Houseboat

This movie emphasizes story over social schisms and breaching thereof. That is today movies are all about building bridges between social groups. There is that element here, but it's not retrofitted like other movies; i.e. showing he difference between groups and how they can romantically bridge the gap.Because in houseboat it's a side effect that baked into the story. An olive skinned upper class Italian woman falling for an Americanized Anglo could be potentially scandalous, but it's Romeo and Julliette with a good ending.I used to see this Cary Grant and Sophia Loren pic every so often on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It was a pleasant movie to just watch and take in without giving it too much thought.. No gunfire, no shootouts, no CGI, nor fake looking plastic models from SFX of days of yore.It reminds me of a time and era that doesn't really exist anymore, but of which I was part of, and was never meant to be permanently part of. This verse the plethora of movies that make social schisms their primary thrust as opposed to letting the story just unfold a unique tale.I've always thought Cary Grant (Archibald Leach) was a real decent guy, and have enjoyed his films throughout the years. Check this one out if you find your Sunday full of nothing to do, and want to give something a chance on your screen.

Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, all's well that ends well.

Good movie

Great movie, family friendly, feel-good kind of movie, not like you see these days.

The trailer from Paramount touts this 1958 film as “the most wonderful romantic comedy...ever!” Not quite, but, predictable as it is, the movie has its charms, thanks to its stars.At age 54 Cary Grant had his urbane, debonair and unflappable persona perfected. Here that persona is put to the test of parenthood. He is a government lawyer named Tom Winters whose ex-wife has died in a car crash and who now finds himself, after being absent for several years, thrust into the unfamiliar role of father to their three resentful kids (Mimi Gibson as Elizabeth, Charles Herbert as Robert, and Paul Peterson as David; Peterson was a veteran of “The Mickey Mouse Club” and was about to co-star on TV in “The Donna Reed Show”). Robert is the surliest of the trio: “I hate everybody, I hate everybody in the whole wide world!” The kids would prefer living with their Aunt Carolyn (Martha Hyer), or their grandparents, but Tom insists they belong with him (“I don’t want my kids parceled out like cabbages.”)Tom takes the kids to a small hotel room in Washington, D.C. where he’ll have to sleep on the couch for a while. After an outdoor concert, Robert runs off and soon meets another, older runaway, Cinzia Zaccardi (Sophia Loren), daughter of the concert’s orchestra conductor (Eduardo Ciannelli). (His manager, by the way, is played by Werner Klemperer, seven years before co-starring as Colonel Klink on TV’s “Hogan’s Heroes.”) She’s running away from her father’s autocratic ways, looking to spread her wings in America and live a little. (Loren was 24 when the film came out. She was not unknown to American audiences, having already co-starred with Grant and Frank Sinatra in “The Pride and the Passion” and opposite John Wayne in “Legend of the Lost.”)Cinzia and Robert bond at a carnival where Cinzia cheats at a ring-toss game to win a new harmonica for him. When she returns the boy to the hotel, Tom, not knowing anything about her, offers her a job as housekeeper/babysitter (after she first slaps him for implying she’s, shall we say, a woman of the streets). She declines but, after another argument with her father, she accepts. (When she tells her father she’ll get a job and support herself, he retorts, “I have given you the finest education in all of Europe. You do not know how to do anything!” She tops him with, “Then perhaps, Father, I will run for the congress.”)Needing more room for his brood, Tom agrees to live in a “guest house” of Aunt Carolyn’s (a two-story domicile being moved by truck to a site on her property—her family is clearly well-off. Disaster strikes on their way to the country when the house, being moved by Angelo Donatello (Harry Guardino) gets stuck on some railroad tracks and is demolished by a passenger train. To make up for this oops moment, Angelo offers them the temporary shelter of a houseboat on the Potomac. Said houseboat is basically a sea-going slum, but the adversity of fixing it up helps bond the family. There’s also the problem that housekeeper Cinzia doesn’t know how to cook. Or do laundry. (Seeing Cary Grant in a laundromat between gossipy women is a hoot.)Angelo has some smarmy feelings for Cinzia, referring to her as an “Italian pastry,” but quickly takes himself out of the running when the subject of matrimony comes up. Aunt Carolyn, meanwhile, has eyes for brother-in-law Tom, now that her own marriage is on the rocks. Little Elizabeth has been cuddling with Tom during stormy nights and soon suspects her father and Cinzia might be falling in love. Thinking she might be evicted from papa’s bunk, she asks Cinzia, “Listen, about married people. Do they sleep in the same bed together?” Cinzia: “In America, sometimes. In Italy, always.” Which is about as risqué as a 1958 American film got.There are two songs by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans in the film. One, “Bing! Bang! Bong!” is sung several times too often by Loren, but the other, “Almost In Your Arms” was nominated for a Best Song Oscar (“You’re near/That moment so dear/I’m almost in your arms/One sigh/One word and I/Will rush to your embrace./Say that certain word/Sigh that certain sigh....”) It’s heard while Tom and Cinzia are slow dancing at a Country Club dance, sung by pop star Sam Cooke (who is heard but not seen; was the Country Club restricted? At least he got screen credit). The song lost to Lerner and Loewe’s title song from “Gigi.”The script, co-written by director Melville Shavelson and Jack Rose, was nominated for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, but lost to “The Defiant Ones.” (Shavelson would direct Loren again two years later in “It Started In Naples,” with Clark Gable.)Martha Hyer was nominated that year for Best Supporting Actress, but in a different movie, “Some Came Running,” from MGM; Wendy Heller won for “Separate Tables.”The film comes with Closed Captioning. The only extra on the DVD besides the theatrical trailer is a photo gallery of black-and-white publicity stills and lobby cards.

