The next two episodes of the final foursome were a little darker in tone, a bit more serious than the previous two had been. The first one, THE ROAD TO YOU-KNOW-WHERE IS PAVED WITH YOU-KNOW-WHAT, was written by Blanche Hanalis, who would later create the much loved series, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. I didn’t meet Hanalis at the time I directed this episode, which was not unusual in television. I met very few of the authors whose works I directed. I didn’t meet her until 1981 when I directed a pilot she had written, BIG BEND COUNTRY. That was a short association; the pilot didn’t sell.
For the first seven COURTSHIP episodes I left the MGM lot for a location only once -- the few exterior shots at the Culver City police station for THE LIBRARY CARD. This episode called for extensive location filming. In fact there was so much (and most of it involved Brandon), it was listed on the schedule as EXTERIORS TO BE DONE AT A LATER DATE. When that later date arrived, there proved to be not enough work for a full day’s outing. So I ended up doing some Peanuts-style footage of Bill and Brandon to be used for the opening and closing vignettes. The following clip includes some of that film. As before the dialog was written later, recorded and laid in over the footage.
When I left the Pasadena Playhouse in 1948, there were two plays at the top of the agenda of plays I wanted to direct: Maxwell Anderson’s WINTERSET and Ibsen’s THE WILD DUCK. So far I haven’t directed either one of them. But THE ROAD... did touch on the same theme as the Ibsen play. Our Miss Bristol, like Ibsen’s Gregers Werle, disturbed the lives of friends by her meddling. For Miss Bristol I wanted Bette Davis. This was not the first time I had sought to cast her in a production. Three years before when I was directing Quinn Martin’s THE FBI, the script for THE COURIER had as its main protagonist a woman, something unusual for that series. I submitted the suggestion of her casting to John Conwell, casting director for the show. John told me what had occurred the previous year, the first season THE FBI was in production. J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI at the beginning of production on the series had insisted on approving EVERYONE associated with the show. John explained to them that approval of the entire cast would be very difficult. There were those smaller roles cast late in the preparation period that, because of the time factor, would make getting that approval an impossibility. The agency relented and agreed to limit having approval pre-filming of just the stars. Once the show was produced, the rest of the cast would be checked out and anyone not acceptable would be banished from future appearances.
Bette Davis’ agent notified John that she liked the show and would like to appear on it. Midway through the first season a script came to John’s desk that had a role that he thought would be right for her. It was not the star part; it was a cameo role, but a good one. The excitement of getting Bette Davis for the series was overwhelming. John immediately sent the script to Miss Davis’ agent with a firm offer. Only then did he realize he had not gone through the formality of having her approved. There was an FBI agent assigned to the series as technical advisor and John asked him to get the necessary agency approval. Later that day the answer came back from Washington; Bette Davis did not have the agency’s approval. John Conwell at that point began to sweat. What would he do if his offer to Bette Davis was accepted. Fortunately he did not have to face that problem. The answer came back from her agent that Bette Davis was not available and John Conwell heaved a huge sigh of relief. After hearing this story I was not deterred. John and I conferred with Ed, our resident FBI agent; we pointed out that Bette Davis was the First Lady of the American Film, that it would be an honor for the series to have her appear on it. We urged him to relay this information back to Washington in the hope of getting their approval. Ed did as we requested. The answer was “No”. No explanation of why, just “No”. Now three years later I did not have that problem to cope with. With the producer’s approval an offer was submitted to Bette Davis’ agent. Unfortunately she was not available. Disappointed as I was, I must admit that our next choice, Ruth McDevitt, may have been a boon for the production. Many times the presence of a dynamic star like Miss Davis can distort a project.
When we viewed the rushes for the following clip the day after filming, JImmy Komack wanted to know how much added construction had been needed to create the set. It was explained to him that no construction was needed; we just took out the back wall of the closet in Tom’s bedroom. Voila! A new never-before-seen camera angle in the apartment.
In postproduction when they viewed the assembled footage, it was decided that the scenes of Miss Bristol suggesting to Eddie and Tom (separately) that they spend too much time together - - that those scenes came too abruptly. A little more preparation for those confrontations was needed. So a scene between Eddie and his father was written, recorded and laid in over Peanuts-style footage, some of which I had filmed in Century City.
And now well-intentioned Miss Bristol sets out to correct what she sees as a faulty situation.
We all know that stealing is considered a crime. Well watch a master at work. Watch Miyoshi Umecki -- master thief!
