Komödiantenkinder

In 1913, vaudeville comic Bob Hope (as Eddie Foy) and "The Seven Little Foys" are a successful act. Second child Charley Foy (as Charley Foy) introduces himself as narrator and takes us back to 1898, where Mr. Hope is a solo act uninterested in women. This changes when beautiful Italian ballerina Milly Vitale (as Madeleine Morando) arrives on the scene. Although Mr. Hope is a tough nut to crack, the two somehow forms a family. A tragedy occurs and there are hardships on the road. The act becomes famous. Principal players include Hope's faithful agent George Tobias (as Barney Green), comic foil aunt Angela Clarke (as Clara), and eldest son Billy Gray (as Bryan Lincoln Foy). In a cameo highlight, James Cagney reprises his "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942) role of George M. Cohan.

***** The Seven Little Foys (6/1/55) Melville Shavelson ~ Bob Hope, George Tobias, Angela Clarke, Billy Gray

This film precedes BEAU JAMES by two years, and can be seen as a kind of warm-up for that Hope biography. As I mentioned in my comment there, Hope was hoping to find a film property that he could demonstrate his dramatic abilities in, so that he could possibly get a nod for an Oscar nomination. So the two biographies and the serious toned THAT CERTAIN FEELING have a certain individuality among Hope's comedies and films missing in the others.

Eddie Foy Sr. was one of the great comics of his era. His career was actually older than that of his friend and rival George M. Cohan, for Cohan was born in 1872 and Foy was already a travelling vaudevillian at that time. In fact he would be involved in a famous western event in 1881. Playing shows in Tombstone, in the Arizona territory, Foy came afoul of Ike Clanton and his gang, and was almost killed by them while on stage. The incident is suggested in John Ford's MY DARLING CLEMENTINE when Alan Mowbray (as a windy Victorian actor) is threatened by the Clantons. In the film GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRALL, the local Tombstone theatre has posters up for Foy's performance. However the director of that Paramount film did not think of having Hope perform a cameo in the Lancaster-Douglas film as Foy.

THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS follows Foys personal life, and how he allows his professional interests (tours, bookings) to keep him from the woman he loved and married - and whom he loses when she prematurely dies while he is on tour. His sister-in-law (the wife and her sister are Italians) has never liked Foy. The death of the wife leaves Foy with his seven kids, but his sister-in-law wants him to give up his career, and watch the kids grow up. He doesn't want to do so, so he decides to put the kids into his act. The problem: the kids can't act, sing, or dance like their old man can. Still he perserveres, and the act becomes a success because of it's very awfulness (it's so comically bad, it's good). But the sister-in-law tries to take the kids away from Foy by legal means, leading to a court scene.

Cagney appears as Cohan at a Friar's Club roast for Foy (their entertainer of the year). The four minute scene includes a graceful soft shoe involving the two troupers Cagney and Hope. It is a wonderful moment in the film. And the film, as a dramatic comedy, does hold up well. Given time, perhaps Hope could have found a suitable film for an Oscar nomination, but he was a busy man, and he did not have the time.

One final point. This month was the centennial for the burning of the steamboat GENERAL SLOCUM, the worst disaster in the history of New York City before September 11, 2001. The SLOCUM killed 1031 people by burning or drowning. It got into movie history at the start of the film MANHATTAN MELODRAMA (best recalled for the first pairing of William Powell and Myrna Loy, and for the fact that John Dillinger was shot down by FBI men after leaving his secret location to see Myrna Loy's performance). The SLOCUM sequence is grisly well done in that 1934 film. But seven months before the SLOCUM Disaster, the Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago killed six hundred people. It was the worst theatre fire in American history. Eddie Foy Sr. was playing in MR. BLUEBEARD in the theatre that day, and helped rescue many or the audience by calming them down. Although not much of the disaster is shown, it does appear (the only time I am aware of that it appears at all) in this film, THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS.

Bob Hope executive produced and narrated a one hour TV sequel (serving as a pilot) with Eddie Foy, Jr. as 'Eddie Foy' and Mickey Rooney as 'George M. Cohan.' The Osmond Brothers played the boys and the youngest daughter was played by Morgan Britney. George Tobias reprised his role as Foy's agent 'Barney Green' and Angela Clarke took over the role of 'Aunt Clara.' The story picks up where the original ends with Eddie deciding to retire the act and put the kids in public school. Cohan and Green plot to bring the act back to the stage. Though in black-in-white, 48 minutes long, and a much lower budget, the sequel is quite satisfying to fans of the original. Foy, Jr. had served as narrator and consultant for the original so it was a neat turn to have Hope narrate this one. I found a copy of the film from the web site of "20th Century Nostalgia" for under fifteen dollars. I don't have any affiliation with them but they are the only ones I know that carry it, so I pass the information along to fans. The original is my favorite Bob Hope movie (I own them all!) so I was a tough sell.

This is underrated as both a Bob Hope vehicle and a musical biopic: even if it follows the basic path of all such films (the struggle to achieve success followed by the pitfalls of celebrity, not forgetting the obligatory romance and the equally inevitable tragedy), it's very capably mounted – with the script even garnering an Oscar nomination. The star is in very fine form here, balancing characterization with his traditional banter; Milly Vitale is radiant as his wife who bears him seven children and then dies. Since Foy's only ever known showbiz, he opts to drag them all into his act! Incidentally, one of the kids (Bryan) grew up to be a film-maker himself but was mainly noted as a producer with a penchant for the noir genre!

Even so, THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS is perhaps best-known for a guest appearance by James Cagney, reprising his Oscar-winning role of George M. Cohan from YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942) – where, incidentally, Foy was portrayed by his real life son, Eddie Jr; interestingly, George Tobias played Cohan's manager in that earlier film and Foy's here! Anyway, Hope and Cagney's one scene together – which culminates in a dancing duel/duet – is not merely the picture's undeniable highlight but pure cinema magic in and of itself where two top movie stars incarnate a couple of great vaudevillians strutting their stuff. As with a handful of other Hope titles I own, the film has unaccountably fallen into the Public Domain despite being a major studio production, but the copy I acquired thankfully maintains remarkably vibrant colors throughout.

Hope is lovely as vaudevillian Eddie Foy, but the highlight of the film is the wonderful dance scene with Hope's Foy and James Cagney's George M. Cohan. The film was nominated for Best Screenplay of 1956.