Houseboat (1958)

A widower, his three young children, and a bombshell nanny get to know each other better when circumstances have them living together aboard a badly neglected houseboat.

Director:

Melville Shavelson

Writers:

Melville Shavelson, Jack Rose

Stars:

Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Martha Hyer

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Tom Winters, a widower, is trying to understand and raise three precocious children alone. He gets a little unexpected help from Cinzia, when the children decide she is be the new maid. She is actually an Italian socialite who is trying to get away from her overprotective father.

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Plot Keywords:

houseboat | widower | maid | house hit by train | harmonica | 

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Taglines:

Cary and Sophia...in love with life, each other, and Cary's irresistible, irrepressible kids!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

11 January 1959 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Hausboot

Filming Locations:

Piscataway Creek, Maryland, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

All three child actors "reunited", in a manner of speaking, in Paul Peterson's "A Minor Consideration," a business helping exploited former child actors cope and find support, both financially and emotionally.

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Goofs

When driving to the house, singing in the car, they are pulling a small trailer with their belongings. However the shots from the front angle (with the rear screen process) show no trailer behind them.

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Quotes

Robert Winters: Who, Sir? Me, Sir?
Tom Winters: Yes, Sir. You, Sir.
Robert Winters: No, sir. Not I, Sir.
Tom Winters: Who then, sir?
[Same exact exchange occurs later but between David and Tom]

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Connections

Featured in Edith Head: The Paramount Years (2002)

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Soundtracks

Bing! Bang! Bong!
Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
Performed by Sophia Loren

User Reviews

Very cute romantic comedy of the 50's.

For those who still have the hopeless romantic side to them still kindling, and for those who are not totally cynical about predictable outcomes, Houseboat is decent fun. Cary Grant repeating his romantic comedy work for the umpteenth time, works well with the ravishing and radiant Sophia Loren. Given they were thirty years apart, Grant and Loren were in a pretty heavy romance off screen at this time. Their chemistry is evident and it shows well here. Harry Gaurdino has a good and humorous supporting role. It cracks me up when movies of the 50's portrayed Italian women as fiery and impulsive. It's done that way a bit here as well with Loren, except the script offers her character a bit more warmth and depth. Hollywood stereotypes of Italians have improved until "The Sopranos" came along forty years later. Houseboat is just a cute movie that is worth watching to fill in time. And if you are a fan of either star, it will be that much better.