Posts from ethanedwards in thread „Trouble Along The Way (1953)“

Never sure about Marie Windsor or the film!

I don't think many folks knew this,
and I certainly didn't because I wasn't looking,
is that James Dean made a movie with Duke!!

Trouble Along the Way (1953) (uncredited) .... Football Spectator

We may be able to spot, him, not hardly!

Think I'd rather watch the Super Bowl!!!

Trouble Along the Way was a 1953 film starring John Wayne and Donna Reed,
with a supporting cast including Charles Coburn and Marie Windsor.
The movie was directed by Michael Curtiz, director of Casablanca.
The black-and-white comedy was released by Warner Bros.

Another poor effort from the great man, and another one
he should have walked from.
Although story of football, one of Duke's passions,
it develops into a poor romance and a storyline
that lacks credibility!

His fans at the time, found it difficult, to accept Duke,
in anything but a horse opera.
At the time, television was hitting films hard,
and as a result, this picture disappeared quickly,
and became Duke's lowest grossing film

I don't think many folks knew this,
and I certainly didn't because I wasn't looking,
is that James Dean made a movie with Duke!!

Trouble Along the Way (1953) (uncredited) .... Football Spectator

We may be able to spot, him, not hardly!

User Review

Quote

surprisingly good little gem
17 July 2001 | by Robert D. Ruplenas

I checked this out during a recent John Wayne retrospective on American Movie Classics because it sounded so different from the Duke's usual "w/w" fare (war & westerns). Here he plays Steve Williams, a disgraced professional football coach enlisted to build a revenue-producing team that will save a down-at-the-heels Catholic college from being forced to close. In the process he has to fight for custody of his daughter from a spiteful and vengeful ex-wife.

Wayne plays this role beautifully; his performance makes us aware of the fine actor he made of himself as he worked his way up over the years from those low-budget westerns, learning all along the way. Donna Reed puts in a turn as a social worker, and Charles Coburn is in his usual fine fettle as Father Burke, rector of the failing college. Wayne/William's daughter is played very well by a young lady named Sherry Jackson, and there are many familiar faces among the character actors in the cast. Chuck Connors makes one of his earliest screen appearances here.

The pacing is good, and the story keeps us involved. These are all interesting people, and we want to find out what happens to them. The script is intelligent, gritty, and extremely witty in many places. Also notable is a very on-the-money portrayal of the corrupting influence of big-time athletics at the college level, as Wayne/Williams pulls many shady tricks to field a team that can stand up to the ridiculously ambitious schedule that Father Burke manages to finagle. The commentary is even more relevant today, fifty years later, as college athletics have spun almost completely out of control.

One of the nicest things about the movie is the way in which, surprisingly, it does not opt for the easy-way-out happy ending that we all think we see coming as soon as Donna Reed as the social worker comes on the scene. The film is brave enough to leave things a bit unresolved.

Altogether an off-beat, intriguing, well-made, well-written, well-acted and thoroughly enjoyable little "sleeper" that is well worth your while.

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INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
Struggling to retain custody of his daughter following his divorce,
football coach Steve Williams finds himself embroiled
in a recruiting scandal at the tiny Catholic college
he is trying to bring back to football respectability.

Full Cast
John Wayne ... Stephen 'Steve' Aloysius Williams
Donna Reed ... Alice Singleton
Charles Coburn ... Father Matthew William Burke
Tom Tully ... Father Malone
Sherry Jackson ... Carol Williams
Marie Windsor ... Anne Williams McCormick
Tom Helmore ... Harold McCormick
Dabbs Greer ... Father Peterson
Leif Erickson ... Father Provincial aka Ed
Douglas Spencer ... Father Procurator aka George
Lester Matthews ... Cardinal William Patrick O'Shea
Chuck Connors ... Stan Schwegler
Murray Alper ... Bus Driver (uncredited)
Phil Chambers ... Bishop (uncredited)
James Dean ... Football Spectator (uncredited)
Frank Ferguson ... Mike Edwards (store proprietor) (uncredited)
James Flavin ... Buck Holman (coach) (uncredited)
Fritz Ford ... Football Player (uncredited)
Jack Gargan ... Court Bailiff (uncredited)
Richard Garrick ... Judge (uncredited)
Ned Glass ... Pool player (uncredited)
Fred Graham ... Bill Sackheim - Santa Clara team manager (uncredited)
Merv Griffin ... Football Broadcaster (voice) (uncredited)
Harry Hines ... Character (uncredited)
Robert Keys ... Joe - assistant Santa Clara team manager (uncredited)
Paul Kruger ... Court Bailiff (uncredited)
Lou Marcelle ... Trailer Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Frank Marlowe ... Drunk in Bar with Dog (uncredited)
Larry Merrill ... Jeffrey Marlowe (uncredited)
Jack Mower ... Domestic Relations Court Staffer (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien ... Joe - Bartender (uncredited)
Jack Pepper ... Irish Tenor / Pianist in Saloon (uncredited)
Howard Petrie ... Marvin Adams, Polo Grounds manager (uncredited)
Angi O. Poulos ... Saloon Waiter (uncredited)
Vicki Raaf ... Beanie, Saloon Girl (uncredited)
Bill Radovich ... Moose McCall (uncredited)
Olan Soule ... The Cardinal's Secretary (uncredited)
Anitra Stevens ... Bobo, Saloon Girl (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey ... Football Spectator (uncredited)
Renata Vanni ... Maria's Italian Mother (uncredited)
Ralph Volkie ... Referee (uncredited)
Charles Watts ... Mr. Wallace, Alumnus (uncredited)
Guy Way ... Football Player (uncredited)
Jeri Weil ... Carol, Age 5 (uncredited)
Gayne Whitman ... Lawyer Grummet (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Robert Hardy Andrews story
James Edward Grant uncredited
Douglas Morrow story
Jack Rose screenplay
Melville Shavelson screenplay

Original Music
Max Steiner

Cinematography
Archie Stout

Trivia
Several Loyola-Marymount football players played in the football scenes.

James Dean has an uncredited part as a 'Football Spectator' in this film.

The external scenes at the college were shot at Pomona College. The building where John Wayne calls to Donna Reed at he end of the film is the Hall of Music at Pomona.

The football game scenes were filmed at the Polo Grounds in New York, which at the time was the home field of the NFL's New York Giants.

Goofs
* Errors in geography: Although the movie is set at a college in New York, there is a California flag flying near the stadium when Steve first meets the football team.

* Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Steve says "Watermelon bottom and her daughter." The daughter was the one the kids called Watermelon bottom.

* Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Father Burke first announces his intention to solve the school's financial crisis, he says that his plan is in "Deuteromony" (rather than Deuteronomy), chapter 32, verse 15, a mispronunciation unlikely for a seasoned cleric. Additionally, when the others look it up, they read a paraphrase of an excerpt only, not the whole verse.

* Crew or equipment visible: Camera shadow crosses Anne and Harold on couch just before Steve enters room and catches them in clinch.

Memorable Quotes

Filming Locations
California