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Houseboat
Perhaps family fare is not the right phrase since, what these films did was insert children as an element in romantic comedies. So the films are really adult films that appear to be family oriented due to the presence of children. In other words, they are made for adults, not children (though children may enjoy them). The movie is a bit lame, though it's hard to say just why. Probably because a number of failed elements contribute to it. Cary Grant and Sophia Loren don't seem to combine well, at least not in this kind of film. The script is rather weak relying as it does on a number of conventional film situations. And the directing is a bit pedestrian. Individually, none of these elements are particularly poor. They're just not good. But because all of them are weak the movie falls flat.
Sophia Loren is the daughter of an orchestra leader. She is tired of her life and restless with a world of stitled sophistication. She's visceral rather than cerebral and wants to enjoy life. So she leaves the life she's living and comes upon one of Grant's sons, whom she befriends. Later, Grant hires her as a kind of nanny for his children, thinking she is poor, and seeing his children like her. A romance develops and so on and so forth. I think the movie fails because it really wants to be an urbane romantic comedy. But the element of children and parenting keeps throwing it off as this lends itself more to slapstick. Or perhaps it's the opposite: a family movie thrown off by the element of adult romantic comedy. Either way, the movie doesn't know what it wants to be. Compare this to Father Goose, which is a much more likeable, better executed film that manages the element of children and adult romance so very well. Perhaps one of the reasons it works is because it reverses the roles of the leads.
Houseboat seems to rely more on the attractiveness of Grant and Loren to carry the film, and it just isn't enough. Despite this, I enjoyed Houseboat but less for the movie itself than to simply see Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. But the truth is, both actors are so much better than the script allows them to be. Overall, it's a huge waste of talent. © 2002 Piddleville Inc. |
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Other Views
Inside the Movie Room |
Late
50s, early 60s family fare was certainly not what it is today. Particularly
in movies. 
Cary
Grant plays a poor excuse of a father who, following the death of his
wife, decides it's time to take charge of his children and become a real
parent. But he knows nothing of children and nothing of parenting. In
a romantic comedy, this means hi-jinks ensue.
In
Houseboat, it makes the obvious choice of Grant as the sophisticated,
stiff character and Loren as the more down to earth role. Father Goose
reverses this: it is Grant who is earthy and visceral and his co-lead,