Judy and I saw this one in the theater shortly after we got married, and we both thought it was hilarious. Let's start with the cast: Paul Ford, Maureen O'Sullivan, Henry Jones, Lloyd Nolan, Jim Hutton, Connie Stevens, Jane Wyatt. How could you go wrong? According to me, you couldn't. Others might feel differently, but I really like everybody listed here, and how long has it been since you saw a movie with the great Paul Ford or Henry Jones? It's very dated, but I think you can overlook that.You'll notice on the poster that Hutton and Stevens are clearly being played up as the stars, but they're not, not really. I guess even in 1965, nobody could accept Paul Ford as a leading man.
The plot is pretty simple. Ford is 60 and O'Sullivan is 50 or more. And she's pregnant. Surprise, surprise, surprise. Ford is very embarrassed by this, and suddenly everyone in the small town is looking at him in an entirely different way. One of the best sight gags in the movie is Ford sitting in a room with other fathers-to-be.
Ford and O'Sullivan are Stevens' parents, and she and Hutton are living with them. Hutton has a lackadaisical approach to life, and Stevens doesn't really want to grow up. She's happy to be living at home, with her mother doing all the housework and cooking the meals. Hutton likes it, too, but now things will have to change. O'Sullivan will need some help. Not only will Stevens have to help, but she's jealous. She wants to be pregnant, too, but things aren't working out.
As you can imagine, lots of complications ensue, some of them quite unexpected, but everything works out in the end. I miss the old days.
8 comments:
I seem to recal there was a pretty good tie-in song that went with this....
I saw someone talking about the on The Tonight Show eons ago. From what I can remember, O'Sullivan was trying to cheer Ford up and said something like, "How does that poem go?" To which he replied, "I shot an arrow into the air..."
about "this" dammit!
When I worked in the Village 40 years ago I saw Paul Ford in the neighborhood a couple of times. I always assumed he must live around there. I wanted to go up to him and tell him how much I enjoyed his performance in THE MUSIC MAN but didn't have the nerve.
As for Henry Jones, we just saw him in the umpteenth rewatching of SUPPORT YOUR LCOAL SHERIFF.
Jeff
LOCAL
The movie was shot in Concord. Massachusetts, and one of our neighbors was an extra in several scenes. For some reason, this puffed up his already highly puffed ego.
I have always thought that this storyline was the one that was revamped into the sequel for Steve Martin's "Father of the Bride".
I hadn't thought of that, but it fits.
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