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.
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Title: Houseboat (1958)
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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 | |
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Plot Summary
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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. Written by Brian W Martz <B.Martz@Genie.com>
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It All Happens Happily on a Heaven of a Houseboat! See more »Parents Guide:
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Cinzia Zaccardi: [She turns on the spray paint and sprays him in the face on purpose] Oops.
Tom Winters: Thank you, Michelangelo. Thank you.
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Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
Performed by Sophia Loren
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Cary Grant initially accepted his role because he was dating Sophia Loren, with whom he was madly in love. After she married Carlo Ponti, a heartbroken Grant wanted to back out. He couldn't, but the director made sure the production was a smooth one. See more »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. See more »Quotes
Tom Winters: [after punishing his son] Well, now where were we?Cinzia Zaccardi: [She turns on the spray paint and sprays him in the face on purpose] Oops.
Tom Winters: Thank you, Michelangelo. Thank you.
See more »
Soundtracks
Bing! Bang! Bong!Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
Performed by Sophia Loren
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Houseboat (1958)
It's crazy to write a review of a movie this old, with two legends, as if I have anything new to say. But that's exactly why it's worth my while. I watched it as a "Cary Grant movie" which is a category like a "Greta Garbo movie." And he's good, though there are no real sparks on screen between him and Sofia Loren, a substitute for Grant's wife of the moment, who wrote the original script. I think it ends up just a match of two screen beauties. The 1958 public liked it, at least.
It's weird how old Loren looks here—she's playing a 22 year old (she's 24 during the shoot), but her whole demeanor and hairstyle scream 30 or 40. Weird, because she's supposed to be a wild kid that her dad can't control. This matters because Grant plays an older man—an older father of three whose wife has died and who really needs a nanny. Loren's character becomes the nanny even though she's from a privileged family, mostly as an escape. Famously, Grant had been trying to woo Loren for months during their previous film, and he may or may not have gotten anywhere, but by this filming she made clear she wasn't interested, and even got married (to Carlo Ponti) while this one was being shot.
The plot is fun but the film is a bit plasticky. It's not as funny or clever as the old screwball days. Or as fast. The three kids are fine but barely—no great acting here, and no great direction either. Oh yeah, the director—Melville Shavelson—is not making the most of his material. He's more of a screenwriter (he co-wrote this) and there are some great lines. The direction is routine, however, which is a shame, because some scenes are clunky and others play out as if the script would do all the work.
Even the cinematography is merely adequate, though the sets and setting are great so you might not notice. The idea of using a houseboat (a real one in Maryland) is a great money saving device, no doubt, and it gives everything an offbeat air.
So it's all enjoyable if nothing remarkable, more or less typical of this low point in Hollywood movie-making. The best here is Grant, who still throws his classic one-liners off as if they were his. Too bad they echo out of sync with the rest of the cast.