Wow! Such a good movie.

not horrible nor great

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Solid performances by the entire cast earn this movie its eight stars. "Invitation to Happiness" has a good plot that Irene Dunne and Fred MacMurray make into a very good love story. He is Albert "King" Cole, a heavyweight boxer, and she is Eleanor Wayne, a smitten socialite. The rest of the cast contribute as well. Charles Ruggles gives one of the supporting cast performances that made him a favorite supporting actor in more than 120 films and in many TV series over four decades. Ruggles plays Pop Hardy. Billy Cook does a good job as Albert Cole Jr. Dunne and MacMurray only played in two films together – this one and the comedy-romance "Never a Dull Moment" in 1950. It would have been interesting to see them in more, especially comedies. Both were among the most versatile performers in their trade. Dunne made drama, comedy and war films with excellence. MacMurray played in many films from family fare, to westerns, mysteries and crime flicks, drama, war and comedy. She played opposite many of the best leading men of Hollywood, and he played opposite most of the leading women of the silver screen over four decades.Invitation to Happiness is a good story about love and family, and reconciliation. As noted, the performances earn it the eight stars I give. Otherwise, the screenplay is choppy and disjointed in places. It's a story that most should enjoy.

"Invitation to Happiness" is a film that is incredibly frustrating. The film is bizarre because the first and second halves of the movie seem as if they were torn from separate movies and clumsily stuck together.When the film begins, King Cole the boxer (Fred MacMurray) meets Eleanor (Irene Dunne). Although she is rich and the two have absolutely nothing to do with each other, they fall in love and get married. Things seem just grand between them and they have a baby. This portion of the film is enjoyable...no serious complaints from me.The film then skips ahead about 9 years and Cole is still a boxer...but the marriage is inexplicably on the rocks. He and his wife fight but there really is no indication as to why. Then they decide to get divorced...and you keep wondering why. It seems more like a plot device than a logical progression of the story. The pair split up and Cole's son seems to dislike his father and has an odd, almost Freudian sort of relationship with his mom. All this precedes the 'big fight' for the championship.As I mentioned, this is a frustrating film. MacMurray and Dunne are fine actors and their scenes together are very nice early in the movie. However, Fred does NOT seem much like a boxer and all the marital problems just seem contrived and come from out of no where. The end result is a movie that looks good and obviously cost a lot of money for the studio...but which left me feeling flat and a bit annoyed. They really should have worked out the script--gotten all the many kinks out of it and created a more logical plot. As it is, it's an okay time-passer but should have been much more. A big disappointment.FYI--the final fight is the only one the movie shows in any detail. While it looks pretty realistic in some ways (like they're really hitting each other), the boxers do what often happens in movies-- they slug way too often (especially for a heavyweight fight). Real boxers doing this would be dead by the second round!

Surprisingly effective story about bullheaded boxer (Fred MacMurray) and the society girl (Irene Dunne) who fall in love but then face some hard times.The two stars are top-notch and turn in solid performances even when the material goes astray and the story turns soapy. Dunne is warm and gracious as always and makes the most of the comedy here; MacMurray is excellent as the goofy fighter determined to be world champ. His final fight scenes are among the best and most realistic I've seen.Solid support from William Collier as Dunne's wise father and Charlie Ruggles as the wary fight manager. Billy Cook is the son, Marion Martin the the blonde, Virginia Brissac is the nurse, Oscar O'Shea is the judge.But the stars here dominate this film. I've always been a big Irene Dunne fan but I must say I'm gaining a whole new vision of Fred MacMurray. Having grown up with "My Three Sons," it's amazing to see the young MacMurray in a variety of solid 30s roles (many with Carole Lombard).Excellent film with something for everyone.

Invitation to Happiness, my first evening flick. I was eight and already a sports fan and, during an earlier matinée preview, Invitation to Happiness flashed on - a prizefight movie.Fifteen or twenty seconds of solid slam-bang action were shown. I had to see it. It was only playing for two nights in the middle of the week and I understood the importance of school the next day. But I knew I had to go. Problem: I couldn't go alone. I launched a campaign of such ferocity that my parents gave in. Grudgingly, we trooped off to Invitation to Happiness- -and it wasn't a prizefight movie, it was a kissing movie. All they did was kiss, the hero and the lady. Those precious fifteen seconds of slam-bang action were there, all right, but that was the sum total of prizefighting. I never dreamed a preview would snooker you that way.The kisses went on and on. I began to groan. Then I started counting. Eleven kisses. Now a quick buss on the nose, but that counted. Twelve. On and on they went, and by now I was counting out loud.There were twenty-three kisses in Invitation to Happiness and I hated every one.-- from William Goldman's Adventures in Screen Trade