The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Mark Toby (novel)
John Gay (writer)

Release Date:

27 March 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Every boy needs a mother...even if Dad has to marry her!

Plot:

Eddie thinks it is time for his father to remarry. However, in his opinion his father's taste in women leaves much to be desired...

Plot Keywords:

Widower | Single Parent | Widow | Courtship | Child

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Glenn Ford	...	Tom Corbett
Shirley Jones	...	Elizabeth Marten
Stella Stevens	...	Dollye Daly
Dina Merrill	...	Rita Behrens
Roberta Sherwood	...	Mrs. Livingston
Ron Howard	...	Eddie (as Ronny Howard)
Jerry Van Dyke	...	Norman Jones

Also Known As:

Amor llamó dos veces, El (Argentina) [es]
Annem kim olacak? (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Das passiert nicht jeden Tag (Austria) [de]
Far, find dig en kone (Denmark) [da]
Fidanzata per papà, Una (Italy) [it]
Il faut marier papa (France) [fr]
Noivas do Papá, As (Portugal) [pt]
Noviazgo del padre de Eddie, El (Spain) [es]
Pantrevo ton baba mou (Greece) [el]
Pappas väninnor (Sweden) [sv]
Puuhakas puhemies (Finland) [fi]
Vater ist nicht verheiratet (West Germany) [de]

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #20387) | Finland:S | Germany:6 | Sweden:11 | Argentina:Atp

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The film that Eddie and his father see at the cinema is Sam Peckinpah's western Ride the High Country (1962)--like this film, an MGM picture.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Norman Jones: Wake up Manhattan. Come out of that warm, rosy dream, open those big, luscious eyes and meet a new, exciting day. I'm talking to you ravishing, delicious, madcap girls still in that warm, cozy bed. Now what you need is a nice, hot cup of coffee, Bentley Coffee of course. That rich, intoxicating aroma, that tantalizing blend that makes the senses reel and the pulses tingle.
[shouts]
Norman Jones: Look out! Don't burn those delicate, sensuous fingers. Why if anything should happen to those wild, impetuous hands, Jones would be heartbroken, Aw, did she hurt herself? Don't cry. Old Norm here will fix it.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Empty Nest: The Courtship of Carol's Father (#7.7)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

The Rose And The Butterfly

Dated And Politically Incorrect But Really Quite Enjoyable

I've see episodes of the TV series of the same name a few times and was never actually very taken with it. I just didn't find it funny as a sitcom. The story can really only go on for so long and still be interesting. However, as a two hour movie, the story fits in well and although very obviously a 60's movie it's really quite enjoyable if you can lighten up and not get too offended by some of the sexist attitudes toward women, etc.

The performances here were generally of a high calibre. Glenn Ford was quite good as the recently widowed Tom Corbet (far superior to Bill Bixby in the TV series), and the supporting cast of Roberta Sherwood as the housekeeper Mrs. Livingston and Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens and Dina Merrill as the various women who turn Corbet's head from time to time all did well in their roles. I was really taken with young Ron Howard, though. He must surely have been one of the finest child actors ever. His performance as Eddie in this picture was so realistic as he deals with his emotions around his mother's death and his feelings about his father moving on with life was wonderful. (Watch this if only to see Howard in the scene when he discovers the dead fish; his emotion in this scene was raw and powerful.) There's some amusing (if politically incorrect) scenes in this with a surprising (for 1963) amount of sexual innuendo (all innocent, of course, given the year.)

Disappointments? Well, Jerry Van Dyke did nothing for me as radio DJ Norman Jones. Having heard the few snippets of his radio show that the movie includes I have to ask - why would anyone listen to him? I have to concede that I also found it a bit offensive that apparently within a relatively short time after his wife's death Corbett is out playing the field again. But, of course, that was necessary to the story.

Overall, it's dated but still an enjoyable couple of hours.

8/10