You can't go wrong with Cary Grant

This was basically purchased for myself but now my grandkids are getting more interested in watching what is termed the older movies.But they now agree with me, Cary Grant is absolutely the best and Sophia Loren is terrific. Movie is fantastic beyond words! Will probably have to buy another copy!

One review for Numerous DVD'S..ALL WESTERNS & TERRIFIC!

Très bonne comédie. Bon vieux film à voir.

CARY GRANT und SOPHIA LOREN sind die Hauptdarsteller in dieser herrlichen Familienkomödie aus dem Jahr 1958. Regie führte MELVILLE SHAVELSON, der gleichzeitig auch am Drehbuch mitwirkte.Erzählt wird die Geschichte des Washingtoner Regierungsangestellten TOM WINTER (Cary Grant), der schon seit vielen Jahren von seiner Frau getrennt lebt. Als diese dann bei einem Unfall ums Leben kommt, muss er sich urplötzlich um seine drei Kinder kümmern, was ihn doch ziemlich überfordert, denn TOM hat so gar keine Ahnung von Kindererziehung. Auch sein kleines Appartement in der Stadt, dient nicht gerade der kindgerechten Unterkunft seiner Sprösslinge. Aus der Not heraus, beschließt TOM ein Haus zu mieten und ein Kindermädchen zu engagieren. Als eines Tages einer seiner Söhne ausbüxt, wird er von der attraktiven CINZIA (Sophia Loren), der TOM spontan den Job als Hausmädchen anbietet. Er hat keine Ahnung, dass CINZIA die verwöhnte Tochter eines italienischen Stardirigenten ist und einfach nur ein wenig Abwechslung sucht. TOM merkt sehr schnell, dass die hübsche CINZIA mit Hausarbeit recht wenig am Hut hat, dafür kann sie aber umso besser mit den Kindern umgehen ….Die Story ist sehr simpel, ein Stück weit hervorsehbar, aber unheimlich unterhaltend. SOPHIA LOREN und CARY GRANT ergänzen sich wunderbar und man muss schon sagen, dass die LOREN wirklich ein heißes Gerät war. Mein lieber Mann …. da schaut man gerne hin!So lustig die Komödie auch ist, hinter den Kulissen ging es nicht ganz so lustig her. Das lag vor allem an CARY GRANT, der hoffte, bei den Dreharbeiten SOPHIA LOREN wieder ein wenig näher zu kommen und die ein Jahr zuvor, bei den Dreharbeiten zu „Stolz und Leidenschaften“ begonnene Affäre mit ihr wieder aufleben zu lassen. Angeblich hatte er ihr sogar einen Heiratsantrag gemacht, obwohl er damals noch mit BETTY DRAKE verheiratet war. Das ursprüngliche Drehbuch stammte übrigens von jener BETYY DRAKE, die auch für die Hauptrolle vorgesehen war.Wie auch immer, die LOREN war „not amused“ über die neuerlichen Annäherungsversuche von GRANT, da sie damals schon mit CARLO PONTI verlobt war, den sie dann auch während der Dreharbeiten heiratete. Na ja, wenn man die LOREN so ansieht, dann kann man schon verstehen, dass CARY GRANT den Verstand verloren hat …..Auf jeden Fall merkt man von all dem nichts, der Film ist wirklich schön anzusehen, eine amüsante Familienkomödie. Auch hier gilt, dass man ein Faible für solche Filme haben muss, ansonsten läuft man schreiend weg. Ich kann das auch nicht immer sehen, aber manchmal habe ich einfach Lust auf solche Schnulzen, was soll ich machen?Mein Fazit: Klar ist „Hausboot“ ein wenig kitschig, aber schön kitschig. SOPHIA LOREN ist zum Niederknien schön, witzig und charmant. Auch CARY GRANT gefällt mir sehr gut, solche Rollen hatte er einfach drauf. „Hausboot“ ist charmante Unterhaltung aus den 50ern, ohne Tiefgang, aber wer braucht den schon bei Komödien?

J'ai acheté se DVD parceque , j'aime l'acteur Cary Grant , toujours bien habillé avec classe et distinction naturelle.De plus c'est un très bon acteur ,le scenario est assez loufoque il arrive des aventures pas ordinaires . Sophia , n'est pas mal non plus et ses chansons italiennes sont bien interprètées . Bref , j'ai bien aimé ce film et il est pour tout publique

A must watch old movie=Virendra

Film molto carino con Cary Grant e Sophia Loren. L'edizione DVD inglese offre anche l'audio italiano con doppiaggio d'epoca. Al momento pare che si tratti dell'unica versione di questo film sul mercato con audio italiano.