The Seven Little Foys (1955)

Director:

Melville Shavelson

Writers:

Melville Shavelson (written for the screen by) and
Jack Rose (written for the screen by)

Release Date:

30 September 1955 (Finland)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Family | Musical

Tagline:

The story of a husband who didn't have time to come home! Daddy couldn't get home, so the kids all trouped down to Broadway and got into the act. The incredible, incomparable story of America's most fabulous family!

Plot:

After the young wife of vaudevillian Eddie Foy passes away, he incorporates their seven children into the act and takes it on the road.

Plot Keywords:

Eddie Foy | Vaudeville | Italian | Ballerina | Children

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Bob Hope	...	Eddie Foy
Milly Vitale	...	Madeleine Morando Foy
George Tobias	...	Barney Green
Angela Clarke	...	Clara Morando
Herbert Heyes	...	Judge
Richard Shannon	...	Stage Manager
Billy Gray	...	Bryan Lincoln Foy, as a teen
Lee Erickson	...	Charley Foy
Paul De Rolf	...	Richard Foy
Lydia Reed	...	Mary Foy
Linda Bennett	...	Madeleine Foy
Jimmy Baird	...	Eddie Foy Jr.
Tommy Duran	...	Irving Foy
James Cagney	...	George M. Cohan
Charley Foy	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hy Anzell	...	Dresser at 'Iroqois' (uncredited)
Joe Bassett	...	Grip (uncredited)
Oliver Blake	...	Santa Claus (uncredited)
George Boyce	...	Elephant Act (uncredited)
Morgan Brown	...	Godfather (uncredited)
Marian Carr	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Harry Cheshire	...	Stage Doorman at 'Iroquois' (uncredited)
Jerry Chiat	...	Acrobat (uncredited)
Jimmy Conlin	...	Stage Doorman in 1898 Chicago (uncredited)
King Donovan	...	Harrison (uncredited)
Noel Drayton	...	Priest (uncredited)
Joe Evans	...	Elephant Act (uncredited)
Gilbert Fallman	...	Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Joe Flynn	...	Priest (uncredited)
Milton Frome	...	Driscoll (uncredited)
Dabbs Greer	...	Tutor (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Guest at Honorary Dinner (uncredited)
Len Hendry	...	Assistant Episcopal Minister (uncredited)
Duke Johnson	...	Specialty Juggler (uncredited)
Richard Keene	...	Grip (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Stagehand at Iroquois Theatre (uncredited)
Lyle Latell	...	Baggage Car Attendant (uncredited)
Wilbur Mack	...	Friars Club Dinner Guest (uncredited)
Lewis Martin	...	Episcopal Minister (uncredited)
Jerry Mathers	...	Bryan Lincoln Foy - Age 5 (uncredited)
Lester Matthews	...	Father O'Casey (uncredited)
Philo McCullough	...	Audience Spectator (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Friars Club Dinner Guest (uncredited)
Billy Nelson	...	Customs Inspector (uncredited)
George Pembroke	...	Stage Manager (uncredited)
Jack Pepper	...	Theater Manager (uncredited)
Angi O. Poulos	...	Billiard Parlor Proprietor (uncredited)
Max Power	...	Conductor (uncredited)
Bill Seckler	...	Stage Hand (uncredited)
Charles Sherlock	...	Friars Club Dinner Guest (uncredited)
Edward C. Short	...	Porter (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	Friars Club Dinner Guest (uncredited)
Betty Uitti	...	Dance Double (uncredited)
Renata Vanni	...	Ballerina Mistress in Milan (uncredited)
Fred Zendar	...	Acrobat (uncredited)

Directed by
Melville Shavelson

Writing credits
Melville Shavelson		(written for the screen by) and
Jack Rose		(written for the screen by)

Produced by
Jack Rose	....	producer

Original Music by
Joseph J. Lilley		(music scored by: featuring the songs sung by Eddie Foy)

Cinematography by
John F. Warren		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ellsworth Hoagland

Art Direction by
John B. Goodman		(as John Goodman)
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Sam Comer
Frank R. McKelvy		(as Frank McKelvy)

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael D. Moore	....	assistant director
James A. Rosenberger	....	assistant director (as James Rosenberger)

Sound Department
John Cope	....	sound recordist
Harry Lindgren	....	sound recordist
Carl Mahakian	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects
O.T. Hight	....	visual effects artist (remastered version)

Camera and Electrical Department
William Rand	....	second camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Edith Head	....	costumes

Editorial Department
Monroe W. Burbank	....	Technicolor color consultant

Music Department
Joseph J. Lilley	....	conductor
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Gus Levene	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
George Parrish	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Nick Castle	....	choreographer
Charley Foy	....	technical advisor
Hal C. Kern	....	production associate

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures
• Hope Enterprises (uncredited)
• Scribe Productions (uncredited)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (as A Paramount Release)
• Allied Artists (1963) (USA) (TV)
• Paramount (1956) (Austria) (theatrical)
• BCI Eclipse (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Brentwood Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Shout! Factory (2010) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certificate #17278) | UK:U | UK:U (video rating) (2004) | West Germany:6 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

This film and Beau James (1957) are the two serious dramas that Bob Hope starred in.

Quotes:

Clara Morando:Signor Foy, we are going to have a baby.
Madeleine Morando Foy:I wanted to tell you, Eddie, but Clara said to wait.
Barney Green:If you're interested, it happened in Capri.
Eddie Foy:...Oh, well, thank you. Thank you, one and all. It is nice of you to let me im on it. There any other late bulletins?
[to Clara]
Eddie Foy:You seem to know everything! What's it gonna be - a boy or a girl?
Clara Morando:It will be an Italian!
Eddie Foy:It's one thing we're getting through customs!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore (2010) (V)

Soundtrack:

Nobody

THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS (Melville Shavelson, 1955) ***

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.