MovieChat Forums > The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963) Discussion > A few questions,

A few questions,

posted 17 years ago by PenTheater
13 replies | jump to latest

I have plenty of books to read, so I am not reading this novel.
But if you have, maybe you can answer some questions.

1. How long was the death of the mom to when he started dating?
Seems they "came back" from somewhere (the funeral?), he went back to work, kid went back to school, he went back to dating, right away.

2. The kid came home from school for lunch one day, but before going back to school that day (his father said he had to go back to school) he asked if he could go down the hall and ask his friend something. Wouldn't his friend also need to be in school? Can they just mosey on back to school whenever?

3. What did Dollye Daly's (Stella Stevens) drum solo have to do with the courtship of eddie's father?

4. Did Elizabeth Martin have to take Eddies temp rectally just to establish she was indeed a trained hospital volunteer?

5. How did Mrs. Livingston's spanish lessons contribute to the story?

6. How did Dollye Daly's bowling lessons for Norman Jones contribute to Eddie's courtship?

and not important but curious;

7. Do they still have men in arcades that will paint your picture (head) on a tie in New York?

[–] Mad_Monkey 16 years ago

All very good questions, I wondered about most of those myself! I wish had the answers.
I especially wondered about question #1.

[–] clutchcargoguy 15 years ago

I think that, respectfully, like some others here, you are asking questions that are kind of beside the point. What did Dolly's drum solo or bowling lessons contribute?
They are supporting characters and contribute humor, and an engaging second story line, that fleshes out the main characters. Writing and storytelling 101. Why are they there? Why not? You can deconstruct any story by removing secondary characters, but you wouldn't have nearly as much entertainment or an enagaging script.

[–] leader-7 13 years ago

I'm coming late to the party here -- and you may not even still be around... but here are some answers. Keep in mind, this is a MOVIE. Not all "stuff" needs to be addressed. It's just in the picture because it's either developing the plot on some level, or is there as relief from difficult prior scenes.

1. How long was the death of the mom to when he started dating? NOT too long. In the opening scene, Eddie is only just back at school, and Glenn Ford starts dating pretty immediately. Probably a couple of weeks at most.

2. The kid came home from school for lunch one day, but before going back to school that day (his father said he had to go back to school) he asked if he could go down the hall and ask his friend something. Wouldn't his friend also need to be in school? Can they just mosey on back to school whenever? in those days (if this were a friend of similar age, and don't assume that's the case) kids often came home for lunch if they lived close enough in NYC (I was among them) and if it were a classmate, I'm sure he had the time to go down the hall, come back, get his jacket, and go back to school.

3. What did Dollye Daly's (Stella Stevens) drum solo have to do with the courtship of eddie's father? Nothing. It's a movie. It was a chance to show off her skills in a thinly veiled plot filler.

4. Did Elizabeth Martin have to take Eddies temp rectally just to establish she was indeed a trained hospital volunteer? you must be smoking something. Rectally is how most temps were taken (esp with children) in those days, and Elizabeth's skill didn't need to be established. In fact, I believe she is a nurse.

5. How did Mrs. Livingston's spanish lessons contribute to the story?
character development, made her human. wtf is the difference if she was learning Spanish or Kanamit? GET A GRIP.

6. How did Dollye Daly's bowling lessons for Norman Jones contribute to Eddie's courtship? they proved that in her spare time she was no longer working on the Manhattan Project and so the House Unamerican Activities Committee could leave her alone as she was no longer suspected of having Communist inclinations.

7. Do they still have men in arcades that will paint your picture (head) on a tie in New York? I live in NYC and haven't see one of those since the movie was made. Evidently they shut them all down after the filming.

[–] PenTheater 13 years ago

Thank you for the response.
8 out of 10, and + for effort.

Following up on the answer to question 6. = (who should get a grip (5) and what are you smoking? (4). HA! ) (I do get it.)

I like the answer that some stuff is a relief to a difficult prior scene but as for charcater delelopment and story continuity it seemed like sloppy or lazy writing.
Once I began analizing this much talked about movie (which even lead to a TV show) I was curious as to if I was missing something or in fact the writers needed to fill time.
I could go into further detail about each of the questions I asked, but I haven't smoked or drank anything, and it's also near the end of my shift.

I am hoping that since the movie is on again today someone else, (or you again) will come here and add more thoughts.

[–] artistathome 13 years ago

I thought the imediate dating was Bizarre. They obviously had been at aunt janets. But it also sounds like the dad gad no clue when eddie had last bathed.

The movie would have made more sense if they had said it was a ling illness, and was expected! At least we know why Elizabeth felt so at home with them being helens best friend.

The way they did it was weird and made it seem like the dad was ready to find someone new in a week. Eddie too,

And i am sure that was not the case. But the dad was definitely on the market again. Very strange
But still good.

If there was a remake i am sure these issues would be addressed. Current audiences want every t crossed and i dotted.

[–] IcingOnTheCake 11 years ago

We don't know how long it was. Maybe the mom died during Eddie's summer vacation. He wouldn't have worn a shirt that needed to be ironed during the summer and she probably wouldn't have felt like ironing while sick.
Not all Dad's are good at keeping up with such details, especially a professional working one of the early 60s.

It may have been. Elizabeth lived across the hall. Women talked more to their neighbors back then since television wasn't a thousand channels that never left the air and home computers were non-existent.

It wasn't unusual for a non-domesticated dad to want to find another wife and mother for his child.

