Trouble Along the Way
- April 4, 1953 (1953-04-04)
Trouble Along the Way is a 1953 American comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring John Wayne and Donna Reed, with a supporting cast including Charles Coburn and Marie Windsor. The black-and-white film was released by Warner Bros. with an aspect ratio of 1.37:1.
Plot
Small, obscure St. Anthony's College, a Catholic university, is in dire financial straits and about to be closed. To save it, and himself from forced retirement, elderly rector Father Burke (Charles Coburn) hires a down-and-out former big-time football coach, Steve Williams (John Wayne), in hopes of building a lucrative sports program. First turning down the job, Williams later accepts it when he learns that his former wife, Anne (Marie Windsor), now remarried, complained to Social Services that he is an unfit father and plans to sue for custody of their 11-year-old daughter, Carole (Sherry Jackson). Anne’s actual aim is not to get Carole, in whom she has no interest, but rather to pressure Steve into having an affair with her.
Social Services worker Alice Singleton (Donna Reed), coldly prejudiced against Steve because she suffered from a relationship with her father similar to that between Steve and Carole, is preparing a report in Anne’s favor. Steve attempts to charm Alice and win her over. Desperate to have the football program pay off, Father Burke uses his clerical connections to schedule St. Anthony's against high profile Catholic colleges — Villanova, Notre Dame, etc. — in the upcoming season. Faced with physically inadequate players, Steve uses chicanery to enroll beefy star athletes as freshmen and build a winning team. Father Burke learns of Steve’s dishonest methods, reprimands him and disbands the sports program, knowing this will cause St. Anthony’s to close. Alice submits a report unfavorable to Steve, but she repudiates it in the court custody hearing after recognizing her bias and Anne's lack of honest affection for Carole. Alice also testifies that Steve isn't a properly responsible parent, and under questioning reveals she is in love with him.
The judge halts proceedings and places Carole in custody of the State. He assigns her a new case worker until matters can be sorted out. In a surprise move, the Church agrees to continue funding St. Anthony's. Burke nevertheless resigns as rector, believing that he had been behaving selfishly to unnecessarily prolong his position. Before leaving, he reinstates Steve as coach and forgives him his unscrupulous behavior as it was done out of love for his child. The film ends with Carole, accompanied by Alice, walking away from Steve, with the implication that Steve and Alice will wed and the three would be together as a family.
Cast
- John Wayne as Steve Aloysius Williams
- Donna Reed as Alice Singleton
- Charles Coburn as Father Burke
- Tom Tully as Father Malone
- Sherry Jackson as Carole Williams
- Marie Windsor as Anne McCormick
- Tom Helmore as Harold McCormick
- Dabbs Greer as Father Peterson
- Leif Erickson as Father Provincial
- Douglas Spencer as Procurator
- Lester Matthews as Cardinal O'Shea
- Chuck Connors as Stan Schwegler
- James Dean as Football Spectator
Production
Portions of the film were shot at Pomona College and Loyola Marymount University, and various Los Angeles high schools, including Loyola High. Max Steiner provided the music.[2]
Reception
The New York Times gave it a favorable review, citing "spirited and contemporary" dialogue.[3]
Saying that Wayne was "completely at home" in the role, Variety also found the lines, "a principal factor" in carrying the film.[2] Craig Butler found the film predictable yet heart warming.[4]
See also
References
- ^ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1953', Variety, January 13, 1954
- ^ a b "Review: ‘Trouble Along the Way’", Variety, December 31, 1952
- ^ "'Trouble Along Way' Follows Smooth Path at the Roxy", New York Times, May 7, 1953
- ^ "Showtimes, reviews, trailers, news and more - MSN Movies". movies.msn.com.[permanent dead link]
External links
- Trouble Along the Way at the TCM Movie Database
- Trouble Along the Way at IMDb
- Trouble Along the Way at AllMovie
- Trouble Along the Way at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- v
- t
- e
- The Last Bohemian (1912)
- Today and Tomorrow (1912)
- Captive Souls (1913)
- My Husband's Getting Married (1913)
- The Exile (1914)
