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:

It All Happens Happily on a Heaven of a Houseboat!

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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

Characters engage in a verbal game called "Who Sir, Me Sir."

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Goofs

The harmonica that Cinzia wins for Robert is labeled "ECHO". An echo harmonica has 2 reeds for each note, each reed slightly detuned sharp and flat to provide a tremolo effect. The sound when Robert is playing this instrument is of a normal harmonica.

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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

Referenced in We Are Travelers on the Path of Love (1993)

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Soundtracks

Symphony No. 4 in A-Major op. 90 (Italian Symphony)
(uncredited)
Written by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

User Reviews

"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.