utgard14 A bankrupt Catholic college hires struggling football coach Steve Williams (John Wayne) to help turn things around but he uses methods that are frowned upon. Meanwhile, Steve is going through a nasty custody battle, so the court sends an uptight social worker (Donna Reed) to assess what kind of father he is. Not surprisingly, the two develop feelings for each other.Wonderful change of pace for John Wayne. He didn't do many movies like this but he's really good in the part. Beautiful Donna Reed is excellent and has nice chemistry with Duke. Great supporting cast includes Charles Coburn, Tom Tully, Leif Erickson, Dabbs Greer, and Marie Windsor. Adorable Sherry Jackson plays Duke's daughter. Fine direction from Michael Curtiz. A sweet, heart-warming, dramatic film with some comic touches. One of the best and most underrated movies Duke did in his long career.

mfredenburg "Winning isn't everything, it's the only the thing!" So says Steve Williams (John Wayne) who is doing his best to raise a daughter in the rough and tumble world of college football. Of course, like so many Wayne characters, Steve Williams talks roughly, but under his wise cracking tough guy exterior there is a basically decent man who when pushed a bit will try to do the right thing. Though not necessarily in the right way.His daughter Carol Williams is very well played by child actress Sherry Jackson and there is a strong supporting cast of characters that combine to make this film both fun and heart warming.Donna Reed provides the romantic element as social worker whose job has brought her in to contact with Steve and Carol.Refreshingly, unlike most modern films, the Catholic Church is positively portrayed, i.e., the priests and the Cardinal are real people with common sense and real senses of humor doing their best to make good decisions while staying true to their faith.So if you are looking for a fun, well-acted, well-directed movies with a strong performance by John Wayne and a great supporting cast you will not be disappointed in "Trouble Along the Way."

wordsmith_57 We associate John Wayne with westerns, yet he did play other parts and genres quite well. The overlooked Trouble Along the Way is worthy of a second look. The plot of a single father, who has basically fallen from grace, raising his daughter in an unconventional way, is not new. The twist is when Alice (Donna Reed) the court appointed social worker comes on the scene. She complicates and pretty much messes up Steve's (John Wayne)relationship with his daughter Carol (Terry Jackson). There is some football in its earliest years, a struggling Catholic college, a bitter ex-wife looking for revenge,and most of all there is amazing amount of witty dialog throughout. A fine family film, one of Wayne's best, actually. Terry Jackson shines as his daughter, and it isn't surprising that she went on to play Danny Thomas's daughter in the popular series Make Room for Daddy later on. One would expect a typical, happily-ever-after ending--yet readers get a surprisingly refreshing ending, in that we don't know how it will actually all turn out--kind of like real life. Check this movie out if you are a Duke fan and want to see him without a horse in the scene.

kevin-1812 Picture a "Cary Grant" style script but take it from the French Riviera and put it in urban New York! The "Grant" staple of high intrigue, beautiful scenery, and opulent subject matter is replaced with dirty streets, pool parlors, and a crooked football team but the dialogue and pacing are still there. Now throw in John Wayne is the seedy football coach who has been thrown out of the "legitamate" football leagues, Charles Coburn is the desperate head priest of a failing college, and Donna Reed is a tunnel visioned "do-gooder" cop. Reed wants to protect Wayne's daughter Sherry Jackson from his unhealthy influence and is sympathetic to Marie Windsor's (ex-wife from hell) claim that her daughter (Jackson) needs to be with her (even though she had abandoned Jackson as an infant when she ran off with another man). Wayne feels he's done nothing wrong but sees that antagonizing Reed is a mistake and takes the job of head coach at Coburn's St. Anthony's college as "cover" to clean up his image. Wayne realizes that if he wheels and deals under the table he can achieve Coburn's goal of making St. Anthony's a winning team and make a fortune for himself and his cohorts (including Chuck Conners in an early role). Wayne pulls in favors, blackmails everyone who doesn't play along, and deceives his benefactors to get a major schedule and almost succeeds. The conclusion of the film is thoroughly satisfying with Richard Garrick as the judge presiding over the case. Wayne takes over in true streetwise "Grant" style and is hilarious to the point that Reed asks the judge "Can I get a word in?" and Garrick resigns himself to say, "Ask him, I lost control of this trial a long time ago". The opposing attorney makes the comment "I could have been trying a murder case this week" and Garrick says, "Hang in there, you might still be". When Reed is asked by the opposing attorney if she loves Wayne, Wayne jumps up and tells the judge, "Remind the witness she's under oath!" Charles Coburn makes a wonderful speech at the end and reminds us of how good an actor he was. This is not John Ford's movie, this is Michael Curtiz' movie and it makes me wonder how much more Wayne had to offer in this genre (we would get a hint of it in "McLintock" and "North to Alaska"). The supporting cast is superb with the likes of Tom Tully and Dabbs Greer. Everyone does a great job and I place this at the top of my John Wayne list of films. Don't miss it.