RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

bkoganbing 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.

17268 Dina Merrill should have had a much more successful screen career. She is a beautiful, intelligent, warm, extremely credible actress. Perhaps her very strong resemblance to Grace Kelly worked against her. In this film, "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," someone had the dumb idea to make her a brunette, probably because the lead actress, Shirley Jones, was also a blonde. For Merrill, this is a nothing role which she brings a great deal more to than it deserves. The rest of the cast is good, especially Ron(nie) Howard, although Glenn Ford is, as usual, low-key to the point of monotony; and Jerry Van Dyke proves that the same genes don't necessarily produce comic geniuses in a family.

MartinHafer First I need to point out that this movie isn't much like the later TV series. It stars Glenn Ford as a widower raising a young child, played by Ron Howard. While their relationship is loving and sweet, they are both looking for a new wife/mother. And Ron Howard is a little devil trying to set up Dad! I like the kid's taste, though, as he sets his sights first on Stella Stevens and then on Shirley Jones--that kid had great taste! Even though you can easily predict where the movie will end up, the acting and writing and direction are so good that you don't really mind at all. That's because it is sentimental but avoids schmaltzy, gooey over-sentimentalism that could have easily ruined this film--thanks in part to a decent use of comedy.

sddavis63 I've see episodes of the TV series of the same name a few times and was never actually very taken with it. I just didn't find it funny as a sitcom. The story can really only go on for so long and still be interesting. However, as a two hour movie, the story fits in well and although very obviously a 60's movie it's really quite enjoyable if you can lighten up and not get too offended by some of the sexist attitudes toward women, etc.The performances here were generally of a high calibre. Glenn Ford was quite good as the recently widowed Tom Corbet (far superior to Bill Bixby in the TV series), and the supporting cast of Roberta Sherwood as the housekeeper Mrs. Livingston and Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens and Dina Merrill as the various women who turn Corbet's head from time to time all did well in their roles. I was really taken with young Ron Howard, though. He must surely have been one of the finest child actors ever. His performance as Eddie in this picture was so realistic as he deals with his emotions around his mother's death and his feelings about his father moving on with life was wonderful. (Watch this if only to see Howard in the scene when he discovers the dead fish; his emotion in this scene was raw and powerful.) There's some amusing (if politically incorrect) scenes in this with a surprising (for 1963) amount of sexual innuendo (all innocent, of course, given the year.)Disappointments? Well, Jerry Van Dyke did nothing for me as radio DJ Norman Jones. Having heard the few snippets of his radio show that the movie includes I have to ask - why would anyone listen to him? I have to concede that I also found it a bit offensive that apparently within a relatively short time after his wife's death Corbett is out playing the field again. But, of course, that was necessary to the story.Overall, it's dated but still an enjoyable couple of hours.8/10