''Papa's Delicate Condition'' is a 1963 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

starring

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

and Glynis Johns. It was an adaptation of the

Corinne Griffith Corinne Griffith (née Griffin; November 21, 1894 – July 13, 1979) was an American film actress, producer, author and businesswoman. Dubbed "The Orchid Lady of the Screen," she was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful actresses of the ...

memoir of the same name, about her father and growing up in

Texarkana, Texas Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States, in the Ark-La-Tex region. Located approximately from Dallas, Texarkana is a twin city with neighboring Texarkana, Arkansas. The Texas city's population was 36,193 at the 2020 census ...

Jimmy Van Heusen James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Life and car ...

(music) and

Sammy Cahn Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premi ...

(lyrics) won an

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed t ...

for "

Call Me Irresponsible "Call Me Irresponsible" is a 1962 song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics written by Sammy Cahn which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1963. According to the Mel Tormé book ''The Other Side of the Rainbow with Judy Garland o ...

". Another Cahn/Van Heusen song, "Walking Happy", was used in a scene with Gleason and his on-screen daughter, Linda Bruhl, walking down a street while he sings about the people that they meet along the way. However, the scene was cut before the film's release. The song was later used in a Broadway musical of the same name.

Plot

Jack Griffith, known as "Papa" to all, is a family man in a Texas town, but an irresponsibly eccentric one especially when he has had one too many drinks. To impress his six-year-old daughter, Corinne, he spends the family's savings to buy his own circus, simply so the little girl can have her own pony. His elder daughter, Augusta, becomes distraught as her father makes some questionable business deals under the influence of alcohol. This causes strife within the Griffith household and makes her beau's father (the local bank president) forbid his son to associate with the Griffith family. After his squandering leaves the Griffiths in debt, wife Ambolyn packs up Augusta and Corinne and moves to

, where her father, Anthony Ghio, is the mayor. Griffith attempts to use his circus to help Ghio's bid for reelection, but accidentally causes Ambolyn to end up with a broken hand. Despondent, he leaves for Louisiana and is little seen or heard from by the family. Talked into an attempt at reconciliation, Papa is reluctant, believing the Griffiths want nothing more to do with him, but he is welcomed back with open arms.

Cast

as Jack Griffith, Corinne's father * Glynis Johns as Ambolyn Griffith, Corinne's mother * Linda Bruhl as

Charlie Ruggles Charles Sherman Ruggles (February 8, 1886 – December 23, 1970) was an American comic character actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles appeared in close to 100 feature films, often in mild-mannered and comic roles. He was also the e ...

as Mayor Ghio *

Laurel Goodwin Laurel Goodwin (August 11, 1942 – February 25, 2022) was an American film and television actress who is known for her role as the love interest of Elvis Presley in the 1962 film ''Girls! Girls! Girls!'', as well as appearing as Yeoman J.M. Col ...

as Augusta *

Ned Glass Nusyn "Ned" Glass (April 1, 1906 – June 15, 1984) was a Polish-born American character actor who appeared in more than eighty films and on television more than one hundred times, frequently playing nervous, cowardly, or deceitful characters ...

as Mr. Sparrow *

Murray Hamilton Murray Hamilton (March 24, 1923 – September 1, 1986) was an American stage, screen, and television character actor who appeared in such films as ''Anatomy of a Murder'', '' The Hustler'', ''The Graduate'', '' Jaws'' and ''The Amityville H ...

as Mr. Harvey *

Elisha Cook, Jr. Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. (December 26, 1903 – May 18, 1995) was an American character actor famed for his work in films noir. According to Bill Georgaris of TSPDT: They Shoot Pictures, Don't They, Cook appeared in a total of 21 film n ...

as Mr. Keith * Charles Lane as Mr. Cosgrove * Claude Johnson as Norman * Don Beddoe as Mayor Ghio's assistant *

Juanita Moore Juanita Moore (October 19, 1914 – January 1, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actress. She was the fifth black actor to be nominated for an Academy Award in any category, and the third in the Supporting Actress category at a t ...

as Ellie *

Trevor Bardette Trevor Bardette (born Terva Gaston Hubbard; November 19, 1902 – November 28, 1977) was an American film and television actor. Among many other roles in his long and prolific career, Bardette appeared in several episodes of '' Adventures of S ...

as Stanley Henderson II

Production

The novel was published in 1952.

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

bought the film rights and assigned Henry and Phoebe Ephron to adapt it. In 1955, it was announced

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

would star, and the film would be done as a musical. However, filming was postponed so Astaire could make ''

Silk Stockings ''Silk Stockings'' is a musical with a book by George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath Leueen MacGrath (3 July 1914 – 27 March 1992) was an English actress and playwright and the second wife of George S. Kaufman, from 1949 until their divor ...

''. Filming ended up being delayed until 1962, with Jack Rose now the writer and

the star. Two songs written for the proposed Astaire film by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen were used, along with a new song, "Bill Bailey." "This picture is just vanilla", said Gleason, "but I needed something like it after ''

Requiem for a Heavyweight "Requiem for a Heavyweight" is a teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the live television show ''Playhouse 90'' on 11 October 1956. Six years later, it was adapted as a 1962 feature film starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey R ...

'', '' The Hustler'' and ''

Gigot Gigot is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Edward Gigot (1847–1928), German-born Canadian merchant and politician *Francis Gigot (1859–1920), French Roman Catholic priest *François Gigot de la Peyronie (1678–1747) ...

''." The part of the young girl was played by Linda Bruhl, whose experience had mostly been in TV commercials.

References

External links

* {{George Marshall 1963 films 1963 comedy films American comedy films Films based on American novels Films directed by George Marshall Films set in Texas Films set in the 1900s Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award Paramount Pictures films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links