Owen Johnson's novel The Lawrenceville School Stories (compiled from short stories originally published in The Saturday Evening Post) was the basis for The Happy Years. The film is set at an early 20th-century boy's prep school; Dean Stockwell plays an habitual troublemaker sent to this school as a means of straightening him out and making a man of him. At first bullied by the older kids, the pugnacious Stockwell stands his ground until he earns his fellow students' respect. The film adheres strictly to MGM's factory-tested Boys Town formula by having Stockwell cleaning up his act and becoming a worthwhile Lawrenceville student. Watch The Happy Years carefully and you'll spot an unbilled Robert Wagner, in his film debut. Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Genre: Comedy Drama
- Theme: Boarding School Life
- Studio: Warner Bros. Digital Distribution
- Run Time: 01 hr 50 min
- Language: English
- Picture Format: pan_and_scan
- Release Date: December 1, 2009
- Lead Actor: Darryl Hickman, Scotty Beckett, Leon Ames, Margalo Gillmore, Dean Stockwell
- Supporting Actor: Leo G. Carroll, Donn Gift, Jerry Mickelsen, Alan Dinehart III, David Bair, Danny Mummert, Eddie Le Roy, George Chandler, Claudia Barrett, Peter Thompson
- Director: William Wellman
