The Courtship of Eddie's Father
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Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Vincente Minnelli
Glenn Ford
Shirley Jones
Stella Stevens
Dina Merrill
Roberta Sherwood
Film Details
Technical Specs
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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.
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Director
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Vincente Minnelli
Cast
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/GlennFord.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Glenn Ford
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/ShirleyJones.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Shirley Jones
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/StellaStevens.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Stella Stevens
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/DinaMerrill.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Dina Merrill
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/RobertaSherwood.176302.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Roberta Sherwood
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/RonHoward.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Ronny Howard
Jerry Van Dyke
John La Salle Jazz Combo
Crew
Irving Aaronson
George W. Davis
Adrienne Fazan
John Gay
Keogh Gleason
Henry Grace
Sydney Guilaroff
Robert R. Hoag
Milton Krasner
Urie Mccleary
William Mcgarry
Franklin Milton
Joe Pasternak
Helen Rose
George Stoll
William Tuttle
Stella Unger
Victor Young
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Photo Collections
Videos
Movie Clip
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Trailer
Hosted Intro
Film Details
Technical Specs
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Articles
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
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
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The Courtship of Eddie's Father
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