Football coach George Cooper has as many problems managing his football team as he has at home dealing with his daughters, Ellen and Connie.Football coach George Cooper has as many problems managing his football team as he has at home dealing with his daughters, Ellen and Connie.Football coach George Cooper has as many problems managing his football team as he has at home dealing with his daughters, Ellen and Connie.
- Professor Sullivan
- (as James G. Backus)
- Grandstand Bit Part
- (uncredited)
- Football Player
- (uncredited)
- Grandstand 'Coach'
- (uncredited)
- Football Player
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMaureen O' Hara was only 6 years older than Betty Lynn who played her daughter in the film.
- Quotes
Elizabeth Cooper: Not going, he's a professor, teaches English literature
Ellen Cooper: No, I mean going
George 'Coop' Cooper: Ellen, That's ridiculous, go and get cleaned up
Ellen Cooper: Daphne heard him gurgling on the phone like a worn out wolf about being a freshman in college
Elizabeth Cooper: Oh What an Idea
[looks at George, stunned]
Elizabeth Cooper: George Cooper!
Ellen Cooper: And he was pitching woos to a girl, Daphne thinks maybe she ought to tell her mother
Elizabeth Cooper: George you didn't
George 'Coop' Cooper: Father's little helper
Elizabeth Cooper: oh you couldn't
George 'Coop' Cooper: But Liz, you said yourself that she needed, my intentions were
Elizabeth Cooper: My poor darling up there with goosebumps about some boy who not even going to happen
- ConnectionsReferenced in Hollywood Hist-o-Rama: Fred MacMurray (1961)
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.
- dougdoepke
- Jul 5, 2007
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Papá fue un defensa
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 24 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1