Trouble Along the Way (1953)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Robert Hardy Andrews (story)
Douglas Morrow (story)

Release Date:

4 April 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

That all-man "Quiet Man" has a new kind of dame to tame!

Plot:

Struggling to retain custody of his daughter following his divorce, football coach Steve Williams finds...

Plot Keywords:

Coach | College | Financial Crisis | Irish Catholic | Irish American

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 Mahoney
Leif Erickson	...	Father Provincial aka Ed
Douglas Spencer	...	Father Procurator aka George
Lester Matthews	...	Cardinal William Patrick O'Shea
Chuck Connors	...	Stan Schwegler

Also Known As:

Alma Mater

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #16170, General Audience) | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

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

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.

Quotes:

Steve Aloysius Williams: How'd you do last season?
Father Malone: We showed up for every game.
Steve Aloysius Williams: I'd say that was raw courage.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Sports on the Silver Screen (1997) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Some Sunday Morning

Duke's labor of love

For a guy who was very much a part of the University of Southern California football team, John Wayne did not do too many films involving sports. In fact there is some dispute whether he was in a film called College Coach with Pat O'Brien and Dick Powell in the early thirties. Some film lists have him, but the films of John Wayne from the Citadel film series does not list it.

The usual problems of college athletics are here, problems we make for ourselves with this foolish definition of amateur and professional athlete. Trouble Along the Way also adds to the mix some of Wayne's domestic problems. He's a single parent raising a young girl in not the greatest atmosphere in the world. He's got an ex-wife, Marie Windsor who wants custody now, and a social worker, Donna Reed who has trouble keeping her personal and professional lives separate.

As in They Were Expendable, Wayne and Reed, have good chemistry. But Wayne's scenes with little Sherry Jackson are something special. They avoid the usual sentimentality, but you will react to them.

Charles Coburn plays the father/rector of small Catholic college St. Anthony's which is on it's financial uppers. He gets the idea that a standout football team as a gate attraction will bring his college out of debt. He hires Wayne, a down on his luck football coach to achieve that end. Wayne does it in the tried and true way that schools always do. It gives Coburn an ethical problem.

Films from as far back as College Coach to the fine James Caan film, The Program have dealt with these issues. Twenty years from now, other films will do the same.

But this is a nice family picture for John Wayne. He gets to go back to one of his first loves and probably the Duke was happy to be in modern dress for a change.

James Dean is supposed to be one of the students. See if you can spot him.