1963’s The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father holds some surprises

Simply put, The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father is nothing more than the selfish, manipulative dealings of a child using subterfuge to steer his father in the direction of his own ulterior motives.

But … how can that be? Because the titular Eddie of this flick is played by the ever-delightful Ron Howard. Yes … that Ron Howard. The same Ron Howard who brought us the clean-cut Steve of American Graffiti and the even more clean-cut Richie Cunningham of Happy Days. And way before that? Opie from The Andy Griffith Show.

Yup. One and the same. That’s him all right. But this time, in this 50-year-old film that later spawned the short-lived television show, Howard is an evil genius hell-bent on driving his father insane. He’s out for his own personal gain and bubbles over with such scheming and wily ways that his father barely has enough time to think for himself. (All right. I might be going overboard with this, but these are some of the things I was thinking throughout the film. Watch it for yourself and you’ll see I’m not so left of center as I sound. And, while I might make this claim with tongue firmly planted in cheek, I want to come back to it a bit later. Trust me … it’s worth it.)

Glenn Ford pulls out a clean performance as the crisp, tight, handsome widower Tom Corbett dealing with not only the death of his wife but the consequences thereof where his son Eddie is concerned. Dead center in the mid-60s, this subject matter couldn’t have been the easiest of stories to pull off let alone hock to the studios. But it was and it did and its popularity squeezed out the small screen version with Bill Bixby, if your memory serves.

Rounding out the film’s cast is a very young (and cute as a button) Shirley Jones, bubbly as all get out and before her stint as the matriarch of The Partridge Family. Stella Stevens as the knockout redhead Dollye Daly (McWowZah!) and Dina Merrill as Ford’s eventual love interest form the triad of ladies that keep the film grounded. (Air-heady as Steven’s role is, she still manages to put out some sharp points in the film, something at which I was a bit surprised.) And there’s even a pretty hefty role for Dick Van Dyke’s kid brother Jerry Van Dyke who ends up hooking Stevens in a rather comical side story. (Bonus: As with most of Ron Howard’s films, his brother Clint is featured briefly as one of the children who attends Eddie’s birthday party bash.)

The DVD is a clean print of the 1963 film, in some instances a bit too clean. Certain things come at you with glaring “Hey! Look at me!” over-exaggeration such as the orange Naugahyde of the kitchen dining nook in Eddie’s apartment. (This is something touched on in the bonus commentary track on the disc I verbally wooted about when I heard the actors touch on it.) You may want to wear sunglasses when the kitchen scenes rear themselves.

Speaking of the commentary track, there are some nifty trivia bits about the film courtesy of Jones, Merrill and Stevens who put in glowing words not only about Glenn Ford but Ron Howard as well … definitely worth the price of the disc.

One strange (for me, anyway) thing I found in the film is a scene with Ford pouring a drink, something he commits with exaggerated flair in the heat of a particular moment. Booze goes flying everywhere as he pours then takes a swig. The direction was cheesy, clumsy and forced. It’s a puzzle to me why anyone would think such action to be a good move. It came off as comical and unnatural, not the least bit realistic.

Part of that “time capsule” mentioned above: Everybody smokes in this film … and I mean everybody. (Well … except for Howard, of course.) This was the norm back in the days of yore of Hollywood. It wasn’t vilified — it was accepted, expected and wasn’t given a second thought. I couldn’t help but wonder if fans needed to be brought on the set here and there to blow blue haze out of a scene before filming.

Overall? Great film to relive some aspects of the 60s and some terrific (sometimes comical) performances all around. This is one of those films that leaves you glad you saw it even though you never would have thought to rent or buy it.

(Oh. I mentioned coming back to that opening line above. Go back and read it again and riddle me this: Wouldn’t that be a terrific idea for a horror flick? Exactly … !!! “Terror child’s whining and crying drives father insane while kid secretly ‘disposes’ of dad’s dates!” I’m off to lay out the script!)

The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father is part of the Warner Archive Collection of films. It was graciously provided to CliqueClack for review.