Houseboat

Love this movie. Had to get it for my collection so I can watch whenever I want. Great stars long gone. Worth the value and can watch over and over.

Grant and Loren together what else needs to be said.

excellent movie, I never saw this movie until now. I had to watch it two times already. very cute. plays well and good color.

Received in excellent condition. Good movie

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.

Imported this Kino Lorber release (from a 6k scan of the original camera negative) to replace my old DVD. The film looks absolutely fantastic, and the sound is pretty good too. Sadly, you'll need a multi-region player to enjoy this US-disc, as it's region locked (like all Kino Lorber's releases), but if you have one this is a very fine family film, that even my 2 sons of 25 & 21, respectively, found very enjoyable, as did my wife; which was good as I bought it for her as a birthday present. Edith Head makes sure the actors are dressed immaculately, when they need to be; and did I mention: Sophia looks absolutely stunning! What's not to like?

Great movie

Comedy classic with Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. They play well together.

Packen Sie Ihre Koffer (und Ihre Unfähigkeit, über logische Plotlöcher hinwegzusehen), denn wir gehen an Bord der Charme-Offensive – besser bekannt als der Film Hausboot! Dies ist keine normale Rezension, sondern eine Liebeserklärung an die Ära, in der man sich nicht für Kitsch entschuldigen musste, solange er mit Cary Grant und Sophia Loren serviert wurde. Die Handlung: Lügen, Liebe und ein leckendes Dach Die Prämisse? Grant, der alleinerziehende Witwer, der mehr Charme als Organisationstalent besitzt, strandet mit seinen drei reizenden, aber anstrengenden Kids auf einem heruntergekommenen Hausboot auf dem Potomac. Mal ehrlich, der Mann ist Cary Grant – hätte er nicht einfach die Yacht nehmen können? Aber nein, das hätte Sophia Loren keinen Grund gegeben, aufzutauchen. Und da ist sie: Sophia Loren, die nicht-ganz-echte Hausangestellte, die vorgibt, eine zu sein, weil... nun, weil das im Jahr 1958 für urkomische Verwicklungen sorgte. Sie ist die temperamentvolle, exotische Naive, er der charmante, aber überforderte Daddy. Die ganze Geschichte ist ein Tanz um ein einziges, simples Geständnis, das alles in 5 Minuten lösen würde. Wenn Sie jetzt denken: "Das macht mich wahnsinnig!", dann ist dieser Film nicht für Sie. Wenn Sie aber denken: "Oh, wie herrlich unkompliziert!", dann schnallen Sie sich an! Warum dieser Film einfach funktioniert Die wahre Magie liegt in der unbestreitbaren Chemie zwischen den Hauptdarstellern. Man spürt förmlich die Affäre (die sie am Set hatten!), die in jeder Szene mitschwingt. Sophia Loren ist einfach zum Niederknien. Sie ist witzig, sie ist umwerfend schön, sie fegt durch das schäbige Hausboot wie ein italienischer Tornado des guten Geschmacks. Man kann ihr zusehen, wie sie versucht, aus einem rostigen Kahn ein Zuhause zu machen – und es funktioniert! Und Cary Grant? Er hat diese Art von Rolle in- und auswendig drauf. Er ist der ultimative Gentleman, der trotzdem herrlich unbeholfen ist, wenn es darum geht, Socken zu sortieren. Wenn er mit diesem verwirrt-charmanten Blick schaut, verzeiht man ihm sofort, dass er seinen Kindern ein leckendes Floß als Zuhause verkauft. Das ist Unterhaltung aus den 50ern in ihrer reinsten Form: Ohne Tiefgang? Absolut! Aber wer braucht existenzielle Fragen, wenn man Cary Grant dabei zusehen kann, wie er versucht, Spaghetti zu kochen? Kitschig? Ja, total! Aber es ist schön kitschig, wie eine perfekt inszenierte Hollywood-Postkarte. Fazit: Hausboot ist wie ein warmes, schaumiges Bad für die Seele. Es ist leicht, es ist luftig und es lässt einen mit einem breiten, glückseligen Grinsen zurück. Ein zeitloser Beweis dafür, dass zwei bezaubernde Stars und ein wirklich schlechtes Hausboot alles sind, was man für 90 Minuten puren Eskapismus braucht. 5/5 für unschuldigen, fesselnden Retro-Glamour!

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.

So enjoyed this movie...great price....good quality...

Cary Grant is one of my all time favourite actors who plays along side Sophia Loren in houseboat. I haven't seen this film in a long time and it was great to watch and own on dvd now I can watch anytime I want to. The story line between these two is magical, funny and just lovely. Cary plays a single father of three, 2 boys and 1 girl whose mother has died and Cary has been a part time father to his children when all of a sudden he has to go full time, something he is not prepared for. His wife's sister starts to feel for Cary romantically even though she is married. He lives in a small apartment not suited for children when he decides to make some changes. Sophia's character is an only child of a famous Italian composer who is visiting New York with her father's work, she gets bored quite quickly and decides to run away, at the same time the youngest of Cary's boys has got lost whilst watching Sophia's father's concert. Sophia and the youngest boy meet where she accompanies him around the fairground playing games of hoopla to win a harmonica she finally takes him home to Cary. This is the first time Cary and Sophia's characters meet, it isn't love at first sight but his youngest wants her to stay as his new found friend and after all she wants to explore what life / New York has to offer her. After a while Cary agrees she can stay to look after the children. Cary has sublet his apartment and has to find something bigger for his family to live; he is promised a wonderful house and agrees to see it and this is the houseboat, and it's in bad repair. To cut a long story short Sophia educates Carry in parenting, i.e. listening, patience and enjoying his children whilst there young. Cary starts see a different side of Sophia but there is the engagement between him and his wife's sister but finally he see's sense and sure enough a happy ending is inevitable. This is lovely feel good film probably best known as a chic flick.

Great family show