The thing that amazes me even more now than at the time I was filming is the incredible communication between Bill Bixby and young Brandon Cruz. That’s what true acting is all about.
Here is the script (starting with scene 33) for the Sunday activities of Tom and Eddie.
The scenes involving Tom were no problem. It was decided to eliminate scene 35 and confine Tom’s activities to his office. And I chose to confine his office activites to his inner office. The less activity he had, the more lonely he would be.
As for Eddie, I filmed scene 33 of Eddie at his fish tank. The scene was eliminated in editing, but Eddie’s recorded dialogue was used as part of the onscreen narration. The confining of Eddie’s activities to the Century City location was made for reasons artistic even more than budgetary. It was not likely Eddie would be able to travel to the various locations suggested: a wooded area, a park to fly a kite, railroad tracks. Beside which I liked the visual of the small figure surrounded by the large, cold, gray buildings. I truly don’t remember when we filmed the sequences with Eddie in Century City. Looking at them today I feel they must have been shot on a Sunday; how would it have been possible to get those empty vistas in Century City on a weekday pre-Christmas. However they were obtained, I am very proud of what I feel is the poignant heart of this episode. And Jimmy’s addition of dialogue from previous scenes as narration that was added in postproduction was inspired.
The following scenes of Eddie looking for a Larry are not in the script. They are not in the film schedule. I can see that they were filmed on the MGM lot, using various buildings as locations. They look like scenes I would film, but I can’t truthfully say I remember shooting them. If you look closely, you will see one of the children is Max, Eddie’s friend from GUESS WHO’S COMING TO LUNCH.
I do remember filming the shot of Tom on the overhead walk discovering Eddie alone.
Resolving a situation as serious as this one is very difficult. Miss Bristol has truly been a meddling old fool. And like Ibsen’s protagonist she has come close to causing some real harm. I think the team of Komack-Hanalis-Dick did a nice job of ending it logically and for this show, pleasantly.
Before we move on, let me confess that this is my favorite of the nine THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE’S FATHER shows I directed.
Again I had no prep period; I just stayed on the set and filmed the fourth and final show of this last batch. This one had another new billboard and credit opening.
This final show, THE PROMISE, was probably the darkest of my COURTSHIP films. And how do you begin a dark film? As lightly as possible.
LIke Mrs. Livingstone’s flunking her English test in AN F FOR MRS. L, her possible deportation in this episode, THE PROMISE, was a Hitchcock-like McGuffin.
As you can see, both James Komack and Peggy Chantler Dick shared writing credit with Bob Rodgers to create the roughest road the relationship between Eddie and his father took while I was at the helm.
Meg Wylie was, like me, out of the Pasadena Playhouse. We alumni, when possible, did stick stick together. And at this late date I have to commend the secretary in the next scene; she was an extra but performed her duties sans dialogue like a pro. She even got a laugh from the infamous laugh track!
There are times when a director has to realize there are some scenes that are immune to directorial embellishments. This was one of them. Fine words. Adult content. Two extremely talented actors. That’s when he needs to sit down in his director’s chair and keep out of the way.
And that’s what this episode is all about. It’s not about Mrs. Livingstone’s being deported. It’s about that critical time when a young boy’s faith in his father is assaulted, when he discovers that his father is not all-powerful, and in this instance it happens with that deadliest of sins -- a broken promise.
I always find the laugh track objectionable. In this instance, frankly I am outraged at its inclusion. Eddie’s packing was not a funny scene. It was a situation of a father very intelligently and sympathetically dealing with a critical moment in his seven year old son’s life. That was not a laughing matter.
I wasn’t usually in favor of young television star heroes being the ones who always saved the day, solved the difficult problems their elders couldn’t -- James Kildare on DR. KILDARE, John-Boy on THE WALTONS, Ben Casey, Danny Bonaduce on THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY. But I think the trio of writers on this episode found the only feasible exit out of this difficult predicament.
And thus my COURTSHIP days came to an end. I was no longer persona non grata in the industry. I moved on but retained a special affection for THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE’S FATHER; for Jimmy, Bill, Miyoshi, Peggy -- all now deceased; for Brandon, himself now a father to a son whose middle name is Bixby. Wouldn’t it be nice if this small effort on a website could stir enough interest for this series to be pulled out of the vaults and released to the public on DVD; so that those who loved it in the past could reacquaint themselves with Eddie and his father, and those too young to have known it before could meet what I think is one of the forgotten gems of classic television.
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