{ "id": "epv8hv2xds", "slug": "the-courtship-of-eddies-father-1963-film", "title": "The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1960s", "label": "Comedies of the 1960s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1960s" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Courtship of Eddie's Father is a 1963 MGM romantic comedy-drama directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Glenn Ford, Ronny Howard, Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens, and Dina Merrill, adapted from Mark Toby's 1961 novel and later inspiring a 1969-1972 TV series.", "snippet": "The Courtship of Eddie's Father is a 1963 MGM romantic comedy-drama directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Glenn Ford, Ronny Howard, Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens, and Dina Merrill, adapted from Mark Toby's 1961 novel and later inspiring a 1969-1972 TV series.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1960s", "markdown": "# The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963 film)\n\n**The Courtship of Eddie's Father** is a 1963 American romantic comedy-drama directed by [Vincente Minnelli](https://www.edgepedia.org/vincente-minnelli), starring [Glenn Ford](https://www.edgepedia.org/glenn-ford) as Tom Corbett, a widowed Manhattan radio executive, and Ronny Howard as his six-and-a-half-year-old son Eddie, who tries to match his father with a new wife.[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/) • [2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father) It was produced by Joe Pasternak for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from a screenplay by [John Gay](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-gay), adapted from Mark Toby's 1961 autobiographical novel of the same title.[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/) Although it received decent reviews, the film did not make a profit; it nonetheless inspired a television series of the same name, one of the first films to do so.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / producer | Vincente Minnelli; produced by Joe Pasternak for MGM[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/) |\n| Source | Screenplay by John Gay, from the novel *The Courtship of Eddie's Father* by Mark Toby (New York, 1961)[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/) |\n| Release | New York opening March 6, 1963; United States release date March 27, 1963[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056956/) |\n| Principal cast | Glenn Ford (Tom Corbett), Ronny Howard (Eddie), Shirley Jones (Elizabeth Marten), Stella Stevens (Dollye Daly), Dina Merrill (Rita Behrens), Roberta Sherwood (Mrs. Livingston), Jerry Van Dyke (Norman Jones)[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/) |\n| Technical format | Color (Metrocolor), theatrical aspect ratio 2.35:1, Panavision[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/) • [4](https://www.jackfritscher.com/PDF/Catholic/Movies%2005-63.pdf) |\n| Box office | Did not make a profit despite decent reviews and a modest budget[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father) |\n| Legacy | Inspired the television series *The Courtship of Eddie's Father* (1969–1972), starring Bill Bixby[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056956/faq/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nRecently widowed Tom Corbett, advertising director of a radio station, hires a day housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston, to help care for his six-and-a-half-year-old son, Eddie.[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/) Eddie wants his father to marry their attractive neighbor, the divorcée Elizabeth Marten, a nurse who looked after Eddie when he was ill.[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/) • [6](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/the-courtship-of-eddies-father) When Eddie fails to interest his father in Elizabeth, he befriends Dollye Daly, a shy beauty contestant from Montana, but she falls in love with Norman Jones, a disc jockey who is a friend of Tom's.[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/)\n\nTom's next romantic interest is Rita Behrens, an elegant fashion consultant whom Eddie dislikes; after Tom reveals his intention to wed Rita, Eddie flees summer camp and hides out in Elizabeth's apartment.[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/) Tom breaks with Rita, and Eddie finally makes his father realize that Elizabeth is the best choice for a wife.[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/)\n\nThe comedy sits over a serious undercurrent of grief. Richard Brody, the film critic and writer for *The New Yorker*, described the film as the story of a father and son who keep their grief pent up until Eddie, finding one of his goldfish dead, has a terrifying meltdown.[6](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/the-courtship-of-eddies-father) In that scene Minnelli wrote in his autobiography that Ford \"reacted beautifully, with all the conflicting emotions of the character. He's concerned, but irritated, so his impatience shows.\"[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father)\n\n## Production\n\nMGM bought the film rights to Toby's novel before publication for $100,000 in 1961; the *Chicago Tribune* had called the novel \"deeply moving, and at the same time, very funny.\"[7](https://www.topstrem.com/detail/movie/tt0056956) Producer Joe Pasternak assigned John Gay to write the script and hired Glenn Ford to star.[7](https://www.topstrem.com/detail/movie/tt0056956) [Shirley Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/shirley-jones) accepted her role in part because she did not have to sing, and Roberta Sherwood, a nightclub singer and television entertainer, made her film debut as Mrs. Livingston.[7](https://www.topstrem.com/detail/movie/tt0056956)\n\nBy the early 1960s the studio system was all but finished, and MGM offered longtime employees such as Minnelli multipicture deals instead of new contracts; this film was Minnelli's first under his six-picture deal with the studio.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father) Ford also had a multipicture deal with MGM. He had been badly miscast as an Argentine playboy in Minnelli's previous film, *The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse* (1962), which was savaged by critics and bombed at the box office; in this film he was more appropriately cast.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father)\n\nFilming ran from August 1 to October 1962 at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in [Culver City, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/culver-city-california), with the bowling alley sequence shot at the Paradise Bowl at 9116 South Sepulveda Boulevard in Los Angeles.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056956/locations/) • [7](https://www.topstrem.com/detail/movie/tt0056956) Pasternak said he interviewed hundreds of children to play Eddie but knew as soon as he talked to Ronny Howard that he was right.[7](https://www.topstrem.com/detail/movie/tt0056956) The crew included cinematographer Milton Krasner, editor Adrienne Fazan, art directors George W. Davis and Urie McCleary, and composer George Stoll; the song \"The Rose and the Butterfly\" was written by Victor Young and Stella Unger.[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056956/)\n\n## Cast and performances\n\nHoward had been playing Opie in the television series *The Andy Griffith Show* and had received excellent reviews for his third film, *The Music Man* (1962).