The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963)

That was an excellent one.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

It's certainly charming, but it's also just a tad too sweet. Vincente Minnelli's direction is possibly his glossiest...there's not an inkling of reality allowed to seep in...Glenn Ford's wife dies and he and son Ronny Howard a left at sea trying to make it without a woman in their lives. WHO will they get to take her place? Neighbor Shirley Jones seems an ideal fit as does potential beauty pageant entrant Stella Stevens...not so much fashion maven Dina Merrill. The three leading ladies are all fine, but Ford is just awful...he's way too cold for this material. Howard is just as bad (clearly taking cues from someone off camera) and particularly grating when he's supposed to be distressed (running a fever, melting down after discovering one of his goldfish has died). Ford and Howard are supposed to be emotional zombies, but their acting just clashes with the overall light feel of the rest of the movie. And what genius decided to cast Jerry Van Dyke(!) as Ford's comic foil (a caddish DJ at the radio station Ford works at)? When compared to brother Dick, it's clear that Jerry came from the shallow end of the comic gene pool.

Glenn Ford did two films with director Vincente Minnelli, the incredibly bad sound remake of The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse and this very good family film about a widower and his young son trying to get on with life after the wife and mother has passed away.The Courtship of Eddie's Father in addition to being made into a long running television series with Bill Bixby, Miyoshi Umeki, and Brandon Cruz, still holds up very well after 44 years.What makes the film is the very real chemistry between Glenn Ford and Ron Howard who was on hiatus from the Andy Griffith show to make this film. The Courtship of Eddie's Father is about two very real individuals trying to work through the hurt that's surrounding a very big hole in their lives. Ford plays the manager of a radio station and Jerry Van Dyke has a nice role as Ford's best friend and one of the disc jockeys. Roberta Sherwood has the part of the housekeeper who's trying to learn Spanish, the part that Miyoshi Umeki did for television. As you can imagine it was rewritten somewhat.There are three women interested in Ford at one time or another. Shirley Jones is the best friend of the deceased, living in the apartment across the way. Dina Merrill is the society lady that she is in real life. And Stella Stevens is the beauty queen from Montana who's got some hidden talents. One guess who Ford looks like he'll wind up with in the end. Give you a hint, it's the one Ron Howard wishes it is. After the disaster of The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, Minnelli owed Glenn Ford a good picture and he certainly delivered.

The problem with this movie of the highly talented Minnelli is that it hesitates between comedy and drama.1.Comedy: there are two comic reliefs ;but they are neither original nor very funny.Stella Stevens 's part recalls a cross between Shirley MCLaine and Marilyn Monroe : that is to say how Wilder's shadow hangs over the movie;the scene when Stevens borrows the boy is a pale copy of Wilder's triumphs.You almost hear Marilyn say "Why are all these men always following me?"2.Drama: the scene of the fish,which is almost unbearable in this context, does not belong to the comedy at all :I wonder how Minnelli managed with his young actor for this very disturbing scene.The holiday camp scene ,on the other hand ,is routine drama.This is really pussyfooting.This is pleasant to watch,but definitely not among Minnelli's best.

I disagree that this movie is sexist at all. In fact, I believe that the character of Tom Corbett is quite different (in a good way) from the fathers of that time. I continue to find this movie extremely entertaining (while ertainly more "fluff" than depth) and nostalgic, due in most part to Ron Howard's superb and engaging performance. The parts where Eddie tells his dad at summer camp that he is in love, and the end of the movie, where Eddie is "practicing" with this dad on what to say to the neighbor to ask her out on a date, are absolutely priceless. Watching Ron Howard in this movie makes you realize why he was sought after as a child actor.