Ron Howard perfomance - The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963) Discussion

[–] marcusflute 19 years ago

His performance was so incredibly natural and sincere. I truly believe it to be one of the greatest child performances ever captured on film. Ron's comedic and dramatic ability as a child is astounding. I was dying with laughter at his final scene with his father when he was helping his father practice asking Elizabeth out. He made the movie for me!

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[–] squirt41us 18 years ago

Ron was one of the most talented child stars... As an adult he is a true talent in directing and producing films. I had a crush on him when he was on my fav tv show HAPPY DAYS

Hugs

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[–] jwells97 7 years ago

Yes! That was my favorite scene, too. Simply hilarious!

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[–] modo5472 18 years ago

I just saw this film on TCM for the first time this week and truly appreciated the movie and the performance of Ron Howard. We see a side of him quite different than Opie and helped make this film such a joy to watch. He was able to bring both tears and smiles to the viewer. Even though this film is dated in some ways, it is still better than most films made today. That is why such cable channels as TCM and TV Land continues to remind us how good the movies and television once was.

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[–] ijones-9 18 years ago

Ron Howard was a total natural as an actor fromo his first film, THE JOURNEY, to this to THE MUSIC MAN and through the rest of his career. Did it cross my mind the first time I saw this film that this little redheaded kid would grow up to be an Oscar winning film director? Nope.

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[–] thatsnumberwang 18 years ago

He was such a cute kid. And he sure delivered a great performance.

saucybetty.blogspot.com

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[–] shulma2002 11 years ago

Ron made the film. He left the performances of Glenn Ford and Shirley Jones in the dust. He was a natural-born talent and a nice guy. In almost all of his films, he gets his dad Rance and younger brother Clint to appear in cameos. Nice to know that some child stars end-up with successful and happy lives. He is humble and so talented.

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[–] goodbear40 18 years ago

First viewing, courtesy of TCM...(God Bless Cable)

Was only familiar with the tv series of the same name; SO glad to see the original, and Howard's performance, which was nothing short of amazing...

While the adults went about their acting business with adequate skill, that kid blew me away this afternoon! The only times that my emotions overtook me, Ronny was onscreen...and my response was so unexpected and heart-felt; I was nearly embarrassed by it!

He was, what, nine years old? Awesome performance...

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[–] Isaac5855 18 years ago

So glad to see someone else appreaciated Ronny's remarkable performance in this nearly forgotten movie.

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[–] speilbrick-1 17 years ago

I'm surprised to see so many glowing reviews here of Howard's acting. I thought it was the weak point of the film, very over the top and unconvincing. I actually become quite annoyed with it near the end.

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[–] PenTheater 16 years ago

me too, where the heck was he staring when he was talking to his dad after the dead fish trauma?
Everytime he had to deliver emotion he was just staring off into space. I am surprised the director did not catch that.

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[–] tvgord 15 years ago

Obviously, the director knew what he was doing. In those traumatic scenes, Eddie was staring off into space, trying to escape the grief of the situation as well as trying to avoid eye-contact with Tom.

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[–] slaphappy5000 11 years ago

i'd say the kid is a natural great actor

the problem w/his performance in this movie, as w/most movies pre 1970's, is they are directed to always be "up" and "on" and "happy," like the scene where dad drives up and opie is playing baseball, that smile is just too constant and too big. real kids don't behave like that. kids in movies and tv, again, until more naturalistic acting became popular in the 70's, etc., just don't act like that in real life

so yeh he's a great child actor,

but typical of his period, overdoing it

not his fault

but not realistic

other scenes he was great in, cuz he didn't go over the top cuz the scene/direction/script didn't require him to

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[–] Shirin-3 17 years ago

I thought Ron Howard's performance was the thing that made this movie so charming. I was flipping through the channels and was immediately captivated by this charismatic chap - which is how I came to watch this movie on TCM on Father's Day. The chemistry with the adults in the film was tangible and believable - and it made me reconsider my disdain for ever having a kid of my own some day.

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[–] maydom04 16 years ago

His performance was incredible. I thought I was watching a Disney comedy until his first freakout with the goldfish...totally believable and natural (How did he do it?)

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[–] flan99 17 years ago

Yes inded, little Ronny Howard was a true talent.

He was the glue of this entire film.

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[–] barbbeck 11 years ago

Yeah, he was amazing! I purchased the DVD 10 years ago(I'm watching it now). I was at Best Buy before I went to went to work one day, and with one look at the cast and who the director was, I was sold! Now, it's one of my favorites.

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[–] nastypuppy 11 years ago

hi, just got done watching the movie for 1st time & ron howards performance was so good & real that i was curious to see what other viewers had to say. i think the scene where he became hysterical at the dead fish was truly authentic. it was like that small thing ignited all the pain he felt at having just lost his mom. i've seen my own kids react like that after very traumatic events. young children dont know how to express emotion in what we call an "appropriate" way & what we consiider to be minor may trigger such a response. so moving.
but my favorite part was where he had his dad practice asking elizabeth out on a date. "my sugar man" soooo cute. i love billy mumy & the boy from the rifleman & of course mccauley culkin, but no child actor (then or now) can touch a young ronny howard.

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[–] IcingOnTheCake 11 years ago

He was great. His character was definitely precocious.

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[–] rtw416 10 years ago

Ron Howard delivers.....
What a way to set the bar for a incredible career.

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[–] crlnrgbrght5 10 years ago

I liked when he says Jayne Mans-f-i-e-l-d, spelling out the last part of her name because he didn't know it, that's exactly what kids do.

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