Plot
Eddie Corbett lives with his widowed father, Tom, a radio station executive, in Manhattan. Before he leaves for work, Tom wakes up his son for his first day at elementary school. Eddie, who is grieving his mother Helen's death, asks if she is really dead, to which Tom replies yes. At his office, Corbett's secretary informs him about the newly hired housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston. After a few days, Mrs. Livingston tells Tom about his next-door neighbor Elizabeth Marten, a young divorcée. Moments later, Tom answers the door and greets Elizabeth, who has brought fudge brownies for Eddie. Tom and Elizabeth talk briefly until they are startled by Eddie's screams. One of Eddie's goldfish has died, in which Elizabeth comforts him. Tom, knowing his son's grief, demands for Eddie to get over it. Elizabeth leaves after having a brief argument with Tom.
Tom and Eddie have a night together, in which they see a movie and go to an arcade. Eddie spots Dollye Daly, a redheaded woman, but Tom is uninterested. Dollye approaches the two, asking Tom to have Eddie accompany her while her picture is being painted. Afterwards, Dollye talk over drinks with Tom. The next day, Tom confronts disc jockey Norman Jones about his continuing attempts to court a girlfriend on-air. During a commercial break, Tom brings Dollye as a potential girlfriend for Norman. Meanwhile, Rita Behrens, a socialite fashion designer being interviewed on Norman's program, becomes romantically interested in Tom.
One night, Tom asks for Elizabeth to help treat Eddie, who is having a fever. Elizabeth stays overnight, and she and Tom have breakfast together. However, they fall into another argument, and she leaves. At a bowling alley, Tom and Rita, and Norman and Dollye have a double date. Norman and Dollye later leave and go to a nightclub. There, Dollye does an impromptu drum performance, which impresses Norman. Back at Rita's apartment, she is invited to a dinner and brings Tom along. That same night, Elizabeth and Mrs. Livingston babysit Eddie.
After a New Year's party, Tom and Elizabeth have drinks together at his apartment while Mrs Livingston overhears them. Days later, Tom and Rita have another dinner date. However, Eddie takes an immediate dislike to Rita. During Eddie's birthday party, Rita tells Tom over the phone that Norman and Dollye are engaged to be married. Rita invites Tom to their engagement party, and brings Eddie after Elizabeth and Mrs. Livingston decline to babysit him. While there, Tom questions Eddie about his contempt for Rita.
Months pass, and Tom takes Eddie to summer camp. After they leave, Mrs. Livingston proposes Elizabeth to tie with the knot with Tom. At camp, Eddie tells his father that he has a crush on a girl. He tells his father that he was going to write in a letter but the camp censors the mail. After a baseball game, the last camp activity for parents and campers, Rita politely thanks Eddie telling him he must enjoy baseball. She then thoughtlessly mentions Eddie's crush as she's leaving. Tom swears he never told Rita about it. Eddie tearfully tells his father to marry Elizabeth, but Tom declines as he intends to propose to Rita.
At Rita's apartment, Tom proposes to her, but she knows that Eddie does not take well to her and suggests leaving Eddie at Tom's brother's for a few months to give them a chance for their marriage to take. Meanwhile, Tom learns over the phone that Eddie has run away from camp. Tom hastily drives to the camp, and later learns that Eddie stowed away to Manhattan and is staying with Elizabeth. Back in Manhattan, Tom and Elizabeth have another argument, in which Tom insults Elizabeth's failed marriage. Eddie returns to his father and apologizes for running away. Tom cancels his next date with Rita, deciding to spend more time with his son.
The next morning, Mrs. Livingston leaves for her trip to Brazil. During breakfast, Eddie roleplays as Elizabeth and gets Tom to call her. Eddie runs to Elizabeth's door, notifying her that his father will be calling her. She later answers the phone. Eddie stands in the hallway between the open doors, and becomes delighted when Tom and Elizabeth are talking again.
Production
The film rights to the novel were purchased by MGM prior to publication for $100,000 in 1961. [2] The Chicago Tribune called the novel "deeply moving, and at the same time, very funny." [3]
Producer Joe Pasternak assigned John Gay to write the script and hired Glenn Ford to star. [4] Shirley Jones accepted her role in part because she did not have to sing. [5]
Roberta Sherwood, a nightclub singer and TV entertainer, made her film debut. [6]
Pasternak says he interviewed hundreds of children to play Eddie but as soon as he talked to Ronny Howard "I knew he was right." [7]
The bowling alley sequence was filmed at the now-defunct Paradise Bowl, located at 9116 South Sepulveda Boulevard in Los Angeles (two miles north of LAX).
