Sexylocher Masterful Movie
Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie
Supelice Dreadfully Boring
vincentlynch-moonoi What is it that makes a very, very few actors stand out among the rest? I'm not sure, but Cary Grant had it. Whether drama or comedy or something in between, it made no difference. Cary Grant was a master of the media. And it shows here.Add to that Sophia Loren. As a kid in that era, I dreamed of Sophia Loren and thought she was the most beautiful woman (along with Lana Turner) on earth.Together on screen there is unmistakable chemistry...and why not...there had been a torrid affair in real life not long before this film was made.The story itself is not terribly unique, but it's a good story of a widower who is led to rediscover his children by a mystery woman he thinks is a poor Italian girl. There's lots of humor along the way, some schmaltz, but also some very good performance by the three child actors (including Paul Peterson). In fact, this film treats the children as human beings.Along with Cary and Sophia is a favorite second-tier actress of mine -- Martha Hyer, a terribly underrated actress.I never tire of watching this film. It's a gem.
screenman Following hot on the heels of that enjoyable period romp 'The Pride & The ion' came 'Houseboat'.A gracefully-ageing Carry Grant had developed an infatuation with hot-to-trot Sohia Loren whilst making the earlier movie, and his off-screen extra-marital dalliance with her became the gossip of Hollywood. (Looking at Ms Loren in either movie it is hard to imagine how even 'ol blue eyes' managed to keep his powder dry). It was almost inevitable, then, that Grant and Loren would be cast together in some follow-up outing.'Houseboat' is a typical Hollywood schmaltz-fest. But there are, I think, several features that save it from the sin-bin. First and foremost is Sophia Loren. And I don't think I'm betraying a hormone problem when I say that she is both the sexiest and most beautiful woman ever to grace the cinema screen. I find it hard to believe that any red-blooded male could feature opposite her and not be encumbered with a spontaneous erection. Grant's wife must have been an imbecile to let him anywhere near her. However.Carry Grant is not my particular taste in heroes. He strikes the diffident pose as the American interpretation of an English gentleman, and that, along with his oleaginous voice endues him with an air of shallow pomposity, one that is ripe for a moral lesson. Which is usually the role he plays. At best; he's a one-dimensional actor, but he's good at what he does, when he does it right. And he does it right here.His and Ms Loren's arrival at the houseboat is a classic piece of contrived, circuitous Hollywood light melodrama. Grant plays a widower with three comparatively estranged kids, Loren is a disaffected Italian tomboy turned society-girl masquerading as a housemaid.At their arrival on the boat, Grant's character already has a love interest, but she can see what Grant evidently can't; that it isn't safe for him to have a housemaid/nanny like the voluptuous Ms Loren. (This writer would have traded-up in about 10 minutes). Things hinge upon this love-triangle. The other actors are scripted merely to pad their romance out. Basically; its 'The Sound Of Music' but without the songs, scenery or swastikas.There's the usual comedy of manners. Ms Loren's character has already flipped for Grant, but he hasn't noticed. In the meantime, she has spent a lot of time with his kids and become something of a mother/big sister to them all. But not quite. There is a very subtle and rather tragic little bi-line, because the eldest son is at the cusp of puberty and just about old enough to have developed a puppy-love for his comely nanny. Which, of course - like Grant - she hasn't noticed either. In her moments of dejection, he has been a leal companion and has misconstrued her confidences and the strength and substance of her feelings towards him.To anyone who can being in such a predicament, the whole thing is presented with great fidelity, including the boy's peremptory rejection - he is still just a boy, and that's only how the nanny sees him - and his painful disappointment with a sense of betrayal. The 'child' actor (I think it's Paul Petersen) turns in a very creditable performance and I truly grieve for his juvenile distress, having been there myself.Finally, the hitherto dowdily-dressed Ms Loren is provided with an outfit that fully flaunts her astonishing figure and Mr Grant's loins are are last aroused to the perfectly bleeding obvious.Yes; it's (for the most part) a predictable schmaltz-fest. Much of the backdrop is painted and elements of the houseboat look very artificial; yet that needn't spoil one's pleasure. That its production has the look of a stage play never compromises the story, players, or their skillful portrayal.Everyone makes a good turn, especially - as mentioned - the kids. Excellent Werner Klemperer (Hogan's Heroes) brings his own light comic touch. But for me (biased by my hormones) the movie is a cinch for Sophia Loren, who moves between a child-like persona and full-blown womanhood with an intelligence and subtlety that is the mark of a great actress.Don't let the critics discourage you. If you analyse production values it may seem pretty weak, but if you look for its more enduring qualities there's a lot of pleasure to be had.
TxMike "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 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.
tedg I've commented on about 2000 films. I can find something interesting in just about any film, the worse the better. But this is not just a bad movie, it is offensive.I'm not just talking about what would suggest sexual abuse in today's context. Every element is the worst of the Hollywood formula system: — the way that one of the world's most glamorous women is made up and photographed as actually ugly.— the vapid appeal to "Saturday Post" notions of religion, something that would offend even a Texas fundamentalist.— the completely valueless and nonsensical dynamics of the romantic situation on both sides: the sister-in-law cum lover then dumped and the presumably hotblooded impetuous runaway daughter cum maid then second wife.— the blatant theft of the Buster Keaton bit about the train hitting the house, except all we see are some Styrofoam boards thrown toward Grant.— the promising setup of the houseboat that is utterly ignored.— the bankable humor of Grant that seems to have been deliberately avoided at every opportunity. Add to this the other characters, so poorly drawn they don't even qualify as cartoons.— the Edith Head costumes that are unflattering, uninteresting _and_ unphotogenic.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
