Weekend with Father
Brief Synopsis
Love blooms when two single parents send their children off to camp.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Douglas Sirk
Director
Van Heflin
Brad Stubbs
Patricia Neal
Jean Bowen
Gigi Perreau
Anne Stubbs
Virginia Field
Phyllis Reynolds
Richard Denning
Don Adams
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Romance
Release Date
Dec
1951
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Universal-International Pictures Co., Inc.
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures Co., Inc.
Country
United States
Location
Angeles Crest, California, United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 23m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9 reels
Synopsis
As hordes of parents see their children off to camp at a New York train station, advertising executive and widower Brad Stubbs begs his two girls, Anne and Patty, to be good, while widow Jean Bowen bids a tearful goodbye to her two boys, Gary and David. Brad and Jean meet briefly while watching the children take off, then both return to their homes. At Jean's, her maid Cleo urges her to find a date, while David's maid, Mrs. G., informs him that she does not approve of his girl friend, television actress Phyllis Reynolds, who values her career over Brad's family. When both lonely parents take their dogs for a walk in the park that afternoon, they meet once again, and Brad immediately asks Jean out on a date. Within days, they are engaged and plan a weekend trip to the camp to introduce their kids to one another. Just before Brad is to leave his office that Friday, Phyllis visits. Attempting to break the news of his engagement gently, Brad speaks vaguely, and Phyllis leaves with the assumption that she is the fiancée Brad spoke of. Brad and Jean arrive at the camp the next day and are greeted by head counselor Don Adams, a strapping young man who is quickly smitten with Jean. Once located, Jean's boys respond with disappointment to the news that Don will not be their new father, while Brad's girls express their desire for Phyllis to be their mother. That afternoon, they all ride on horseback to the top of a mountain, and after Brad brags that he can follow a blind trail, Gary pockets all the markers. Brad's subsequent anger makes the small children cry until David points out that the horses will know the way back. They finally reach the bottom of the trail, but there a forest ranger awaits to inform them that stealing markers is illegal. Brad is forced to replace each one, after which his horse runs away. Meanwhile, Phyllis shows up at the lodge and the clerk introduces her to a horrified Jean as Brad's fiancée. Just then, Brad returns, exhausted, and is distraught to discover that Anne and Patty have insisted that Phyllis stay. That night, the whole group attends the camp dance, where Brad mournfully greets Anne's first boyfriend, and then exaggerates his boxing experience to David. After Don introduces Phyllis to the crowd as a famous actress, Jean overhears Anne telling her friends that a new, less interesting woman stole Phyllis from her dad. Jean breaks down in tears, but Brad consoles her, until David pulls him inside to beat up another boy's father. Although the other man is small, he knocks Brad out with one punch, prompting David to call him a "shmo." The next day, Don talks Brad into competing in the father-son athletic events, but Brad fails miserably at each race. At night, they hold a birthday party for Anne, and after her boyfriend Eddie suggests a kissing game, Phyllis kisses Brad, while Gary punches Eddie and Anne swears she will run away if Gary is her brother. The ruckus results in a fight between Jean and Brad, and with the subtle urging of Don and Phyllis, they break up. Jean moves to a new hotel, and that night, the boys are filled with remorse when they hear her crying. At the lodge, Anne overhears Brad telling Mrs. G. angrily that he cannot marry Jean because the children do not approve. The next morning, while they wait for hours for Phyllis to wake up, Anne informs Brad that he should not trade his own happiness for that of his children. Later, Don brings Jean's family to lunch at a health-food restaurant, where he pontificates about the evils of hamburgers and the importance of calisthentics. Disgusted, the boys wander outside, where they find Anne being snubbed by Eddie. After Gary buys her an ice cream, the girls reassure the boys that Brad adores hamburgers and Anne thanks Gary for hitting Eddie. A few hours later, Anne and Patty inform Brad and Phyllis that Gary and David are lost in the woods. Upset by Phyllis' nonchalance, Brad races to the camp to console Jean, and the girls secretly sneak the boys, who have cooked up the scheme to reunite their parents, into their room. At the camp, Don organizes his campers into search parties, while Brad wanders ineptly through the woods calling for the boys. Hours later, while the girls happily watch Phyllis return to town alone, the boys follow their dog out the window. Anne and Patty race to the camp to confess that Gary and David are now truly lost. Soon after, however, a worn out, lost Brad bumps into the dog and follows it to Gary and David, who hastily dirty themselves to appear lost. Brad carries them back to the camp, where Jean embraces him joyfully, as a ranger announces that Don is now lost in the woods.
