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 5, 2018
Runtime
1h 52m
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