- The Borrowed Babies (1914)
- The Princess in a Nightrobe (1914)
- Prisoner of the Night (1914)
- Bánk Bán (1914)
- Golddigger (1914)
- Seven of Spades (1916)
- The Strength of the Fatherland (1916)
- The Karthauzer (1916)
- The Black Rainbow (1916)
- The Wolf (1916)
- The Medic (1916)
- Mr. Doctor (1916)
- Master Zoard (1917)
- The Red Samson (1917)
- The Last Dawn (1917)
- Spring in Winter (1917)
- Tartar Invasion (1917)
- Secret of St. Job Forest (1917)
- Nobody's Son (1917)
- The Charlatan (1917)
- A Penny's History (1917)
- The Fishing Bell (1917)
- Peace's Road (1917)
- Jean the Tenant (1917)
- Earth's Man (1917)
- The Colonel (1918)
- The Merry Widow (1918)
- Magic Waltz (1918)
- A skorpió I. (1918)
- The Devil (1918)
- Lulu (1918)
- Lu, the Coquette (1918)
- Júdás (1918)
- The Ugly Boy (1918)
- Alraune (1918)
- 99-es számú bérkocsi (1918)
- The Sunflower Woman (1918)
- Liliom (1919)
- The Lady with the Black Gloves (1919)
- Boccaccio (1920)
- The Star of Damascus (1920)
- The Scourge of God (1920)
- Mrs. Tutti Frutti (1921)
- Good and Evil (1921)
- Mrs. Dane's Confession (1921)
- Labyrinth of Horror (1921)
- Sodom and Gomorrah (1922)
- Young Medardus (1923)
- Avalanche (1923)
- Nameless (1923)
- A Deadly Game (1924)
- General Babka (1924)
- Harun al Raschid (1924)
- The Moon of Israel (1924)
- Red Heels (1925)
- Cab No. 13 (1926)
- The Golden Butterfly (1926)
- The Third Degree (1926)
- A Million Bid (1927)
- The Desired Woman (1927)
- Good Time Charley (1927)
- Tenderloin (1928)
- Noah's Ark (1928)
- Glad Rag Doll (1929)
- Madonna of Avenue A (1929)
- The Gamblers (1929)
- Hearts in Exile (1929)
- Mammy (1930)
- Under a Texas Moon (1930)
- The Matrimonial Bed (1930)
- Bright Lights (1930)
- A Soldier's Plaything (1930)
- River's End (1930)
- Demon of the Sea (1931)
- God's Gift to Women (1931)
- The Mad Genius (1931)
- The Woman from Monte Carlo (1932)
- Alias the Doctor (1932)
- The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (1932)
- Doctor X (1932)
- The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)
- 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932)
- Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
- The Keyhole (1933)
- Private Detective 62 (1933)
- Goodbye Again (1933)
- The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
- Female (1933)
- Mandalay (1934)
- Jimmy the Gent (1934)
- The Key (1934)
- British Agent (1934)
- The Case of the Curious Bride (1935)
- Black Fury (1935)
- Front Page Woman (1935)
- Little Big Shot (1935)
- Captain Blood (1935)
- The Walking Dead (1936)
- The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)
- Stolen Holiday (1937)
- Mountain Justice (1937)
- Kid Galahad (1937)
- The Perfect Specimen (1937)
- Gold Is Where You Find It (1938)
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
- Four's a Crowd (1938)
- Four Daughters (1938)
- Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
- Dodge City (1939)
- Daughters Courageous (1939)
- The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
- Four Wives (1939)
- Virginia City (1940)
- The Sea Hawk (1940)
- Santa Fe Trail (1940)
- The Sea Wolf (1941)
- Dive Bomber (1941)
- Captains of the Clouds (1942)
- Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
- Casablanca (1942)
- Mission to Moscow (1943)
- This Is the Army (1943)
- Passage to Marseille (1944)
- Janie (1944)
- Roughly Speaking (1945)
- Mildred Pierce (1945)
- Night and Day (1946)
- Life with Father (1946)
- The Unsuspected (1947)
- Romance on the High Seas (1948)
- My Dream Is Yours (1949)
- Flamingo Road (1949)
- The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949)
- Young Man with a Horn (1950)
- Bright Leaf (1950)
- The Breaking Point (1950)
- Force of Arms (1951)
- Jim Thorpe – All-American (1951)
- I'll See You in My Dreams (1951)
- The Story of Will Rogers (1952)
- The Jazz Singer (1952)
- Trouble Along the Way (1953)
- The Boy from Oklahoma (1954)
- The Egyptian (1954)
- White Christmas (1954)
- We're No Angels (1955)
- The Scarlet Hour (1956)
- The Vagabond King (1956)
- The Best Things in Life Are Free (1956)
- The Helen Morgan Story (1957)
- The Proud Rebel (1958)
- King Creole (1958)
- The Hangman (1959)
- The Man in the Net (1959)
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960)
- A Breath of Scandal (1960)
- Francis of Assisi (1961)
- The Comancheros (1961)
- Jön az öcsém (1919)
- Sons of Liberty (1939)
- Bright Lights (1935)