Prelude to Happiness (1975)

A generous appraisal of this romantic melodrama would celebrate the movie as a noble effort at inclusion, because the story revolves around a woman missing one of her legs, and the leading lady is a real-life amputee. Yet this generous appraisal would require overlooking the actual content of the film, which includes a hackneyed storyline, shallow characterizations, and terrible performances. There’s also a cloud of exploitation hovering over the enterprise, because several scenes feature star Susan Mulhollan in bikinis and/or lingerie. One gets a sense of producers deliberately catering to viewers with amputation fetishes. Anyway, Mulhollan stars as Susan, a young nurse engaged to a handsome fellow. After a car accident costs Susan her leg, she rebounds because at least she still has her fiancé—but then he shocks her by saying he can’t envision a future with a one-legged wife. Helping Susan rise from her doldrums is dashing young Dr. Steve Hartman (Gary Lee Davis), who urges Susan to take physical therapy seriously. He also performs additional services, such as helping Susan find a new apartment. Naturally, the attention Steve lavishes on his favorite patient bothers Steve’s girlfriend, rich bitch Tiffany (Carol Sowa). Wrongly assuming that Steve is sleeping with Susan, Tiffany makes clear that she’s okay with being two-timed, so long as Steve is discreet. What ensues is wholly predictable, right down to the pointless vignette of Susan hobbling in terror while being pursued by would-be rapists. Naturally,  the movie’s dialogue is stiff and unconvincing (Susan: “I wrapped myself in a blanket of self-sacrifice!”). One could argue that Prelude to Happiness is harmless, inasmuch as most low-budget stories about people with physical challenges overcoming adversity are just this perfunctory. Yet “harmless” does not necessarily imply “worthwhile.”

Prelude to Happiness: LAME