ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

bkoganbing The Dink Stover stories like the Frank Merriwell ones were most popular back at the turn of the last century. This particular one concerns the young man even before he's at Yale as a rebellious youth going to Lawrenceville Prep back in 1896.Dean Stockwell who was at the height of his juvenile popularity in 1950 plays young Stover and in the fashion of those days was given the nickname 'Dink' as it was thought his full moniker was a bit high falutin'. He's a rebellious one and makes an enemy in upper classman Darryl Hickman who he fights once and swears to fight and win. As they said back in those days, the kid has Moxie.I'm surprised that these stories and the Dink Stover character was never given to Mickey Rooney a decade earlier when he was at MGM. It seemed a natural for the Mick in his salad days. Stockwell good actor that he was and the rest of the cast were not box office. The film lost money for MGM.Leo G. Carroll was the Latin teacher and head of Stockwell's house at the prep school recognizes leadership potential. But it takes a lot to get it out of him, especially with his feud with Hickman dominating all his thoughts.Sad this film didn't do better for MGM. It's a nice nostalgia filled film of those halcyon days before World War I.

blitzebill Never heard of this little gem until tripping over it on TCM.A jolly good story about growing up the hard way.And making one's way in the formative years of a young man's life in the late 19th c.Dean Stockwell and Leo G. Carroll make this film tick.This film shows why Stockwell was a worthwhile commodity in Hollywood.Carroll was one of the best character actors in the business.Great performances.You will laugh and never want it to end.Highly recommended.The "final exam" is a surprise.

romukaj This film is vintage Dean Stockwell as a child actor and is certainly representative of the outstanding performance he invariably produced. The supporting cast is equally as strong. Leon Ames, Leo G. Carroll and Dwayne Hickman are pure delight, and Wellman's direction is spot on as always. The plot is rather rambling, but that really seems only to add to its charm. These are the adventures (and mis-adventures) of some turn-of-the-century prep school boys as remembered by Owen Johnson in his novel THE LAWRENCEVILLE STORIES. The movie is as warm-hearted, funny, and thoroughly engaging as the original book. About 1988 this film was remade as a TV mini-series, using the same title as the book. The complete mini-series was made available about 1992 as a double-cassette VHS recording. But, alas, it seems no one wants to resurrect THE HAPPY YEARS, more's the pity. I, for one, would snap up a copy on either VHS or DVD instantly. Any takers out there, video producers?

sultana-1 Dean Stockwell was never better, and the supporting cast is uniformly excellent in this classic comedy. Leo G. Carroll is impeccable as the crusty, but caring, turn-of-the-century headmaster. Darryl Hickman is marvelous as Tuff McCarty, Stockwell's nemesis. This is definitely a family movie that can be enjoyed, appreciated, and laughed at, by all ages.