Review of Houseboat

Houseboat (1958)
9/10
"Hesto, Presto, One of Cary's Very Besto"
13 July 2006
Cary Grant, prominent diplomat and widower, is trying to get acquainted again with his three kids, Paul Petersen, Mimi Gibson, and Charles Herbert. He's also got a sister-in-law, Martha Hyer, crushing out on him big time.

But after the youngest kid, Herbert, wanders away after a concert, he meets Sophia Loren who is also running away from her conductor father, Eduardo Ciannelli. They are soul mates Herbert and Loren and before long she's moved in on the Grant family.

Which is forced by circumstance I won't reveal to live on a houseboat in the woods in Maryland. The Houseboat and its many problems lend itself to a whole lot of physical problems and one rather dramatic one, when one of the kids nearly drowns. Cary gets a lot of good mileage out of the comedy.

This was Cary and Sophia's second film together and it was one big improvement on the overblown Pride and the Passion. No doubt that the two of them were still involved from The Pride and the Passion lends a lot of truth in the scenes Grant and Loren play together.

Also look for a nice performance by Harry Guardino who's the one who is responsible for the group being on the Houseboat.

Houseboat is a nice family comedy and hasn't aged a bit from the Fifties when it was made.
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