Father Was a Fullback

"Father Was a Fullback" is loaded with talented actors of the mid-20th century. The story is a good look at the culture of the time from a few points. Teenagers began to be more heard and families seemed to be conflicted over the changing relationships that emerged in the years after the war (WW II). College football had a completely different look from the sideline benches, with the alumni, and in other ways.

This isn't about anything heavy or startling, and modern audiences may not find it that interesting. Even for someone who lived - that long ago, the plot of this film is just so-so. The best thing about it is the cast. Fred MacMurray and Maureen O'Hara, as George and Elizabeth Cooper, were stars who would continue in that lofty realm for at least two more decades. But this film also has some supporting players who would become household names in the years ahead. Among these are Thelma Ritter as Geraldine and Jim Backus as "Sully" (Professor Sullivan). And, this is just the 11th film of 11-year-old Natalie Wood. She would be one of the few child stars to become a major star as an adult before her mysterious ocean drowning in 1981 at age 43.

There may have been a clever thought behind the title, but it escapes one today. Cooper is a college football coach who's in dire need of a fullback. The film may seem very slow to many. But, for those interested in what life was like back then, it should provide mild entertainment.

It took a total four screenwriters (Aleen Leslie, Mary Loos, Casey Robinson and Richard Sale) to adapt one exceptionally thin play by Clifford Goldsmith, a comedy about a losing college football coach and his nutty family in small town America. It's nice to see Maureen O'Hara again playing mom to precocious Natalie Wood (following 1947's "Miracle on 34th Street"), but O'Hara has distressingly little to do here except dote on exasperated hubby Fred MacMurray, the coach who sidelines himself mostly on the couch. The writing and staging are so mechanical you can almost sense the pauses for preconceived laughs, but nobody except Wood and Thelma Ritter (in another of her maid roles) gets anything amusing to say. MacMurray, as usual, looks like a Bassett Hound in a top coat, and older sis Betty Lynn takes an awfully long to bloom (she writes a short story about a teenage bubble dancer, which is funny until O'Hara gives her a solemn talking-to, spoiling the laughs). Jim Backus (billed as James G. Backus) is nice to have around as a neighbor, and Richard Tyler is a handsome kid who works at the gas station (his best line: "Mustaches--do you know how hard they are to grow?!"). The laugh lines aren't deft, though they are occasionally underplayed by the cast, and this creates a droll rhythm which makes up for the lack of any big scenes. **1/2 from ****

A college football coach goes through his roughest season both on the field and off in this light comedy. Fred MacMurray plays the kindly coach who has lost touch with his oldest daughter, Betty Lynn, and lost favor with the head of the alumni, Rudy Vallee. His wife, Maureen O'Hara playing much older than her actual age of 29 at the time, stands by his side as he stumbles through the rough times. Jim Backus is fun as their next-door neighbor, and Thelma Ritter adds some punch as their maid who always has money on the team that MacMurray's school is playing. Lynn is good as the teen caught up in angst and a young Natalie Wood plays his precocious youngest daughter very nicely. Overall, it's an amiable film, but underwhelming.

Maltin's movie guide gives this TCF production two-and-half stars which means some staff member didn't wake up in time to turn on the TV. Because this is a sparkling little comedy with inventive lines, lively performances, and first-rate direction. (For example, note director John M. Stahl's clever touch with the love-seat cushion.) Of course, the family-- right out of Wholesome Living, 1940's Style-- is both dated and idealized.

Nonetheless,, the plot hasn't dated at all. Mac Murray's a harried football coach about to lose his job because of a losing season, at the same time his oldest daughter is trying to survive adolescence. The comedy grows out of his sputtering attempts to cope. Four outstanding screenwriters are credited with the chuckle-a-minute script which surprises me. I would think such a concentration as this would cancel out, but happily, it doesn't

Of course, Natalie Wood steals the show as the wise-cracking little sister. Was there ever a child actor more gifted and without annoying affect than she. (Her wrenching performance in The Green Promise {1949} remains an unsurpassed classic.) Wide-eyed Betty Lynn too is outstanding as the angst-ridden, dateless teenager. And, of course, there's the incomparable Thelma Ritter perfecting her stock-in-trade as a mordant housekeeper never stuck for a fractured comment. As good as Mac Murray, Sullivan, and the old pro's are, it's really this supporting cast that makes the movie scintillate.

I expect a programmer like this passed quickly onto the shelves, without appreciation of the minor gem that it is. I'm glad there's an internet opportunity for circulating the recognition these entertainment efforts deserve-- even though the Coopers' are now a long way from the typical American family. And shame on you, Leonard Maltin. Next time, set your alarm.

Fred MacMurray's having some trouble, both at work and at home. He's a football coach to a perpetually losing team, his teenaged daughter Betty Lynn is depressed because she can't get a date, his wife Maureen O'Hara is spread pretty thin by continually doing damage control, his boss Rudy Vallee keeps pressures him, and his maid Thelma Ritter actually bets against him on game day! His youngest daughter Natalie Wood tries to help her sister by making up a fake suitor, but the lie quickly gets out of hand when Betty wants to meet him. That part of the movie is by far the cutest and funniest, as everyone pitches in to try and help Betty and her imaginary boyfriend-but you'll have to watch the movie to find out the hilarity!

Father Was a Fullback reminded me of a cross between Kiss and Tell, in which a teenaged Shirley Temple makes mischief when her hormones start kicking in, and The Impossible Years, in which Professor David Niven has trouble with his two teenaged daughters when they start dating. If you liked either of those classic comedies, you'll probably like Fred MacMurray's take on it. It's not my favorite old comedy-I adore The Impossible Years- but it was entertaining, and it was very cute to see Maureen O'Hara as Natalie Wood's mom once again.