Houseboat

After the death of his estranged wife, Tom Winters (Grant) decides to come back into his children's lives.  His three children want nothing to do with him, especially when he moves them into his tiny apartment in the city.  David (Petersen) steals, Elizabeth (Gibson) can't sleep by herself, and Robert (Herbert) is always angry and playing his harmonica.  One night Robert runs away and meets Cinzia (Loren), who is also running away, and convinces Tom to hire her as their maid.

After their house and car are wrecked, Tom moves the family into a houseboat.  The houseboat needs some serious work, and Cinzia doesn't cook or clean.  As Tom's sister-in-law Carolyn (Hyer) and the rest of the town watch, can they repair their relationships and their floating home?


Apparently the original script was written by Cary Grant's wife, actress Betsy Drake, and was to serve as a vehicle for them (they previously starred in Room for One More and Every Girl Should Be Married).  However, Grant was having an affair with Sophia Loren and had them change the script so that she could be the lead (Drake's version is very different from the film version).  Based on the film, it would have been better to keep Drake's version and keep as the female lead.  I like Loren, but not here.

The film is ok, but there is something off.  Most of the characters are consistently unlikeable, including the leads.  And what was the deal with Sophia Loren and anyone else on screen singing "Bing, Bang, Bong" every so many minutes?

Sure, some parts are funny and / or cute, but overall I was not impressed.  Both Grant and Loren have made better films.

Houseboat (1958) 110 minutes
Director: Melville Shavelson
Starring: Cary Grant as Tom Winters
Sophia Loren as Cinzia Zaccardi
Martha Hyer as Carolyn Gibson
Paul Petersen as David Winters
Charles Herbert as Robert Winters
Mimi Gibson as Elizabeth Winters
Harry Guardino as Angelo Donatello
Eduardo Ciannelli as Arturo Zaccardi