The Courtship of Eddie's Father


1h 57m 1963
The Courtship of Eddie's Father

Brief Synopsis

A young boy plays matchmaker for his widowed father.

Film Details

Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Classic Hollywood
Drama
Romance
Romantic Comedy
Release Date
Jan 1963
Premiere Information
New York opening: 6 Mar 1963
Production Company
Euterpe, Inc.; Venice Productions
Distribution Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel The Courtship of Eddie's Father by Mark Toby (New York, 1961).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 57m
Color
Color (Metrocolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1

Synopsis

Recently widowed Tom Corbett, advertising director of a radio station, hires a day housekeeper to help care for his 6 1/2-year-old son, Eddie. The boy, however, would like his father to become romantically involved with a woman such as their attractive neighbor, divorcée Elizabeth Marten, who nursed Eddie when he was ill. When Eddie fails to interest his father in a relationship with Elizabeth, he strikes up a friendship with a shy beauty contestant from Montana, Dollye Daly; but she falls in love with Norman Jones, a disc jockey who is also a friend of Tom's. Tom next meets Rita Behrens, a chic fashion consultant of whom Eddie disapproves. When Tom announces that he plans to marry Rita, Eddie runs away from summer camp and takes refuge in Elizabeth's apartment. As a result, Tom breaks with Rita, and little Eddie at long last makes his father realize that Elizabeth is the best possible choice for a wife.

Photo Collections

The Courtship of Eddie's Father - Movie Posters
Here are a few original release American movie posters for The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), starring Glenn Ford.

Videos

Movie Clip

Courtship Of Eddie's Father, The (1963) -- (Movie Clip) Liquor Won't Solve Anything First evening with new housekeeper Mrs Livingston (Roberta Sherwood), learning Spanish, Glenn Ford as newly-widowed Tom doing fine, discussing Elizabeth (Shirley Jones) and plausibly dazzled by her first appearance, Ronny Howard (title character) delighted too, early in Vincente Minnelli’s The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father, 1963.
Courtship Of Eddie's Father, The (1963) -- (Movie Clip) I've Seen Too Many Rosalind Russell Pictures Their double-dates reversed at the bowling alley, New York radio host Norm (Jerry Van Dyke) with ingenuous Montanan Dolly (Stella Stevens) and his widower boss Tom (Glenn Ford) with the dignified, fetching professional fashion consultant Rita (Dina Merrill), in The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father, 1963.
Courtship Of Eddie's Father, The (1963) -- (Movie Clip) May I Borrow Your Son? Eddie (Ronny Howard) picks out Dollye (Stella Stevens) who, it turns out, needs a favor from his widower father Tom (Glenn Ford), on a visit to a Manhattan arcade in Vincente Minnelli's The Courtship of Eddie's Father, 1963.
Courtship Of Eddie's Father, The (1963) -- (Movie Clip) Very Fond Of My Pectoral Girdle After his new year’s party and unsatisfactory outcomes with two other prospects, Tom (Glenn Ford) meets divorceè neighbor Elizabeth (Shirley Jones) wrapping up her date, and they break new ground together, baby-sitting Mrs. Livingston (Roberta Sherwood) pretending sleep, in The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father, 1963.
Courtship of Eddie's Father, The (1963) -- (Movie Clip) It's Indelible Newly-widowed dad Tom Corbett (Glenn Ford) has to locate his son Eddie (Ronny Howard) in the apartment on the first day back to school in The Courtship of Eddie's Father, 1963.
Courtship of Eddie's Father, The -- (Movie Clip) I'm in Love Eddie (Ronny Howard) sits his dad (Glenn Ford) down for a solemn talk during a summer-camp visit in Vincente Minnelli's The Courtship of Eddie's Father, 1963.

Trailer

Hosted Intro

Film Details

Genre
Comedy
Adaptation
Classic Hollywood
Drama
Romance
Romantic Comedy
Release Date
Jan 1963
Premiere Information
New York opening: 6 Mar 1963
Production Company
Euterpe, Inc.; Venice Productions
Distribution Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel The Courtship of Eddie's Father by Mark Toby (New York, 1961).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 57m
Color
Color (Metrocolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1

Articles

The Courtship of Eddie's Father


By the early 1960s, the studio system was all but finished, and MGM had very few artists on long-term contracts. Instead, even longtime studio employees like director Vincente Minnelli found themselves being offered multipicture deals instead of new contracts when their old ones expired. The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963) was Minnelli's first film on his six-picture deal with the studio. Based on an autobiographical novel by Mark Toby, it's a gentle comedy of a widower and his young son adjusting to life on their own, and the boy's efforts to find a new wife and mother for them.

Glenn Ford also had a multipicture deal with MGM, and was chosen to play widower Tom Corbett. Ford had been badly miscast as an Argentine playboy in Minnelli's previous film, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962), which had been savaged by critics and bombed at the box office. In The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Ford was more appropriately cast, and showed genuine rapport with nine-year-old Ronny Howard, who played Eddie. Howard had been playing "Opie" in the TV series The Andy Griffith Show, and had received excellent reviews for his third film, The Music Man (1962). In The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Howard gave what is considered by many to be one of the great performances by a child actor, playing his comic scenes with a deadpan gravity, and his dramatic scenes with vivid intensity. "Ronny" Howard, of course, grew up to be Ron Howard, director of such films as Splash (1984), Backdraft (1991), and Apollo 13 (1995).

