This movie just didn't do anything for me, it's not awful but it's not very good either. I like Cary Grant movies but his comedic talent seems wasted in this, and his character isn't even really likable. And the story is so contrived and odd frankly, I completely lost interest by the end.
shareYep.
shareNot only is Cary not particularly likable, but neither is Sophia. She gets a 5-year old kid to take her in a boat across a body of water to a party. Then she keeps trying to ditch the kid and send him on his merry way - a 5-year old in a boat all on his own! Now that is certainly a responsible, caring attitude! From that moment, Sophia lost my sympathy. Don't directors - even cast members - notice such terrible contradictions and devices that work on the audience in a manner contrary to their purposes? Didn't anybody on the set have enough sense to say,"You know, that's not a very good way to treat a small child and generate sympathy Sophia's character?" Things like this that just drive me nuts when I watch movies.
John 3:16
You need to watch this movie again as you have obviously forgotten the details.
Sophia Loren climbs out of her hotel window into a boat and rows away. When she is half-way across the river she finds a small boy in the boat. He does not say he is lost and when they arrive on the other side, she repeatedly tells him to go home to his mother. In other words she has no idea what his true situation is. Later, she takes him home to his father. Her conduct is without fault.
Eet's very krappy, No?
shareWatchable, as you would expect given the two stars, but definitely not one of Cary's better films...
Love United. Hate Glazers.
I watched this last night with my wife and daughter. We're really big Carey Grant fans, and this one just stinks. I guess some of that could be chalked up to the personal relationship between Grant and Sophia Loren, but this one just hits so many sour notes. First, all the main characters have these God-awful fake tans, then "Aunt Carolyn" is hitting on her brother in law, then "Cinzia" is hitting on her employer, but this is after she does some heavy flirting with two obviously underage sons. The "creepy" factor in this one was really high (like off the scale). The trivia section on IMDB says that the original vehicle was heavily re-written and I'm wondering whether they didn't deliberately screw this one up, which could have been a great movie, with some simple re-writing. This movie is so "cornball" - to use one of David's words - that the "lamebrains" - another David word - must have tried to make it bad. It was painful to watch at times. And if I judged Sophia Loren's acting ability on this film alone, she would be near the bottom of the list - almost talentless.
shareYep.
I think I would have much prefered this film if they had left it the way Betsy Drake (Cary's wife at the time) had originally written it, and if she hadn't been replaced by Sophia Loren - He was having an affair with Sophia Loren and wanted her to be the star instead of his wife. Sophia Loren is certainly a good actress, and an idol in Old Hollywood, but I think Betsy Drake's charm and softness would have been wonderful in this film.
Sigh. I can still dream that it happened this way...
Houseboat was a great movie!!! It's touching, sweet, and very fun...I loved every second of it!!!!
share
Not sure what you mean by odd dvbar. But I'll agree with not very good. I recall seeing it years ago and finding it tedious. Well I recently saw it again hoping maybe I had been wrong. Perhaps it had aged better than I remember. It hasn't. Not very good is the perfect description. Houseboat isn't terrible its just .... nvg!
I just came to see if anyone else noticed the awful fake tans or whatever those were on the two stars and I have to say I was a bit surprised that so many others found so many of the same faults and general criticisms of this famous film. I'd seen it many years ago on an old Black & White TV set and couldn't say that I was old enough at the time to properly take in much of what was going on. Having just watched a colorized(?) version as an adult, I'm struck by the poor characterizations and lame scenarios throughout. As someone has already said, the film perhaps suffered from being hastily re-written ...or re-scribbled on the back of the original script at the last minute.
Cary Grant's character says at one point that he's usually considered quite charming in some circles. Perhaps this was his way of apologizing to his fans for being in such an unconvincing role. I'm not sure I ever considered him to have chemistry with his female screen partners exactly, but, normally his pairings at least have come across much more naturally than it did with Loren. We will never know what was actually going on off-screen at the time of filming.
The gossipy bit in the laundromat was about the cleverest part of the movie. Indeed, not a very good film.
Eeek!!! I'm getting dressed.
I'm about thirty minutes into it and it's kinda stupid.
But I like it anyway.
Sophia is stunning!
And there's Werner Klemperer! Wandering around lost after leaving Nuremburg, trying to find his way to Stalag 13.
Janet! Donkeys!
This wasn't so bad.
It's not the worst movie ever made.
It's not even the worst movie ever made with Cary Grant.
Heck, it's not even the worst movie ever made with both Cary Grant and Sophia Loren!
Presto ! Presto! Everybody did their best-o!
Janet! Donkeys!
Presto ! Presto! Everybody did their best-o!