The Seven Little Foys

The Seven Little Foys


Hope Enterprises / Scribe Productions / Paramount, 1955, Color, 93 minutes, ***

Released May, 1955



After the costume comedy Casanova's Big Night, Bob Hope decided to tackle a more serious role in Paramount's 1955 film The Seven Little Foys. Hope plays real-life vaudeville star Eddie Foy, who had always performed as a "single" on stage. But when his wife passes away, Foy must incorportate his seven children into the act in order to keep custody. Now, not only is he no longer a solo performer, but his adorable children are stealing the limelight. The film's real highlight comes during a Friar's roast as Foy's friend George M. Cohan joins him for some impromptu comedy and a show-stopping dance number. James Cagney reprises his Oscar-winning role as Cohan from Yankee Doodle Dandy. The film offered longtime collaborators Melville Shavelson and Jack Rose their direcing and producing debuts. Previously, the two collaborated on such Bob Hope screenplays as Sorrowful Jones, The Princess and the Pirate and My Favorite Brunette. Shavelson and Rose also received an Oscar nomination for their Foys screenplay.

Produced by: Jack Rose

Production Associate: Hal C. Kern

Directed by: Melville Shavelson

Assistant Directors: Michael D. Moore and James Rosenberger

Written for the Screen by: Melville Shavelson and Jack Rose

Technical Advisor: Charley Foy

Music Scored and Conducted by: Joseph J. Lilley

Featuring the songs sung by Eddie Foy

Choreography by: Nick Castle

Narration by: Charley Foy

Art Direction: Hal Pereira and John Goodman

Set Decoration: Sam Comer and Frank McKelvy

Costumes: Edith Head

Makeup Supervision: Wally Westmore

Sound Recording by: Harry Lindgren and John Cope

Director of Photography: John F. Warren

Special Photographic Effects: John P. Fulton

Process Photography: Farciot Edouart

Filmed in VistaVision, Color by Technicolor

Technicolor Color Consultant: Monroe W. Burbank

Edited by: Ellsworth Hoagland



Awards: Nominated for Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay (Melville Shavelson and Jack Rose)



Cast: Bob Hope [Eddie Foy], Milly Vitale [Madeleine Morando], George Tobias [Barney Green], Angela Clarke [Clara], Herbert Heyes [Judge], Richard Shannon [Stage Manager], The Seven Little Foys: Billy Gray [Brynie Foy], Lee Erickson [Charley Foy], Paul De Rolf [Richard Foy], Lydia Reed [Mary Foy], Linda Bennett [Madeleine Foy], Jimmy Baird [Eddie Foy], Tommy Duran [Irving Foy], James Cagney [George M. Cohan], Additional Cast: Lester Matthews [Father O'Casey], Joe Evans, George Boyce [Elephant Act], Oliver Blake [Santa Claus], Milton Frome [Driscoll], King Donovan [Harrison], Jimmy Conlin [Stage Doorman], Marian Carr [Soubrette], Harry Cheshire [Stage Doorman at Iroquois], Renata Vanni [Italian Ballerina Mistress], Betty Uitti [Dance Specialty Double], Noel Drayton [Priest], Joe Flynn [2nd Priest], Jack Pepper [Theater Manager], Dabbs Greer [Tutor], Billy Nelson [Customs Inspector], Jerry Mathers [Brynie at Age 5], Lewis Martin [Presbyterian Minister], Charley Foy [Narrator]



Musical Program: [0:00] I'm the Greatest Father of Them All (short vocal by Bob Hope, danced by Bob Hope and the Foy Children behind titles); [0:09] Comic ballet sequence (danced by Milly Vitale with Bob Hope clowning onstage); [0:17] Nobody (sung by Bob Hope with Milly Vitale); [0:32] I'm Tired (sung by Bob Hope); [0:47] Cagney / Hope Dance Sequence: danced on table at Friar's club meeting by James Cagney and Bob Hope - Cagney first dances to Yankee Doodle Boy (with piano accompaniment), then Hope dances to unidentified number (with piano accompaniment), then both "soft shoe" together to Mary's a Grand Old Name (with piano accompaniment); [1:00] Smiles (sung off-key by Lydia Reed and Linda Bennett); [1:06] Row, Row, Row (sung and danced by Bob Hope and the Children); [1:11] Chinatown My Chinatown (musical skit, vocals by Bob Hope and the Children); [1:12] I'm the Greatest Father of Them All (sung and danced by Bob Hope and the Children)