He needed to be so there could be a movie.

Yes, they would change things if they remade it for today which is why they shouldn't remake it. It's a cute classic.

[–] leader-7 11 years ago

He wouldn't have worn a shirt that needed to be ironed during the summer

-- that statement is just plain false.

Don't forget, this is 1963. Everyone wore ironed shirts... even in the summer. Maybe not in camp... but yes, shirts were ironed, and people dressed even to go to baseball games.

Revisit the scene when Corbett and Rita visit Eddie in camp. He's wearing a jacket and tie.

[–] IcingOnTheCake 11 years ago

I don't have the movie on hand and it's now been awhile since I've watched it.

TV and movies have never shown accurate descriptions of kids in general. Most kids played outside in tshirts and got dirty even back in 1963. Probably even moreso since today's kids are too interested in technology to spend too much time playing outdoors. Some would say that kids in general didn't say and do some of what Eddie did but it was just a movie.
A baseball game was a public outing and not an everyday event. Adults dressed up more than the children, of course. The children did for big events.

Real life kids also didn't always wera shoes indoors like on many period television programs. The Brady kids have stated that they wanted to wear tank tops and jeans like they did in real life but TPTB wouldn't let them. It was said that they thought ahead to repeats and believed tank tops and such might be "out of style" by then, lol.

As for the dad, well the wife and mother would have taken care of such household details. Some sent laundry out but some didn't. This wife and mother was sick and then deceased. The incident probably happened before the maid and new girlfriends.
We were supposed to see each stage fit within the time frame of a movie.

[–] artistathome 13 years ago

I thought the imediate dating was Bizarre. They obviously had been at aunt janets. But it also sounds like the dad gad no clue when eddie had last bathed.

The movie would have made more sense if they had said it was a ling illness, and perhaps the neighbor across the hall was friends with the mom and had been helping already! I think current directors would at least mention how lkng it had been.

The way they did it was jyst weird and made it seem like the dad was readg to find someone new in a week. Eddie too,

And i am sure that was not the case. But the dad was definitely on the market again. Very strange.

[–] MystMoonstruck 10 years ago

You wrote: I have plenty of books to read, so I am not reading this novel.
But if you have, maybe you can answer some questions.

Are you sure this wasn't a class assignment instead of personal curiosity? Read the novel, then answer these questions.
]
To me, a former high school teacher, it looks like an assignment. People do that sort of thing frequently at Yahoo!Answers Movies: present questions a student is supposed to answer while pretending s/he is merely a movie/novel fan needing help understanding.

[–] PenTheater 10 years ago

I am sure it was not a homework assignment since I graduated 31 years before I posted that. I was just trying to get some conversation going here.

[–] PillowRock 10 years ago

My take:

1. How long was the death of the mom to when he started dating?

I don't know.

2. The kid came home from school for lunch one day, ... Wouldn't his friend also need to be in school? Can they just mosey on back to school whenever?

It never occurred to me that this would be confusing. At the time, it was absolutely typical for Mom to be a housewife who was almost always at home (still pretty commonly 1 car per family, that was at work with Dad). In areas with enough population density for elementary school kids to walk to school, it was also common to go home for lunch (and come back 45 minute or an hour later; not "mosey on back to school whenever"; the afternoon start time was just as specific as in the morning). The elementary school that I went to didn't even have a cafeteria, the few kids who needed to eat lunch at school on a given day would all go to one classroom to eat their bagged lunch. (Nobody came to my elementary by bus; even in high school only a tiny number from the furthest corner of the district had a bus.)

3. What did Dollye Daly's (Stella Stevens) drum solo have to do with the courtship of eddie's father?

It had a lot to due with the courtship of Jerry Van Dyke's character. That whole relationship acts as a counterpoint to Tom Corbin's main relationship through most of the movie. One is looking for a long term mate (at least partially for the role of step-mother) and latches onto someone who only really fits with him for dating. The other is looking just for "a few laughs" dating and finds themself with someone who meshes perfectly as a long term mate.

4. Did Elizabeth Martin have to take Eddies temp rectally just to establish she was indeed a trained hospital volunteer?

Nope. That was just pretty standard for taking the temperature of a small child back then. Home thermometers were still just an awfully breakable glass tube with mercury (pretty toxic) inside. At least until you were old / mature / calm enough that adults were *certain* that you wouldn't nervously bite / clench your teeth on the thermometer (even while stressed by being sick), you got your temp taken rectally; parents at home as well as the medical professionals. And, yes, in my experience households tended to have separate oral and rectal thermometers.

5. How did Mrs. Livingston's spanish lessons contribute to the story?

They serve to keep the fact that Mrs. Livingston is moving to another country, and is therefore only a temporary childcare solution, in the audience's mind. The clock is ticking on Tom being able to rely on her to take care of Eddie after school or during school vacations. This may contribute to why Tom proposes to the first woman that seems superficially suitable. (When almost all Moms were expected stay home with the kids, reliable day care [as opposed to baby sitters] was much harder to find. I don't remember ever even hearing the phrase "day care" when I was a little kid in the 1960s.)

6. How did Dollye Daly's bowling lessons for Norman Jones contribute to Eddie's courtship?

See the answer to question 3), above.

7. Do they still have men in arcades that will paint your picture (head) on a tie in New York?

I have no idea. I have visited New York only once, decades ago when I was about 10.

[–] PenTheater 10 years ago

thank you