Houseboat (1958)

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Young siblings David, Elizabeth, and Robert are trying to come to terms with their mother's death. They are forced to live with their estranged father Tom Winters (Cary Grant) in Washington, D.C. At a concert festival, Robert gets lost and befriended by Cinzia Zaccardi (Sophia Loren). She comes after fighting with her overbearing conductor father. The kids force Tom to hire her as their new maid. Their vacation starts badly when their house is run over by a train. They're given an old houseboat instead.There're a lot of slapping for a romance movie and they're no small swipes. It's a little slower at first. With the arrival of Loren into the group, the movie picks up with more comedy. I'm not sure if Loren and Grant had other rom-coms. His straight-laced and her exotic presence make for a good on-screen pairing although their off-screen pairing may have been more dramatic. It's an interesting what-if in Hollywood casting.

Sorry, but HOUSEBOAT has all the charm of a sugary half-hour sit-com stretched out to feature length. Wholesome and sexy-looking SOPHIA LOREN in real life was a total turn-on for CARY GRANT (he wanted to marry her) who probably insisted that she be his co-star in this little romp. But the result is a predictable romantic comedy with an annoying song (sung by Sophia) that is just as cliché-ridden as the script. Too bad these two co-starred in another little disaster called THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION--sounds like a description of their on again/off again stormy love affair in real life.Once the scene shifts to the houseboat, the atmosphere is claustrophobic rather than cheery and you keep wondering how long it's going to take for Grant and Loren to realize they'd be happy together.Grant was maturing nicely by the late '50s, but I wish he'd been paired with more mature actresses beyond their twenties, since Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren seem much too young for him. It would have been nice to see him make a film with someone like Olivia de Havilland--who, like Ingrid Bergman and Deborah Kerr, would have made a more suitable romantic partner on screen during the '50s.The kids remain non-entities, the humor is forced, the situations are just silly--and yet, there are some who find this harmless fluff to be highly enjoyable. I didn't.Summing up: Passes the time but only Grant's most loyal fans will want to see it more than once.

This movie is approaching its 50th anniversary and it has not aged well. Pairing Sophia Loren and Cary Grant in a romantic comedy must have sounded like a great idea -- and the script, such as it is, might have served in the Fifties. But it is entirely too predictable, takes too little advantage of Grant's comic skills and has Loren doing little more than look gorgeous in designer clothing that a pretend "nanny" could not have afforded, much less packed in a single small suitcase. The decrepit houseboat of the title is miraculously transformed from scene to scene into a handsome abode with no more visible exertion than the use of a paint brush in a couple of frames. Despite the names on the marquee, spare yourselves by skipping this one.

"Houseboat" is set in Washington, DC and nearby Virginia, including the houseboat on the Potomac. Tom Winters (Cary Grant) works for the government, his divorced wife was recently killed in a car wreck, and the grandparents were set to get custody of the three young children, papers already to be signed by Tom. But Tom would have none of that, instead took them to his hotel apartment in DC. Getting a nanny sure would be nice, plus a bigger place.Enters Cinzia (Sophia Loren), well educated daughter traveling with her famous conductor father, Tom's young son wanders away after the concert and ends up spending the evening with Cinzia. When she brings him home, both dirty, Tom thinks this "peasant" might make a good nanny. Never mind that she was also gorgeous.The houseboat becomes the gimmick to set up the dynamics of the story. While a cottage is being moved for them, sold by Tom's sister in law (Martha Hyer), it stalls on the tracks and gets destroyed by the train. The truck driver just happens to have a houseboat on the Potomac to rent them. But it is dilapidated, the roof leaks, and a host of problems crop up to keep the comedy flowing. In addition, Hyer is divorcing her husband and has had an eye for Tom since she was 4, and wanted him now.Cary Grant and Sophia Loren are an odd pairing, and was no doubt done to capitalize on their popularity. Grant was over 50, and was to make only a few more movies. Loren was 23 and while she was a seasoned actress in foreign films, was still relatively new to American cinema. Still, we the audience believe they can become romantically involved.It was nice to see a young Paul Petersen as Tom's son, David. I remember Petersen mostly for his 8-year stint on the old Donna Reed TV show, playing one of her sons. He is a real brat in "Houseboat."SPOILERS: In the end all gets sorted, Tom has to reject Hyer's proposal, he isn't in love with her. Cinzia at first leaves to return home, but then comes back and she and Tom are married, and the kids are happy. They also leave the houseboat.