The Seven Little Foys

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The Seven Little Foys
The Seven Little Foys 1955.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Melville Shavelson
Written by Jack Rose
Melville Shavelson
Produced byJack Rose
Starring Bob Hope
Milly Vitale
George Tobias
Narrated byCharley Foy
Cinematography John F. Warren
Edited byEllsworth Hoagland
Music by Joseph J. Lilley
Production
companies
Hope Enterprises
Scribe Productions
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
  • June 1, 1955 (1955-06-01)(Sydney, Australia)
  • June 23, 1955 (1955-06-23)(Los Angeles)
  • June 29, 1955 (1955-06-29)(New York City)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.5 million [1]
Box office$4 million (US) [2]

The Seven Little Foys is a Technicolor in VistaVision 1955 biographical musical comedy-drama film directed by Melville Shavelson starring Bob Hope as Eddie Foy. The story of Eddie Foy Sr. and the Seven Little Foys inspired a TV version in 1964 and a stage musical version, which premiered in 2007.

Contents

James Cagney reprises his role as George M. Cohan from the film Yankee Doodle Dandy for an energetic tabletop dance showdown sequence.

Plot

Vaudeville entertainer Eddie Foy, who has vowed to forever keep his act a solo, falls in love with and marries Italian ballerina Madeleine. While they continue to tour the circuit, they begin a family and before long have seven children. After the tragedy of the Iroquois Theater Fire in 1903, Foy was credited with calming the crowd and keeping the death count manageable. Madeline's mother is a continual critic of her daughter's marriage to Eddie, as he is always "on the road" and leaving all the hard work to her. Eddie does grant his wife's fondest wish and buys a large country house in New Rochelle to hold his huge family.

But Madeline dies while Eddie is away and Eddie suddenly finds himself a bewildered single parent. The only way he can avoid being "an absent father" is to work his children into the act and take them with him. Initially rebelling, the children eventually come to like show business.

Cast

NOTE: Mathers played Bryan Lincoln Foy as a 7-year old (Iroquois Theater Fire scene); Gray played the older Bryan Lincoln Foy in the rest of the movie.

Reception

Other versions

See also

References

  1. "Every Star a 'Sellebrity'". Variety. 27 July 1955. p. 7.
  2. 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956