Glenn Ford had the good sense to stand back and let young Ronny steal the film, and received good reviews for his efforts. Minnelli recalled in his autobiography that Ford delivered "a true performance, and a touching one. He was on-key throughout the filming." Ford's role was to react, and that was one of his strengths as an actor. In the harrowing scene where Eddie has hysterics when he finds his goldfish dead, Minnelli wrote, "Ford reacted beautifully, with all the conflicting emotions of the character. He's concerned, but irritated, so his impatience shows."

Ford not only managed to hold his own with his precocious co-star, but also with the three glamorous actresses who played the candidates for his new wife: Shirley Jones, as a sympathetic neighbor; Stella Stevens as a comic sexpot; and Dina Merrill as a sleek sophisticate. Shirley Jones called Ford "one of the finest actors of his time. He had a quality on film, a naturalness, that was remarkable, and it made working with him a pleasure. Much like Jimmy Stewart, he brought his own nuances to a character. Whatever he said sounded as if he had just thought of it, as if he had never looked at a script. That is a marvelous quality to have."

The Courtship of Eddie's Father was released at a time of great turmoil in Hollywood. In spite of decent reviews, and even with its modest budget, the film did not make a profit. However, it did inspire a television series of the same name, one of the first films to do so.

Director: Vincente Minnelli
Producer: Joe Pasternak
Screenplay: John Gay, from the novel by Mark Toby
Editor: Adrienne Fazan
Cinematography: Milton Krasner
Art Direction: George W. Davis, Urie McCleary
Music: George Stoll
Cast: Glenn Ford (Tom Corbett), Shirley Jones (Elizabeth Marten), Stella Stevens (Dollye Daly), Dina Merrill (Rita Behrens), Ronny Howard (Eddie), Roberta Sherwood (Mrs. Livingston), Jerry Van Dyke (Norman Jones).
C-119m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning. Descriptive video.

by Margarita Landazuri
The Courtship Of Eddie's Father

The Courtship of Eddie's Father

By the early 1960s, the studio system was all but finished, and MGM had very few artists on long-term contracts. Instead, even longtime studio employees like director Vincente Minnelli found themselves being offered multipicture deals instead of new contracts when their old ones expired. The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963) was Minnelli's first film on his six-picture deal with the studio. Based on an autobiographical novel by Mark Toby, it's a gentle comedy of a widower and his young son adjusting to life on their own, and the boy's efforts to find a new wife and mother for them. Glenn Ford also had a multipicture deal with MGM, and was chosen to play widower Tom Corbett. Ford had been badly miscast as an Argentine playboy in Minnelli's previous film, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962), which had been savaged by critics and bombed at the box office. In The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Ford was more appropriately cast, and showed genuine rapport with nine-year-old Ronny Howard, who played Eddie. Howard had been playing "Opie" in the TV series The Andy Griffith Show, and had received excellent reviews for his third film, The Music Man (1962). In The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Howard gave what is considered by many to be one of the great performances by a child actor, playing his comic scenes with a deadpan gravity, and his dramatic scenes with vivid intensity. "Ronny" Howard, of course, grew up to be Ron Howard, director of such films as Splash (1984), Backdraft (1991), and Apollo 13 (1995). Glenn Ford had the good sense to stand back and let young Ronny steal the film, and received good reviews for his efforts. Minnelli recalled in his autobiography that Ford delivered "a true performance, and a touching one. He was on-key throughout the filming." Ford's role was to react, and that was one of his strengths as an actor. In the harrowing scene where Eddie has hysterics when he finds his goldfish dead, Minnelli wrote, "Ford reacted beautifully, with all the conflicting emotions of the character. He's concerned, but irritated, so his impatience shows." Ford not only managed to hold his own with his precocious co-star, but also with the three glamorous actresses who played the candidates for his new wife: Shirley Jones, as a sympathetic neighbor; Stella Stevens as a comic sexpot; and Dina Merrill as a sleek sophisticate. Shirley Jones called Ford "one of the finest actors of his time. He had a quality on film, a naturalness, that was remarkable, and it made working with him a pleasure. Much like Jimmy Stewart, he brought his own nuances to a character. Whatever he said sounded as if he had just thought of it, as if he had never looked at a script. That is a marvelous quality to have." The Courtship of Eddie's Father was released at a time of great turmoil in Hollywood. In spite of decent reviews, and even with its modest budget, the film did not make a profit. However, it did inspire a television series of the same name, one of the first films to do so. Director: Vincente Minnelli Producer: Joe Pasternak Screenplay: John Gay, from the novel by Mark Toby Editor: Adrienne Fazan Cinematography: Milton Krasner Art Direction: George W. Davis, Urie McCleary Music: George Stoll Cast: Glenn Ford (Tom Corbett), Shirley Jones (Elizabeth Marten), Stella Stevens (Dollye Daly), Dina Merrill (Rita Behrens), Ronny Howard (Eddie), Roberta Sherwood (Mrs. Livingston), Jerry Van Dyke (Norman Jones). C-119m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning. Descriptive video. by Margarita Landazuri

Quotes

Trivia

In Norman Jones's (Jerry Van Dyke's) radio studio, there are black-and-white publicity photos of various celebrities on the wall. One of the pictures is of Jerry Van Dyke's real-life brother, Dick Van Dyke, who was starring in "Dick Van Dyke Show, The" (1961) at the time the film was made.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States Spring March 6, 1963

Released in United States Spring March 6, 1963