This Happy Feeling 1958

Nita Hollaway [Alexis Smith] is deeply involved with veteran actor Preston “Mitch” Mitchell [Curd Jürgens], and she hopes he will come out of retirement to appear in a Broadway production. The plan is for him to play the father of a role created by a fresh teen idol, Tony Manza [Troy Donahue], a move that would bring smoky nostalgia together with modern audience appeal.

At Mitch’s tranquil Connecticut farm, a neighborly request sets the plot in motion: Bill Tremaine [John Saxon] asks to borrow Mitch’s car. Bill heads to a party and along the way meets Janet Blake [Debbie Reynolds], a secretary trying to dodge the clutches of her alcoholic boss, the dentist Dr. McCafferty [Joe Flynn]. When a rainstorm leaves Janet stranded, Bill offers her a ride home, but his attentions quickly grow overly forward for her comfort.

Soaked to the skin, Janet ends up at Mitch’s door, where he grants her shelter for the night while her dress dries. The morning after, Nita Hollaway arrives and mistakenly concludes that an affair is under way, a misunderstanding that others soon share as well. Mitch handles the tension with calm practicality, sending Nita on a train while offering Janet a job as his secretary. Yet the moment of relief is short-lived: as the train pulls away, Mitch stumbles and injures his back, complicating both his health and the upcoming Broadway plans.

Bill’s jealousy begins to simmer beneath the surface. He had hoped Mitch’s star power would illuminate the production, but Mitch’s reserved demeanor makes him seem more detached than Bill anticipated. The situation grows more tangled as Mitch’s affections become clearer: although he feels warmth for Janet, he increasingly realizes that his true feelings lie with Nita.

As the story unfolds, the realignment of hearts comes into sharper focus. Bill, still part of the backdrop, watches Mitch grapple with his own emotions while preparing to ride Mitch’s prized horse in an equine contest. The contest serves as a symbolic showdown: Bill chooses a different horse to ride, hoping to assert himself, while Mitch battles through pain and doubt to deliver a performance that may decide where his heart—and his career—belong.

In the end, Mitch makes a decisive choice. He seeks out Nita and reveals where his heart truly lies, signaling a shift away from the earlier longing for Janet and toward the person who has stood by him from the start. The film closes with Mitch appearing on stage in the new Broadway production, suggesting a hopeful future built on honesty, connection, and the unspoken ties that have guided his choices throughout.