[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father) He was nine years old during the production and showed what TCM's Margarita Landazuri calls genuine rapport with Ford; his performance is considered by many to be one of the great performances by a child actor, playing comic scenes with deadpan gravity and dramatic scenes with vivid intensity.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father) A contemporary *TIME* review, published under the headline \"A Male Shirley Temple?\", called the nine-year-old Howard Hollywood's latest heartthrob and predicted he would probably become the most successful kid star of the era.[9](https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0%2C33009%2C830098-1%2C00.html)\n\nFord stood back and let young Ronny steal the film, and received good reviews for his own work; Minnelli recalled in his autobiography that Ford delivered \"a true performance, and a touching one. He was on-key throughout the filming.\"[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father) The three actresses playing the candidates for Tom's new wife were cast as types: Shirley Jones as a sympathetic neighbor, [Stella Stevens](https://www.edgepedia.org/stella-stevens) as a comic sexpot, and [Dina Merrill](https://www.edgepedia.org/dina-merrill) as a sleek sophisticate.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father) A 1963 *New Zealand Listener* review praised the film's balance of characterization, noting that Eddie, though in a leading role as an interfering kid, does not steal the picture from his elders, and highlighted Stevens's interludes as a small-town girl playing a drum solo to \"The Carnival of Venice\" in a cabaret.[10](https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19630628.2.29.1.1)\n\nHoward's real-life family appeared in the film: his father [Rance Howard](https://www.edgepedia.org/rance-howard) played the camp counselor in an uncredited role, and his younger brother [Clint Howard](https://www.edgepedia.org/clint-howard) appeared uncredited as a child at a party wearing an Indian headdress.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056956/) • [11](https://www.classicmoviehub.com/facts-and-trivia/film/the-courtship-of-eddie-s-father-1963/) In Norman Jones's radio studio, one of the celebrity publicity photos on the wall shows [Jerry Van Dyke](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-van-dyke)'s real-life brother, Dick Van Dyke, who was then starring in *The Dick Van Dyke Show*.[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/)\n\n## Reception and legacy\n\nThe film opened in New York on March 6, 1963, with a United States release date of March 27.[1](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056956/) Metacritic records a Metascore of 63, based on 4 critic reviews, with Variety praising a production \"richly mounted, wittily written and engagingly played by an expert, spirited and attractive cast.\"[12](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-courtship-of-eddies-father/) The film received 3 Laurel Award nominations.[12](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-courtship-of-eddies-father/)\n\nDespite the reviews and a modest budget, the film did not make a profit, released at a time of great turmoil in Hollywood.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father) Its afterlife came through television: the popularity of the movie inspired the ABC series *The Courtship of Eddie's Father*, which ran from 1969 to 1972 and starred [Bill Bixby](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-bixby), one of the first cases of a film inspiring a television series.[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056956/faq/) Ronny Howard grew up to become the director [Ron Howard](https://www.edgepedia.org/ron-howard), whose films include *Splash* (1984), *Backdraft* (1991), and *Apollo 13* (1995).[2](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father) The film has also drawn serious critical attention: the film scholar Victor Perkins's analysis of its kitchen scene, in which Eddie and his father prepare lunch on Eddie's first day back at school after his mother's death, was described by one later critic as an exhilarating shock of discovery.[13](https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/scapvc/film/movie/contents/movie_issue_10_.pdf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), Turner Classic Movies database](https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/71636/Courtship-Of-Eddie-s-Father-The/)\n2. [Margarita Landazuri, \"The Courtship of Eddie's Father,\" TCM Articles, May 23, 2003](https://www.tcm.com/articles/28054/the-courtship-of-eddies-father)\n3. [The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056956/)\n4. [The Josephinum Review, May 22, 1963 (John J. Fritscher)](https://www.jackfritscher.com/PDF/Catholic/Movies%2005-63.pdf)\n5. [The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963) FAQ, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056956/faq/)\n6. [Richard Brody, \"The Courtship of Eddie's Father,\" The New Yorker, June 10, 2015](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/the-courtship-of-eddies-father)\n7. [The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), production notes, TopStrem](https://www.topstrem.com/detail/movie/tt0056956)\n8. [The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), Filming & production, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056956/locations/)\n9. [\"Cinema: A Male Shirley Temple?\", TIME, April 5, 1963](https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0%2C33009%2C830098-1%2C00.html)\n10. [\"The Courtship of Eddie's Father,\" New Zealand Listener, Vol. 49, Issue 1240, June 28, 1963](https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19630628.2.29.1.1)\n11. [Facts about The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Classic Movie Hub](https://www.classicmoviehub.com/facts-and-trivia/film/the-courtship-of-eddie-s-father-1963/)\n12. [The Courtship of Eddie's Father Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-courtship-of-eddies-father/)\n13. [The World of Film and World Particles in the Criticism of Victor Perkins, Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism, Issue 10](https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/scapvc/film/movie/contents/movie_issue_10_.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1960s*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-courtship-of-eddies-father-1963-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-courtship-of-eddies-father-1963-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-courtship-of-eddies-father-1963-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-courtship-of-eddies-father-1963-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-courtship-of-eddies-father-1963-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-courtship-of-eddies-father-1963-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-courtship-of-eddies-father-1963-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Courtship of Eddie's Father is a 1963 MGM romantic comedy-drama directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Glenn Ford, Ronny Howard, Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens, and Dina Merrill, adapted from Mark Toby's 1961 novel and later inspiring a 1969-1972 TV series." }