Houseboat (1958)

Director:

Melville Shavelson

Writers:

Melville Shavelson (writer) and
Jack Rose (writer)

Release Date:

19 November 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance

Plot:

Tom Winston, a widower, is trying to understand and raise three precocious children alone. He gets a little unexpected help from Cinzia...

Plot Keywords:

Maid | Widower | Father Daughter Relationship | One Word Title | Houseboat

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Nov. 27

12:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Tom Winters
Sophia Loren	...	Cinzia Zaccardi
Martha Hyer	...	Carolyn Gibson
Harry Guardino	...	Angelo Donatello
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Arturo Zaccardi
Murray Hamilton	...	Capt. Alan Wilson
Mimi Gibson	...	Elizabeth Winters
Paul Petersen	...	David Winters
Charles Herbert	...	Robert Winters
Madge Kennedy	...	Mrs. Farnsworth
John Litel	...	Mr. William Farnsworth
Werner Klemperer	...	Harold Messner
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Peggy Connelly	...	Elizabeth Wilson (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Fort Washington, Maryland, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Cary Grant initially accepted his role in Houseboat (1958) because he was dating Sophia Loren, whom he was madly in love with. After she married someone else, Grant, heartbroken, wanted to back out. He couldn't, but the director made sure the production was a smooth one.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Tom's apartment is in Washington, D.C., but when he's shown driving his kids to the concert at the Watergate, he approaches the area from the Virginia side of the Memorial Bridge, the opposite direction from which he should logically have been coming.

Quotes:

Robert Winters: That's you Sir.
Tom: Who Sir? Me Sir?
Robert Winters: Yes Sir, you Sir.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Edith Head: The Paramount Years (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

That's Amore

"Hesto, Presto, One of Cary's Very Besto"

Cary Grant, prominent diplomat and widower, is trying to get acquainted again with his three kids, Paul Petersen, Mimi Gibson, and Charles Herbert. He's also got a sister-in-law, Martha Hyer, crushing out on him big time.

But after the youngest kid, Herbert, wanders away after a concert, he meets Sophia Loren who is also running away from her conductor father, Eduardo Ciannelli. They are soul mates Herbert and Loren and before long she's moved in on the Grant family.

Which is forced by circumstance I won't reveal to live on a houseboat in the woods in Maryland. The Houseboat and its many problems lend itself to a whole lot of physical problems and one rather dramatic one, when one of the kids nearly drowns. Cary gets a lot of good mileage out of the comedy.

This was Cary and Sophia's second film together and it was one big improvement on the overblown Pride and the Passion. No doubt that the two of them were still involved from The Pride and the Passion lends a lot of truth in the scenes Grant and Loren play together.

Also look for a nice performance by Harry Guardino who's the one who is responsible for the group being on the Houseboat.

Houseboat is a nice family comedy and hasn't aged a bit from the Fifties when it was made.