(King Vidor, US 1924, 76 min., 35mm)
Based on a Broadway play of the same name written by J. Hartley Manners, Happiness tells the story of the sunny dispositioned Jenny, a Brooklyn errand girl who is persuaded to move in with the young and wealthy Mrs. Chrystal Pole. Shortly after, Jenny meets electrician and inventor Fermoy MacDonough, and the pair are faced with choices that will impact their future prosperity together. Praised on its release for Laurette Taylor’s “wistfully charming” performance as Jenny, Happiness largely echoes King Vidor’s strong political views at the time. Telling the story of working class entrepreneurship through the lens of Vidor’s populist philosophy, Happiness set the stage for his subsequent silent masterpieces, The Big Parade and The Crowd.
Live piano accompaniment by Philip C. Carli.