La péniche du bonheur

Melville Shavelson's Academy Award-nominated "Houseboat" involves the common trope of "vivacious-but-goofy woman turns serious man's life upside down" (also seen in "Bringing Up Baby", "What's Up, Doc?" and "Something Wild"). But how can you not love seeing Sophia Loren onscreen? Cary Grant's State Department employee is the archetypal man from the 1950s: straightforward, always wearing a suit and tie, and expecting everyone around him to be as no-nonsense as he is. The '60s were a reaction to this attitude.*

Admittedly, a lot of the movie shows its age. Many of the family interactions are too cute for my taste. The movie's real joy is seeing Sophia Loren in some of those revealing outfits (well, as revealing as was allowed in 1958). It's not any sort of great movie, but enjoyable enough for its length.

Watch for Murray Hamilton (Mr. Robinson in "The Graduate" and the mayor in "Jaws") and Kathleen Freeman (the nun in "The Blues Brothers") in early roles.

*Tuli Kupferberg of The Fugs was of the opinion that there was always reason for optimism, because, as he put it, no one who lived through the '50s would've predicted the '60s.

I've known of this film for years and finally decided to watch it, expecting the usual corny/glitzy rom-com. I was pleasantly surprised, and enthralled. Formulaic? Yes. Predictable? Certainly. Sentimental? Without doubt. But the story has a tenderness and charm that draws you in. Divorced-father-reconnects-with-kids a well-worn theme, but the script and acting here carry you along. The children are all good in their parts (despite the naysayers here) and of course Grant and Loren shine. The movie appeals to all the sadly outdated bourgeois values of postwar America, i.e. the era in which I grew up. And the cinematography and wide-screen aspect is wonderful. I feel a bit sad for the progressive Bolshies who find the movie offensive (check the one star reviews).

Cary Grant's devotees-and they are legion--will come to his defense even under the most trying of circumstances (I'm the same way with actors and actresses I admire). Grant's performances are often lovingly called "droll" and "relaxed" while I see them as unimaginative and one-dimensional. He's not at home on-screen so much as he inhabits the space he's in, and I unavoidably begin imagining different actors in his roles (consider Rod Taylor opposite Audrey Hepburn in "Charade"!). "Houseboat" is no exception, but it's a good movie. Grant is overanxious, as usual--and pushy or needling with the kids involved--but he's well-placed as a love-interest opposite Sophia Loren (whom he was dating just prior to the filming but not during). At first glance, "Houseboat" looks like the worst type of sitcom: stern father gets saddled with his estranged children, later hiring a governess who is really a runaway from high society. Grant plays the dad with consternation and suspicion (according to the script, of course, though Grant is typically like this). He goads his kids into being more than what he sees on the surface--and when his son finally pushes back, it seems an exceptionally realistic reaction. As for Sophia, who basks in her movie-star close-ups: she takes a cartoonish character (which is written like a cynical refugee from "Roman Holiday") and gives the lady a big heart. Her bonding with the children (and with Grant) is a treat and, while I wasn't convinced it would all work out happily, I was reasonably entertained. **1/2 from ****

For those who still have the hopeless romantic side to them still kindling, and for those who are not totally cynical about predictable outcomes, Houseboat is decent fun. Cary Grant repeating his romantic comedy work for the umpteenth time, works well with the ravishing and radiant Sophia Loren. Given they were thirty years apart, Grant and Loren were in a pretty heavy romance off screen at this time. Their chemistry is evident and it shows well here. Harry Gaurdino has a good and humorous supporting role. It cracks me up when movies of the 50's portrayed Italian women as fiery and impulsive. It's done that way a bit here as well with Loren, except the script offers her character a bit more warmth and depth. Hollywood stereotypes of Italians have improved until "The Sopranos" came along forty years later. Houseboat is just a cute movie that is worth watching to fill in time. And if you are a fan of either star, it will be that much better.

A romantic comedy short on logic but long on suave chemistry from 1958. A woman passes leaving her passel of 3 children w/their estranged father played by Cary Grant. Enter the luminous Sophia Loren, the daughter of a well regarded Italian music conductor who's on the outs w/her father so she flees his strict confines to meet up Grant & offer her services to be his maid & au pair to his unruly trio of brats when they move into the moored titular houseboat. That she falls for Grant while his wife's sister has made her feelings known makes for an interesting set of misconceptions & situations. What is essentially a remake of Grant's Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House mixed w/Sabrina has romance being the main sauce to this amorous pasta which makes this meal go down smoothly w/o the caloric guilt. Enjoy!