Glenn Ford did two films with director Vincente Minnelli, the incredibly bad sound remake of The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse and this very good family film about a widower and his young son trying to get on with life after the wife and mother has passed away.
The Courtship of Eddie's Father in addition to being made into a long running television series with Bill Bixby, Miyoshi Umeki, and Brandon Cruz, still holds up very well after 44 years.
What makes the film is the very real chemistry between Glenn Ford and Ron Howard who was on hiatus from the Andy Griffith show to make this film. The Courtship of Eddie's Father is about two very real individuals trying to work through the hurt that's surrounding a very big hole in their lives.
Ford plays the manager of a radio station and Jerry Van Dyke has a nice role as Ford's best friend and one of the disc jockeys. Roberta Sherwood has the part of the housekeeper who's trying to learn Spanish, the part that Miyoshi Umeki did for television. As you can imagine it was rewritten somewhat.
There are three women interested in Ford at one time or another. Shirley Jones is the best friend of the deceased, living in the apartment across the way. Dina Merrill is the society lady that she is in real life. And Stella Stevens is the beauty queen from Montana who's got some hidden talents. One guess who Ford looks like he'll wind up with in the end. Give you a hint, it's the one Ron Howard wishes it is.
After the disaster of The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, Minnelli owed Glenn Ford a good picture and he certainly delivered.
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
1963
Comedy / Drama / Family / Romance
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
1963
Comedy / Drama / Family / Romance
Keywords: widowersingle father
Plot summary
Following the death of his wife Helen, Tom Corbett needs to adjust to a new bachelor life with his young son Eddie. Although they both dearly miss Helen, Tom and Eddie would like another woman to enter their lives as wife and mother. One woman already in their lives is Elizabeth Martin, a volunteer nurse, divorcée and Helen's best friend who lives next door. Tom and Elizabeth like each other as friends, as do Eddie and Elizabeth, but Tom and Elizabeth are constantly bickering and place walls up between each other in developing anything more serious. The first new woman to enter their lives does so for more pragmatic reasons - Tom hires a housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston, to tend to the domestic duties in the household. The second woman to enter their lives is Dolly Daily, a naive but attractive young woman from small town America who is in the big city solely to build up her self-confidence. Tom feels more protective toward Dolly than anything, and a business meeting Tom sets up between Dolly and Tom's womanizing colleague, Norman Jones, leads to a romance and ultimate marriage between the two. And the third woman to enter their lives is Rita Behrens, a chic fashion consultant. Tom and Rita immediately hit it off, but Eddie shows open disdain for Rita, solely because she has squinty eyes like all the "bad" girls in the comic books. Tom and Eddie have a falling out because of what Tom sees as Eddie's irrational dislike for Rita. After a courtship, Tom asks Rita to marry him, an act that sparks two responses. Noticing Eddie's disdain for her, Rita suggests they send him away during the beginning of the marriage just to give it a chance of success without the added pressure of Eddie's judgment. And Eddie runs away from Tom into the safe and caring arms of Elizabeth, who he would really like to see as his new mother. Both responses show Tom that marriage to Rita would not work, and that perhaps the walls he and Elizabeth have placed between themselves really are what need to come down for both the Corbett household and Elizabeth to be truly happy.—Huggo
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Getting Through The Hurt
Minnelli's Surprising Mix of Melodrama and Domestic Comedy With an Impressive Turn by Ron Howard
I used to love the early 1970's TV series which took its premise from this 1963 movie, so it was with some trepidation that I finally saw the original film directed by Vincente Minnelli. For such a family-oriented vehicle, his sometimes excessive film-making style shows up in subtle ways throughout the picture, and that's what primarily makes it interesting viewing now. The film starts out as an amusing domestic comedy, periodically hints toward deeper issues of grief and single parenthood, and then dives headlong into melodrama in the last half-hour. The result is pure Minnelli.
The other memorable aspect is eight-year old Ron Howard, sixth-billed and then known as Ronny, who delivers the central performance of Eddie without resorting to precociousness. More than his adult co-stars, he brings all the elements of the film together on an emotional level that resonates. Written by Tom Gay, the plot focuses on Eddie's attempts to reinvigorate the love life of his recently widowed father Tom. The likely candidate appears to be the pretty, recently divorced nurse next door, Elizabeth, but Tom and she start off on the wrong foot despite the fact that Eddie adores her. Efforts get refocused on Dolly, a vacuous, curvaceous girl they meet at the arcade, but Tom redirects her to womanizing disc jockey Norman. Tom then meets socialite Rita, whose glaring lack of a maternal instinct alienates Eddie to the point of running away.
All ends inevitably but not before some startling scenes like Eddie traumatized by the sight of his dead fish and Tom careening recklessly in his car to find Eddie (it looks like a similarly hair-raising scene on an Italian hillside road in Minnelli's "Two Weeks in Another Town"). In fact, the climactic argument between Tom and Elizabeth is surprisingly vitriolic for a family picture. Not the most charismatic of actors, Glenn Ford is solid as Tom, while a non-singing Shirley Jones plays Elizabeth with dexterity. The other performances are a bit more on the pat side - Stella Stevens lovably dim as Dolly, Jerry Van Dyke his recognizably unctuous self as Norman and Dina Merrill all slithery glamour as Rita. There are no extras with the 2004 DVD.
Pretty predictable but sweet and engaging
First I need to point out that this movie isn't much like the later TV series. It stars Glenn Ford as a widower raising a young child, played by Ron Howard. While their relationship is loving and sweet, they are both looking for a new wife/mother. And Ron Howard is a little devil trying to set up Dad! I like the kid's taste, though, as he sets his sights first on Stella Stevens and then on Shirley Jones--that kid had great taste! Even though you can easily predict where the movie will end up, the acting and writing and direction are so good that you don't really mind at all. That's because it is sentimental but avoids schmaltzy, gooey over-sentimentalism that could have easily ruined this film--thanks in part to a decent use of comedy.