The Courtship of Eddie's Father

The Courtship of Eddie's Father(480P)

source: The Courtship of Eddie's Father

charming comedy about a handsome widower whose precouious six-year-old son who vets all his potential dates. Glenn Ford is playing tom corbet very convincing and Shirley Jones is wonderful as elizabeth marten. this movie is smooth and wonderful. 8 of 10

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.

Tom Corbett is recently widowed and must raise his son Eddie alone. The film concerns the various women who try to ensnare him as a husband and the way that Eddie controls the process. Corbett is a person completely lacking in emotional depth; he loves his little boy but apparently never physically touches him and is incapable of having a serious discussion with the lad. Neighbor Elizabeth Marten is a divorcee who's a super-efficient volunteer nurse; of course, she's desirable because she doesn't work for a living. On the other hand, Rita Behrens seems willing to marry Tom, although their relationship is totally lacking in chemistry. Rita backs off because Eddie can't stand her and Tom won't ship Eddie off to relatives. Rita is a working woman and, for that reason, is obviously unsuitable as a wife and stepmother. The movie is almost totally unfunny and emotionally unengaging. Its sexual politics and stereotypes are deplorable (although perhaps not remarkable for 1963). It just so happens that men can be affectionate and engaged fathers and that working women can be loving partners and terrific stepmoms.

Having only seen the sitcom that was made for television, we decided to take a look at the 1963 original film directed by none other than Vincente Minnelli, a man that almost always delivered. It's sad to see that neither Mr. Minnelli, nor the screen adapter, John Gay, had any clear ideas about what to make of the material. The movie could have done much more, but ends up as a typical comedy of that period. Tom Corbett, a widower with a young son, Eddie, is at the center of the story. Being still relatively young, Tom is the object of desire by women that are looking for a husband. The problem is that it's obvious the girl next door, Elizabeth, is really the one for him from the moment we set our eyes on her. Eddie, who is going through some bereavement pains, has a problem, accepting his mother's death. Tom and Elizabeth irritate one another when they are together. This is part of what will become a match made in heaven, or so we think, but no, Tom decides to pursue someone else, Rita, who is into fashion, and clearly the wrong woman to bring home to Eddie. That becomes quite clear when Rita suggests to send Eddie to be with relatives for a while when they get married. This suggestion is what triggers Tom to realize how wonderful Elizabeth is after all. Glenn Ford was good as Tom. Mr. Ford always gave an honest performance, as he does here. The lovely Shirley Jones is perfect as Elizabeth. It is however Dina Merrill who makes is a joy to watch her as Rita. Ms. Merrill is an actress that deserved much better parts. She was radiantly beautiful and projects such an elegant figure in the movie. Ron Howard, was at a cute stage of his career. Roberta Sherwood is fun as the housekeeper. This is a film to watch as a curiosity. Vincente Minnelli's direction doesn't go anywhere.

Little Ronny Howard gives a remarkable performance in this film, which is so much better than the television series it spawned. Howard was only 9 when he made this film, and I can't say that I have ever seen as wonderful a performance by a child of that age in any film. Glen Ford is superb as the father, recovering (as is Eddie) from his wife's (mother's) death. In fact, this may be Ford's most ingratiating role. Shirley Jones is equally as wonderful as the woman next door. Dina Merrill is fine as the stuffy country-club-type Eddie's father almost marries, but right from the first few minutes of the film, we all know he'll end up marrying Shirley Jones. Jerry VanDyke -- the more talented of the two brothers -- has a different role here...as a sort of playboy; he does it well. Stella Stevens' role as a ditsy but bright unattached woman is a distraction from the main story, but quite entertaining...particularly her drum solo. There's humor, some drama, and lots of sentimentality, but this strikes me as a film that is not too far from the reality of how a child would feel when his mother dies. Excellent family film, well worth watching. Perhaps the best of its genre.

I grew up watching the t.v. series of this movie and I thought that it was cute. The movie version I watched today(2002). I am so confused about the charm of this movie. Ron Howard was the only reason I didn't turn this mess off. Eddie's father would have been brought up on charges of neglect by now. After the long scene when Eddie is missing and the neighbor tells the father to go home, he does. I couldn't get past that. If all of the melodrama was a setup to show what a devoted father Mr. Corbett was, it missed. No parent would not even want to SEE their child after he has been missing. He also didn't touch Eddie when he came home. I am not trying to rant, but the movie really lost me as to it's appeal in the sixties, or even the 80's or 90's. Again, Ronny Howard was the only saving grace.

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

Are you kidding me? How about the scene in the bowling alley when Dina Merrill tells Glen Ford "You know the old saying that behind every man is a woman? Well that's not for me. I want to be right next to him. Is that too much to ask?" To which Ford replies "You'd better be happy with the vote, because that's never going to happen." If that isn't sexist I don't know what is. Merrill's character is painted as a heartless "career woman" and Elizabeth, played by Shirley Jones, is using her nursing career to run away from her problems. This is a wonderful movie with great acting, beautiful costumes and sets, and a heartwarming plot. But that doesn't make it any less sexist.