If you were around in the late 1960s, you might remember a show called "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" (1969-1972), about a widower (Bill Bixby) trying to raise his young son (Brandon Cruz) while considering the possibility of remarrying. It was somewhere between a sitcom and a drama, and featured a Japanese actress named Miyoshi Umeki as Bixby's housekeeper, who dispensed lighthearted wisdom to Eddie while his Dad was at work. As a nine year old I watched it occasionally. Thinking back, the show may have been too touchy-feely for it to become a favorite of mine, but I do remember enjoying it when I did watch. Bill Bixby was a very likeable actor who kids of my generation had gotten to know in the earlier hit series "My Favorite Martian".
Well at any rate, tonight I watched the movie that spawned the TV show : "The Courtship Of Eddie's Father" (1963), which starred Glenn Ford as the father and Ronny Howard as Eddie. In both the movie and the TV series, Eddie is a sensitive boy. He is still processing his mother's untimely death, and is also aware that his Dad is trying hard not to show his own grief. Instead, Dad goes to work as an executive at a radio station and tries to get on with business as usual. The women he meets are solicitous towards him because of the loss of his wife. But he is in no hurry to remarry. One day he takes Eddie out for an afternoon in the city (New York), and while they are having fun at an arcade, a lady appears in front of Ford with an unusual request. She is Stella Stevens, a comedic actress of the time who had a unique combination of statuesque body and nonplussed personality. She often played a "nitwit/genius" ala Marilyn Monroe.
At the arcade, she wants to "borrow" Eddie as she sits for a portrait, so that male passersby will think he's her son and leave her alone. "I have trouble with mashers", she tells Ford. "Dad, what's a masher"?, asks Eddie. He is precocious, always asking his father about things like women's measurements. "Dad, what do the numbers mean"? After sitting with Stella Stevens, Eddie decides she would be perfect for his father. Though his misses his Mom, he wants his Dad to remarry, if only to make him happy again. But Stella Stevens, though beautiful and kind, is too wacky for Ford, so he fixes her up with the radio stations star disc jockey instead. The DJ is played by Jerry Van Dyke, who along with Stevens will provide comic relief for the remainder of the film.
Ford and Eddie have a neighbor (Shirley Jones) who is a nurse. She too, has been over to their apartment to offer consolation. One day Eddie wakes up sick, so Ford calls on her. In addition to tending to Eddie, she also shows concern for Ford, and before long she is coming over regularly. Ford tried to keep it friendly, but Shirley is developing strong feelings for him. Meanwhile, at the radio station he meets a client - the tall, cool Dina Merrill (a real life billionaire who was the daughter of E.F.Hutton). She is a fashion designer and an independent woman ahead of her time. She sees herself as equal to men. Ford tells her "I don't think that's gonna catch on". Boy was he wrong about that! :):)
Ford comes to admire Merrill's strong personality, and before long they are dating. But Eddie doesn't like her, a fact he makes clear to his Dad. She's a socialite who isn't very motherly. Eddie likes Shirley Jones a whole lot better and wants his father to marry her. But Dad is soon engaged to Dina Merrill.
This will lead to a crisis that will rearrange Ford's priorities.
I really liked this movie, and even needed a hanky in a couple of places. On TV, Bill Bixby played the father as laid-back and easygoing, while Brandon Cruz as Eddie was cute and a little bit snarky. In the movie, Ford plays Eddie's Dad with more pathos and a harder shell. He's a man's man who buries his feelings. Only Eddie can bring them out, and Ronny Howard (the famous actor and director) plays Eddie as much more sensitive and easily hurt than did Cruz on TV. Shirley Jones and Dina Merrill are polar opposites from a romantic standpoint, so they provide a contrast for Ford to choose from when he finally decides to rewed.
If you loved the decor of the early 60s, this is the movie for you. Ford's living room looks just like you'd remember, as do the clothes, cars and color combinations. Metrocolor did the prints (hooray!). When I worked there, they said we were known for having the most realistic color out of all the labs, and it is true here. The charcoal black of Glenn Ford's suit is something you wouldn't see in the age of digital cinema. That's some serious color timing work on display. :)
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Courtship of Eddie's Father". We need more movies like it today. ////
I'm gonna go for a short CSUN walk then head back to Pearl's to catch the Impeachment Report. See you tonight at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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