Houseboat (1958)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Melville Shavelson

Writers:

Melville Shavelson (writer) and
Jack Rose (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

19 November 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance

Plot:

Tom Winston, a widower, is trying to understand and raise three precocious children alone. He gets a little unexpected help from Cinzia...

Plot Keywords:

Maid | Widower | Father Daughter Relationship | One Word Title | Houseboat

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Tom Winters
Sophia Loren	...	Cinzia Zaccardi
Martha Hyer	...	Carolyn Gibson
Harry Guardino	...	Angelo Donatello
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Arturo Zaccardi
Murray Hamilton	...	Capt. Alan Wilson
Mimi Gibson	...	Elizabeth Winters
Paul Petersen	...	David Winters
Charles Herbert	...	Robert Winters
Madge Kennedy	...	Mrs. Farnsworth
John Litel	...	Mr. William Farnsworth
Werner Klemperer	...	Harold Messner
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Peggy Connelly	...	Elizabeth Wilson (scenes deleted)
Brooks Benedict	...	Pitchman (uncredited)
Ernst Brengt	...	French diplomat (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks	...	Country Club Dance Extra (uncredited)
Helen Brown	...	Woman in laundromat (uncredited)
Susan Cabot	...	Mrs. Eleanor Wilson (uncredited)
Larry Carr	...	(uncredited)
Jack Chefe	...	Country Club Waiter (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Country Club Dance Extra / Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Mary Forbes	...	British society woman (uncredited)
Kathleen Freeman	...	Laundromat gossip (uncredited)
Bill Hickman	...	Handsome man (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Country Club Dance Extra (uncredited)
Joe Lanza	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Florence MacAfee	...	Laundromat attendant (uncredited)
Joe McTurk	...	Pitchman (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Country Club Dance Extra / Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Pat Moran	...	Clown (uncredited)
Gilda Oliva	...	Pizza saleswoman (uncredited)
William Remick	...	Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
Julian Rivero	...	Spanish diplomat (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Country Club Dance Extra (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Wally Walker	...	Pitchman (uncredited)
Marc Wilder	...	Specialty dancer (uncredited)

Directed by
Melville Shavelson

Writing credits
Melville Shavelson		(writer) and
Jack Rose		(writer)
Betsy Drake		screenplay (uncredited)

Produced by
Jack Rose	....	producer

Original Music by
George Duning

Cinematography by
Ray June

Film Editing by
Frank Bracht

Art Direction by
John B. Goodman		(as John Goodman)
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Sam Comer
Grace Gregory

Costume Design by
Edith Head

Makeup Department
Nellie Manley	....	hair styles supervisor
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael D. Moore	....	assistant director

Art Department
Gene Lauritzen	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Charles Grenzbach	....	sound recordist
Hugo Grenzbach	....	sound recordist
Bill Wistrom	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Farciot Edouart	....	process photographer
W. Wallace Kelley	....	photographer: second unit (as Wallace Kelley)
Leonard J. South	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
George Duning	....	musical director (uncredited)

Other crew
Hal C. Kern	....	production associate
Richard Mueller	....	technicolor color consultant

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1958) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1965) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Paramount Home Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Fort Washington, Maryland, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Carlo Ponti obtained a Mexican divorce from his first wife and married Sophia Loren by proxy, while she was in Hollywood, filming Houseboat (1958) - and dating co-star Cary Grant (17 September 1957).

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Tom's apartment is in Washington, D.C., but when he's shown driving his kids to the concert at the Watergate, he approaches the area from the Virginia side of the Memorial Bridge, the opposite direction from which he should logically have been coming.

Quotes:

Robert Winters: That's you Sir.
Tom: Who Sir? Me Sir?
Robert Winters: Yes Sir, you Sir.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Edith Head: The Paramount Years (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

Bing! Bang! Bong!

Very cute romantic comedy of the 50's.

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.