What better harbinger of happiness ahead is there than a beaming Dick Powell singing the title song directly to you, the viewer, while superimposed over a lovely backdrop? There can be none better, I say, and Happiness Ahead (1934) indeed lives up to its title and to that striking beginning. Powell sings for several minutes over the credits, and it certainly is a dynamic way to open a film. It's also a quick reminder to the modern viewer that this isn't the hard-boiled Dick Powell of Cry Danger (1951) and Murder My Sweet (1944), but rather the apple-cheeked earnest crooner of the prewar era. Oh, Powell's character, Bob Lane (even his name sounds earnest) gets a little bitter as this romantic comedy goes on, but only in that innocent kind of 'Aw, shucks, I thought you were a true blue gal,' kind of way. You know he's gonna sing another day and that he'll be smiling before long...as opposed to that jaded fellow who suffers permanent disillusion after the war. Happiness Ahead is a simple, little romantic comedy but well worth your time even if you can see where it's going before its several minutes into its story. It offers some songs, some laughs, and of course a good, old-fashioned misunderstanding or two, but it all comes in at under 90 minutes and is never less than charming. Happiness is one of those Depression-era studio films in which a woman pretend she's poor, or in this case at least tries to hide the fact that she's rich, because...because...well, because the picture would be all about Bob Lane's window washing business otherwise. I am often as annoyed as I am amused by this kind of plot because it's frustrating to watch the wealthy one hide her resources, period, let alone long enough for the inevitable complications to ensue, but it still works when the casting is as solid as it is here. Powell's co-star is the debuting Josephine Hutchinson, who got a big push from Warner Brothers at the time if the film's original trailer (more on that later) is any indication. Hutchinson is a charmer, almost matching Powell in sheer cheek puffiness. It helps that her character is written as a real salt-of-the-earth woman--hating pretension, wanting to have good, clean fun with the hoi polloi, and almost always sporting a big grin. Early in the story, her character rushes out of a big to-do at her family's mansion, avoiding the man she is being pushed into marrying (he's from one of the right families, you know) and also fleeing her overbearing mother. I may be crazy for writing this, but in several shots, Hutchinson resembles a softer Barbara Stanwyck. She had an unspectacular career that apparently didn't quite live up to the initial splash. I didn't realize she was later a supporting cast member in North by Northwest (1959) many years later until I looked up her resume. A strong roster of Warner players support Powell and Hutchinson in this one, led by Allen Jenkins as Charles the family chauffeur--or 'Chuck' as he's known to the other common folk. His love interest is a maid played by stalwart Ruth Donnelly. Frank McHugh is Bob's best pal and business partner, and--big shocker here, I know--gets to play tipsy. A small but significant speaking part goes to the ubiquitous George Chandler, and even Jane Darwell shows up as Hutchinson's landlord when she gets a hideout of an apartment in the city. It's so much fun to watch Powell if you're into this sort of thing because though his character is called a 'lone wolf' before he meets cute with Hutchinson, he is so doggone happy-looking you either have to put a foot through the TV or just embrace it. Even his catch phrase, 'That'll take care of that,' is a summary of his can-do, go-getting, positive attitude, and while it may grate by the 10th time you hear it, it fits him. Powell is clean-cut and industrious and just plain...swell. I made a facetious reference to window washing earlier, but there actually are some interesting moments relating to an industry war in New York as Powell's company is the victim of scare tactics by a rival. Window washers have things thrown at them and are intimidated. It's kind of dopey, albeit intentionally so, when good ol' Bob Lane describes how much potential there is in the window washing biz--just think how many windows there are in the Empire State Building alone, he notes to two different characters--but there actually might have been a pretty cool movie in there somewhere about window washing wars had they gone that direction. Instead, we get a fluffy, feel-good romantic comedy, and there's nothing wrong with that, I say, especially with an appealing cast in good form under director Mervin LeRoy. Happiness Ahead is a Powell vehicle I never caught on Turner Classic Movies and is thus a welcome DVD from the Warner Archive. But wait, there's more! This DVD also includes a doozy of a full-length original trailer, a curio almost worth the price of admission. Companies back in the classic studio era often either gave away the entire film in their trailers or tried a more creative approach, and this is an example of the latter. The 'editor' of a fictitious trade publication sends a 'reporter' to cover the premiere of Happiness Ahead and find out what the audience thinks of the picture. We see and hear 'regular moviegoers' chattering with enthusiasm on the way out of the theater and mooning over the stars they see outside: 'Hey, it's Dick Powell!' I love this sort of thing, and it serves as a fun piece of marketing without using any footage from the actual movie save for a shot of that opening Powell song. In fact Hutchinson is spotlighted more than Powell in this piece. She gets a cute interchange with the reporter, who doesn't recognize her. It's a fun trailer you can actually watch without spoiling the plot of the feature, and it's a great extra on this delightful DVD. Rick Brooks is the proprietor of Cultureshark, a blog in which he uses an often irreverent approach to express his reverence for the classics and the un-classics.