A warm, romantic comedy-drama directed by Vincente Minnelli, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father mixes tears and laughter in equal measure headlined by an all-star cast, a plush MGM production, and the era’s most endearing child star.
The Production: 3.5/5
A warm, romantic comedy-drama directed by Vincente Minnelli, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father mixes tears and laughter in equal measure headlined by an all-star cast, a plush MGM production, and the era’s most endearing child star giving one of his most heartfelt performances. Yes, it became an ABC sitcom years later that may be more well-known now than the movie that spawned it, but the film establishes the premise with its mix of tenderness and toughness that the best sitcoms can always bank on to ride to long-term success.
Widower Tom Corbett (Glenn Ford) is not quite ready to begin dating again, content to continue living with six-year old son Eddie (Ronny Howard) and assisted by a new housekeeper Mrs. Livingston (Roberta Sherwood). But Eddie feels the time is right for his dad to find a new lady friend, and he’s got her all picked out: across-the-hall neighbor Elizabeth Marten (Shirley Jones), a part-time nurse who had been his mom’s best friend. Eddie had for a moment turned his attention to voluptuous Miss Montana contestant Dollye Daly (Stella Stevens), an excellent bowler and a surprisingly adept drummer, but Dollye catches the eye of Tom’s lothario friend and business associate Norman Jones (Jerry Van Dyke) while Tom meets high society sophisticate Rita Behrens (Dina Merrill) who is more his style. But Eddie takes an instant dislike to Rita and her yapping doggie and throws up roadblocks as best he can to thwart the romance. His father is just as determined to make things work between the two despite Eddie’s best efforts.
John Gay’s screenplay based on the novel by Mark Tobey is well-constructed though a bit obvious taking a long, circuitous route to get to the inevitable, After fifteen minutes of exposition setting up the premise, the film runs almost two hours; true, director Vincente Minnelli manages to work in one of his trademark party scenes though this time there are three of them: a New Year’s Eve party that sets up the Tom-Rita pairing, Eddie’s birthday party that shows us Eddie has made his choice for his dad, and a wedding reception where things begin to take a dark turn for father and son. The movie’s best moments, sometimes tender and sometimes harsh, are the several father and son talks where precocious Eddie tries to converse man-to-man with his father on a variety of topics, but the script inevitably falls back on clichés especially with Shirley Jones’ Elizabeth, several times having to raise her voice in frustration before tearfully fleeing the room, all to set up the unreasonable abrasiveness of their relationship so that Tom will look elsewhere for female companionship. The two scenes where the luscious Dollye shows her skills at bowling and playing jazz drums should have been milked for far more comedy than their one-joke premises, and if the intent was to position Tom and Rita as a serious threat to Eddie’s matrimonial plans for his pop, it might have been wiser for Minnelli to spark more romantic fireworks between the two world-be lovers.
Glenn Ford is fine as the understanding, long-suffering father, and his performance really gains in power in a frantic sequence where Eddie goes missing from summer camp. Ronny Howard steals all of his scenes as the young child trying to maneuver his way through the strange and unfamiliar world of adult relationships. Shirley Jones’ pert and personable Elizabeth is well played though the character isn’t given enough shades to be fully well-rounded (to be fair, neither are the characters of her two rivals for Tom’s affections). Both blondes in real-life, both Stella Stevens and Dina Merrill don other colored hair to differentiate themselves from Jones’ blonde neighbor, and both look stunning in a wide array of Helen Rose fashions throughout the movie. Jerry Van Dyke is fairly wasted as the girl crazy disc jockey, but Roberta Sherwood exudes a warm and embracing presence as live-out housekeeper Mrs. Livingston. Look fast, and you’ll notice Lee Meriwether as Tom’s receptionist, Vito Scotti as the randy flautist in the jazz combo, Ronny’s tiny brother Clint Howard as a birthday party guest, and Ronny’s real father Rance as one of the camp counselors.
Video: 5/5
3D Rating: NA
The original Panavision theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is faithfully rendered in this 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. The sometimes problematic Metrocolor processing is very controlled and most agreeable here, though, with very appealing flesh tones and reds fully saturated but never to the point of blooming. There are no signs of aging with this transfer with the picture looking crisp and most inviting. The movie has been divided into 38 chapters.
Audio: 5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono sound mix is quite typical of its era with solid fidelity making dialogue easy to understand, George Stoll’s background score lilting to the era, and the various sound effects most appropriate in each instance of their use. There are also no age-related anomalies with hiss, crackle, pops, or flutter.
Special Features: 3/5
Audio Commentary: the three female stars of the picture all share their memories of working on the movie. Dina Merrill and Stella Stevens are in the room together commenting while Shirley Jones’ comments have been edited into the general conversation. Toward the end, Shirley does most of the talking as the other two ladies’ characters fade from the story.
Penthouse Mouse (7:15, HD)
Theatrical Trailer (2:57, HD)
Overall: 3.5/5
Vincente Minnelli’s The Courtship of Eddie’s Father offers a funny and warm-hearted look at father-son dynamics that can still bring smiles and tears to a viewer. The Warner Archive Blu-ray release is a most welcome addition to the director’s slate of films now available in high definition.
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father [Blu-Ray]
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Matt has been reviewing films and television professionally since 1974 and has been a member of Home Theater Forum’s reviewing staff since 2007, his reviews now numbering close to three thousand. During those years, he has also been a junior and senior high school English teacher earning numerous entries into Who’s Who Among America’s Educators and spent many years treading the community theater boards as an actor in everything from Agatha Christie mysteries to Stephen Sondheim musicals.
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