Coming up next we have 1967's "The Happiest Millionaire", a semi-biographical film about Philadelphia millionaire Anthony Drexel Biddle and his eccentric lifestyle, alligators included.
The film's cast includes Fred MacMurray, Greer Garson, Tommy Steele, Geraldine Page, Gladys Cooper, Hermione Baddeley, Lesley Ann Warren, John Davidson, Paul Peterson, Eddie Hodges, and Joyce Bulifant.
Fresh over from Ireland, John Lawless arrives at the Philadelphia home of millionaire Anthony Drexel Biddle to apply for the position of butler. Mrs. Worth, the cook, takes him inside and tells him about the family. She also tells him that it's very hard to keep help.
Hard at work in the kitchen, Mrs. Worth prepares some chocolate cake. Mr. Biddle, it is said, is on a chocolate cake diet. He believes it is the perfect food "containing every essential element."
It isn't too long before we meet Mr. Biddle himself. Telling a little about himself to John, Mr. Biddle says, "There are certain things I believe in, John. God and the United States of America are at the top of the list."
Mr. Biddle leads an eccentric sort of life. He runs a "Bible" class from his home gymnasium. The participants do a variety of exercises to "strengthen dwelling of the Lord, fashion the framework board by board. Here in His image now we stand, building his fortress long and grand." While doing their callisthenic exercises, the men sing religious songs.
He also keeps twelve alligators from Florida in his conservatory. Mr. Biddle is very close to his reptile pets, and speaks to them in their mating call, which startles newcomer John to the core.
He's got two sons, who, as part of the Bible class, are ready, willing, and able to take down any man their sister, Cordy, shows interest. Cordy, raised as a tomboy, is anxious for the softer things in life, and she wants to be sent off to finishing school.
Then we have no nonsense Aunt Mary, who is extremely critical of Mr. Biddle. "Anyone who keeps an alligator in the house must expect to be bit, and deserves it," she observes.
And to make things run smoothly in the Biddle house, is Mr. Biddle's wife, Cordelia, who must manage her husband's eccentricities, her children's rambunctiousness, and a hectic social whirl with grace.
Cordy gets her wish and is sent to finishing school. Her roommate, Rosemary, teaches her to become irresistible to members of the opposite sex.
She's provided with an opportunity to show off what she's learned at a party her aunt gives. There, she meets Angier "Angie" Duke, an extremely eligible man who waltzes with Cordy and asks "Are We Really Dancing? Say we really are." He and Cordy fall madly in love and spend a lot of time together.
Back home on the cusp of World War I, Mr. Biddle is discouraged to find out that his services are not wanted for military action. What's more, Cordy has left finishing school and announced her intention to marry Angie Duke.
On the same night that Cordy tells her parents she's engaged, a maid has left the windows of the conservatory open in the freezing cold. All the alligator tanks freeze over. Mr. Biddle sadly places his dead alligators in front of the fireplace to thaw out. John observes, "It never rains but it pours. To lose your only daughter and your pet alligators all on the same night..."
However, it turns out that the alligators were just a bit stunned. When they get warmed up, they start moving around and find themselves all over the house. Mr. Biddle is thrilled. The maid who discovered the alligators is not.
In all the craziness of the past few days, Mrs. Biddle is there to talk sense to her husband and calm him down. "Cordelia, sometimes you amaze me!" he says to her. She smiles and says, "Well, I hope so, Anthony."
When the Biddles meet Angie Duke, they become extremely taken with him and couldn't be happier for their daughter and future son-in-law.
The same can't be said for Angie's mother, Mrs. Duke, in New York. When they visit her, she keeps the couple on a whirlwind schedule of social events and scarcely leaves them a moment to themselves. Mrs. Duke doesn't like Philadelphia, and isn't at all happy about her son's choice of wife.
And when Mr. Biddle pays a surprise visit to New York, Mrs. Duke tells him that she doesn't like the idea of the engagement. "It wasn't too long ago that Angier wouldn't pick a suit of clothes without asking my opinion. Now he goes off to Lakewood for a weekend and picks someone to spend the rest of his life with."
When the two families meet together in Philadelphia, the differences between them can't be more obvious, especially for Aunt Mary and Mrs. Duke. When Mrs. Duke praises the merits those listed in the New York society Blue Book, Aunt Mary asks, "Never heard of it. Is it a new book?" Mrs. Duke replies, "Simply anyone who is anyone is listed." Aunt Mary shrugs it off, "Oh, you mean the New York Telephone Directory." (This is my favorite scene of the whole film.)
Cordy and Angie nearly get tore apart by the tension. But don't worry, they find their own way to get together and forge a path to their future.
And don't worry about Mr. Biddle either. He gets a letter from Washington D.C. requesting that he begin training recruits for the war and even gets a "Captaincy" in the marines.
Cast rundown:
Fred MacMurray............................................Anthony Drexel Biddle
And that's all for The Happiest Millionaire. Anthony Drexel Biddle was indeed a real person, and the basis for this film was the book "My Philadelphia Father" written by his daughter Cordelia. The chocolate cake diet, alligators in the house, and Biddle Bible Class were all real, as was the bit about Mr. Biddle being called up by the government to train military recruits.
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