The Partridge Family - Season 4, Episode 7
Title: The Last of Howard
First aired: October 27, 1973
Synopsis:
Aboard a luxury cruise liner Laurie catches the eye of a fellow passenger, Howard. The smitten young man dressed to the nines gathers the courage to approach her. He explains he is enormously wealthy exuding loads of confidence seemingly having no effect on Laurie, who is on board with the rest of her family to perform.
Looking out of sorts donning more rich man’s attire Howard makes another attempt to woo Laurie upon locating her sunbathing. Shirley and Keith also become recipients of Howard’s enchanting behavior, somewhat dismayed, especially after Howard displays innate clumsiness. He does however manage to land a date with Laurie.
While dining Keith and Danny overhear a secret conversation Howard has, making them more suspicious of his true intentions. Meanwhile Howard continues his attempts at charming Laurie, but everything he tries seems to just embarrass him more.
Once back in her cabin Laurie chuckles with her mother finding Howard’s ways sweet. Keith and Danny announce their suspicions; after falling on deaf ears, they connive to get to the bottom of things in their own clandescent ways. Their skepticism is heightened after Howard gives Laurie a pricey gift.
Dragging Reuben into their covert operation the boys plan to “help” Laurie’s seemingly dire situation undercover, literally…during a costume party. They hit a snag landing them in the authority of the ship’s captain; during the confrontation a devastated Laurie is forced to face her date’s untruthfulness.
During a walk under a romantic moon, Laurie plays along with Howard until she ultimately manages to trip him up; he reluctantly comes clean, his explanation endearing to her. Howard then attends the family’s performance basking in the sunshine as himself: happy and relaxed.
Laurie says goodbye to Howard sharing a kiss (a rare instance of Dey engaging this type of affection on the show) as he disembarks from the ship.
Synopsis written by Denise Ames
Song:
" When Love’s Talked About "
Cast:
Shirley Partridge - Shirley Jones
Keith Partridge - David Cassidy
Laurie Partridge - Susan Dey
Danny Partridge - Danny Bonaduce
Chris Partridge - Brian Forster
Tracy Partridge - Suzanne Crough
Reuben Kincaid - Dave Madden
Directed by: Richard Kinon
Written by: Dale McRaven
Guest stars : Bruce Kimmel as Howard, Bill Zuckert as The Captain, Ruth Gillette as Mrs. Milstead, Stuart Wagstaff as The Head Waiter
Screen Shots:
Thank you Weronika for the pictures.
Bruce Kimmel’s memories regarding this episode
“I got to cruise up to Acapulco for free along with the actress Ruth Gillette for a week before the regular cast boarded - we stopped at Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta - everyone kept yapping about don't drink the water, so I actually stayed on the ship. The food was incredible, and it was non-stop. I had to be very careful not to eat too much or else I would never have fit into my wardrobe! I was very skinny back then - 137 pounds - but I gained weight very easily, so I had to be strong.
By the way, the clothes I'm wearing at the top and end of the show, including the tennis hat, were my own. One thing that surprised me, in that I was surprised they would allow it - when they had me take the sunscreen and accidentally squirt it on Susan then try to wipe it off her bare stomach, well, it was pretty bold for that show! If I have a favorite scene from the episode, it's the scene where “Laurie” gets me to confess - it was really well written and really fun to play and by that time, Susan and I had really good chemistry and we had a great time shooting that.
David was always so magnetic to watch during the musical numbers, even though they were all prerecorded. Time ran out so they weren’t able to do separate close ups on Dave Madden and me, which is a shame as you kind of miss the back and forth of Susan and Howard. Instead, there's just the two-shot of Reuben and Howard, and if you watch it I'm laughing through most of it because Dave was telling me jokes. I wish there had been at least one back and forth close-up of Susan and me but as I said, there simply wasn't time to shoot it. In the last scene, the script says “Laurie” kisses me on the cheek and I remember vividly saying to director, Richard Kinon, “She’s not kissing me on the cheek,” and we all laughed. They rolled the camera and you can see the result.
Shirley, Susan, David, Henry Diltz [photographer] and I really bonded during the filming of that episode. We all had dinner together every night and those dinners were hilarious and wacky and wild! You don’t normally have that much fun because, you know, you usually go home after the day's shooting.”
Bruce and David from the episode
Bruce remembers the night he and David performed after hours for the passengers aboard the ship
“On the way to Acapulco I was asked to sing and perform my songs as onboard entertainment in the ship’s lounge which was really fun. Then one night we were all hanging out in the lounge and someone there suggested I do a song, which I did. Then they suggested Shirley and David do the same. They agreed, but I was the only one there who played the piano so I played for them. I faked my way through "If I Loved You" and "You'll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel - she, of course, sang beautifully, just as she had in the film. Then David got up and if my memory is correct, which it usually is, we figured out that we both knew the classic song, "When I Fall in Love" so we did that and that one I could play very well. He sang it simply and of course the audience adored him. After that, we all went back to our cabins as we had an early shoot the next morning.”
Bruce on Piano and David Cassidy
Original Working Script Pages
Three pages from the original working script from “The Last of Howard” episode have kindly been provided by Bruce. Click on each image to read the page.
Bruce’s book:
Click here to view Bruce’s book “There’s Mel, There’s Woody & There’s You” which includes many antidotes about his experiences on The Partridge Family and his personal friendship with David.
