THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE'S FATHER

 An eight year old Ron, or as he's called here 'Ronny', Howard gives a phenomenal performance as Eddie, (it's easily the best thing he's ever done, either as an actor or as a director), while Glenn Ford gives what is almost certainly a career-best performance as his father in Vincente Minnelli's late masterpiece "The Courtship of Eddie's Father". It's a comedy, and often a very funny one, but with a dramatic edge to it and a large dollop of sentimentality which Minnelli carries off beautifully.

Ford's a widower with a young son and it's the son who decides it's time his unhappy dad found a new wife. The potential candidates are Stella Stevens, (wonderful), Dina Merrill and Shirley Jones as the next-door neighbour and since it's Jones who gets star billing it isn't too difficult to work out who the new Mrs. Ford is likely to be. There's a housekeeper, too, splendidly played by Roberta Sherwood and a nice supporting turn by Jerry Van Dyke as an associate of Ford's and they are all helped along by John Gay's superb screenplay adapted from Mark Toby's novel. The film was sufficiently successful to spawn a television series which lacked the ingredients that made this a classic of its kind and the last truly great film Minnelli would ever direct.