The Chadwick Family

This is a true Gem of a story that i originally saw back in 1974 when it was aired on the ABC Movie of the week i believe. It is a tear Jerker that will tug at your heart strings especially when Fred MacMurray's son who is dieing from a rare disease leaves Fred a Note That he reads just before leading his son's package delivery service air Plane(which was before Federal express By The Way) Up the street. It says "dad I hope you can be a good Scotsman" or something to that affect. Then you actually see Fred Marching ahead of a vehicle towing his son's plane and Fred Playing the bagpipes. As an extra bonus since it was filmed in San Diego i believe you get to see and hear the street beat (what the drum section plays when the band stops playing) from the United States Marine Corps Band Probably from Camp Pendleton. It is truly worth finding and watching. Good Old Fred MacMurray always played in clean wholesome ,family type movies. Loved him in Disney's "Flubber" and "Son of Flubber" "The absent minded Professor " and "the miracle of the bells" and Of Course "My Three Sons". Tom Mezzo Composer Garwood NJ

When this film first began, I thought it looked a lot like one of the later episodes of "My Three Sons"...when all the kids were getting families of their own and establishing their own lives. But just because this starred Fred MacMurray does NOT mean it's that TV show all again....and I am happy about that.

When the film begins, Mr. and Mrs. Chadwick (MacMurray and Kathleen Maguire) have a very full life--two of their daughters are married, one's about to marry and they've got a mess of grandkids. Plus, they are older...at retirement age. However, into this very solid family a LOT of change is about to occur. Mr. Chadwick is offered the perfect job...many states away. And, although he's taken the offer, he doesn't anticipate all the many family upheavals which are about to occur and upset their plans.

This is definitely a Kleenex film....so have some nearby just in case. It's also a movie that gets MUCH better as it goes on...and tackles some VERY adult and tough topics. I could say more but don't want to spoil it. If you want to see it, this installment of "The ABC Movie of the Week" is on YouTube. Be prepared for a lousy print--a bit blurry and degraded due to age.

I saw this movie many years ago and absolutely loved it. I actually saw it twice in just a couple months and would love to see it again. Fred MacMurray was awesome in it. I would love to see it come out on DVD. I have to agree with what marcibun from Chicago, IL had to say about the movie too. It was quite a tear jerker though. I remember laying on the couch watching this movie and was at the very end of it and I was bawling my eyes out (I was about 14 at the time and all sad movies caused me to bawl my eyes out) when there was a knock at the door. I didn't even get up to answer the door because I didn't want to ruin a good cry and miss the ending of a great movie. He came in anyway and of course teased me about crying because of a movie. I loved this movie. I would like to know how to get it put on a DVD so new generations can see it. They don't know what they are missing.

I saw this movie on television in 1974 - Once. I was 7 years old and to this day I still remember how much I loved this movie. Filmed in the same style as "Brian's Song", and "Eric", it's your typical 70's, made for TV, heart-string-pulling melo-drama about the trials and tribulations of the Chadwick family. Just like the others, this one will leave you tear-stained, and with a little lump in your throat at the end. I have searched for this movie on VHS with no luck, and other than my older sister (who wanted to watch the movie and was babysitting me at the time, thereby "forcing" me to watch it), I don't personally know another living soul who has seen it. If you ever happen to leaf through your TV Guide and come across this movie being shown, set your Tivo (or VCR) and do yourself a favor. This movie is one of those lost little "gems" that is worth discovering.

Having visited Coronado Island when I was in San Diego many years ago I had a feeling for the Chadwick Family and their hometown. Coronado is a self contained community of conservative values pretty much as shown here. There's a land bridge connection to San Diego, but a lot of people own boats.

Fred MacMurray is patriarch of The Chadwick Family, he owns the local newspaper which has gotten a degree of fame something like William Allen White's small town Emporia Gazette. MacMurray is mulling over an offer to move to Chicago and work for big time newspaper magnate John Larch as a columnist.

MacMurray and Kathleen Maguire have a large extended family, three daughters and a son with spouses for nearly all. The big plot element in the film is the death of son Stephen Nathan who has a charter plane business of a rare disease. Other parts of the film are daughter Darleen Carr who is dating a Chinese man with his mother's non-approval.

According to Charles Tranberg's biography of Fred MacMurray this was an unsold television pilot. Had the series been picked up it would have been a more serious version of My Three Sons.

It was a decent effort. Sad it did not find an audience.