The Courtship of Eddie's Father

The Courtship of Eddie's Father is a 1963 American Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli, and stars Glenn Ford as a widowed father and Ronny Howard as his caring son. The film was based on a 1961 novel by Mark Toby, as was the ABC-TV series of the same name with Bill Bixby and Brandon Cruz, which ran from 1969 to 1972. Plot Young Eddie Corbett (Ronny Howard) tries his best to be a matchmaker for his widowed father, Tom (Glenn Ford), a radio station executive. At first, sexy Dollye Daly (Stella Stevens) seems promising, but she ends up falling in love with and marrying Norman Jones (Jerry Van Dyke), Tom's friend and colleague. Tom becomes attracted to a sophisticated socialite, Rita Behrens (Dina Merrill). They begin considering marriage, but Eddie takes an immediate dislike to Rita and she does not know how to deal with him, nor does she particularly wish to learn, and Tom eventually chooses his son over her. Through all this, the Corbetts are supported by their new housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston (Roberta Sherwood), and by their divorced next-door neighbor, Elizabeth Marten (Shirley Jones). It takes a crisis for Tom to realize what has been under his nose all along.