Director
Douglas Sirk
Director
Cast
Van Heflin
Brad Stubbs
Patricia Neal
Jean Bowen
Gigi Perreau
Anne Stubbs
Virginia Field
Phyllis Reynolds
Richard Denning
Don Adams
Jimmy Hunt
Gary Bowen
Tommy Rettig
David Bowen
Janine Perreau
Patty Stubbs
Gary Pagett
Eddie
Forrest Lewis
Clarence Willett
Robert Rockwell
Kennedy
Charles Flynn
Burke
Richard Garland
Rogers
Cindy Garner
Dorothy
Frances Williams
Cleo
Elvia Allman
Mrs. G.
Dorothy Neumann
Rita
George Stern
Tommy's father
Marshall Reed
Engle
Hal Smith
Television M.C.
Katie Lee
Mother
Anitra Sparrow
Mother
Ralph Montgomery
Egbert's father
Jack Reynolds
Workman
Abe Dinovitch
Workman
Lloyd Jenkins
Ranger in boat
Robin Camp
Piano player
David Newell
Father
Carl Saxe
Eddie's father
James Gray
Owner
Billy Clark
Tommy
Alan Mendez
Egbert
Beverly Simmons
Gertrude
Martha Mears
Singer
Linda Green
Girl
Lynette Bryant
Girl
Beverly Monk
Girl
Dicke June Williams
Girl
Sammy Ogg
Boy
Ronald Hooker
Boy
Tony Taylor
Boy
Harland Conrad
Boy
Carol Dee
Child
Pat Pagett
Child
Frances Karath
Child
Jimmy Karath
Child
Patrick Ward
Child
Dabbs Greer
Lillian Hamilton
Janet Clark
Art Dupuis
Dick Farmer
Eddie Coontz
Philo Mcculloch
Doug Carter
Roland Mccracken
Vickie Vann
Norman Stevens
Crew
Glenn E. Anderson
Sound
Phil Bowles
Assistant Director
Robert Boyle
Art Director
Leslie I. Carey
Sound
Mack D'agostino
Unit Production Manager
Jack Daniels
Dialogue Director
Fred Frank
Assistant Director
Russell A. Gausman
Set Decoration
George W. George
Based on a Story by
Bernard Herzbrun
Art Director
Joseph Hoffman
Screenwriter
Ruby R. Levitt
Set Decoration
Ted Richmond
Producer
Russell Schoengarth
Film Editor
Frank Skinner
Music
George F. Slavin
Based on a Story by
Joan St. Oegger
Hairstylist
Clifford Stine
Director of Photography
Bill Thomas
Gowns
Bud Westmore
Makeup
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Romance
Release Date
Dec
1951
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Universal-International Pictures Co., Inc.
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures Co., Inc.
Country
United States
Location
Angeles Crest, California, United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 23m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9 reels
Articles
Weekend With Father
Love blooms when two single parents send their children off to camp.
Weekend With Father
Love blooms when two single parents send their children off to camp.
Quotes
I'd like to come home at night and find a person I love waiting for me.- Brad Stubbs
So would I, and I've been married for twenty years.- Mrs. G.
I ain't mercenary. I just want to know how he's fixed for money.- Cleo
Trivia
Notes
In March 1951, Hollywood Reporter reported that John Lund was borrowed from Paramount for the starring role in Weekend with Father, but Van Heflin took on the role in the released film. According to a May 1951 item in Hollywood Reporter, Barbara Hale was considered for the role of "Jean Bowen." Studio press materials state that Jimmy Hunt broke his arm during the scene in which his character and "Brad Stubbs" enter a sack race. After director Douglas Sirk shot around him for several days, Hunt returned to work with his arm strapped to his side. Some scenes were shot on location in the Angeles Crest area of Southern California. A June 1951 Hollywood Reporter item adds James Craven to the cast, but his appearance in the final film has not been confirmed.
