Product Description

A widowed government attorney with three unruly kids hires a beautiful woman to be a governess in his houseboat home.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: NR
Release Date: 8-AUG-2006
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2988 in DVD
• Brand: GRANT,CARY
• Released on: 2002-11-05
• Rating: Unrated
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.com
Cary Grant and Sophia Loren look just swell together in Houseboat, and why shouldn't they? Grant was still at his best, Loren was bewitching Hollywood as an exotic new ingénue, and offscreen they had had a torrid affair a couple of years earlier, during the shooting of The Pride and the Passion. The two tanned stars are the main attraction in this romantic comedy, which installs single dad Cary and his three children on a dilapidated houseboat on the Potomac River. Sophia is the maid, except she's not really a maid but the cultured daughter of a famous musician. Yes, this is one of those situation comedies in which every problem could be cleared up if only one character told the truth about the situation. If that sort of thing drives you crazy, best skip this one. It's no classic, but those two icons are awfully appealing. --Robert Horton

DVD features
Not much, as befits this movie's minor historical profile, but a couple of trailers give a flavor of '50s ad techniques, and a gallery of stills has some hilariously stilted publicity photographs. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Cary, Sophia and 50s Fashion and Romance at its best
Houseboat was the first movie I ever saw in a drive-in. Imagine seeing Cary Grant and Sophia Loren dancing to a Sam Cooke love song on a screen the size of a football field. The wardrobe for the movie is stunning. When did we stop taking the time to dazzle with matching hats, gloves, etc.? Obvious beauty aside, what really impressed me was the award winning script. The explanation Cary Grant gives as a parent about death, and the kids dialogue and behavior rang true. The kids behaved like any children would when one parent dies, and an absentee parent appears to take them from the safe world of their grandparents. The kids were terrific in their roles. Cary Grant and Sophia Loren were superb considering she had just dumped him to marry her current husband. One wonders what would have happened if Cary and Sophia had really married. Would they have lived happily ever after like they did in Houseboat? Who knows. At least we can have that fantasy time and time again on DVD.

Charming, Family-Friendly Comedy!
'Houseboat' is a throwback to the kind of sweet, happy comedies Cary Grant did in the late '40s-early '50s, and it foreshadows the domestic comedies James Stewart and Henry Fonda would do in the sixties. Granted, there is more romance (and with Sophia Loren as the objection of affection, Cary has it all OVER Jimmy and Hank!) but ultimately, it scores as a terrific family movie, as Loren, playing an inept but adorable housekeeper/nanny, wins the affection of widower Grant's kids, and awakens in him a more complete love than he was experiencing with his society girlfriend (played effectively by the beautiful Martha Hyer).

Living in a rundown houseboat to save on expenses, Grant and family lives had become a boring routine, until the arrival of Hurricane Loren, with her Italian philosophy, her singing, and her unmistakable femininity and sex appeal (which introduces oldest son Paul Peterson to the joys of puberty, and to daughter Mimi Gibson and younger son Charles Herbert a mother-figure they both needed). Grant is at first oblivious to her charms, but she is hard to ignore for long! The question then becomes, when will Cary 'wake up', and realize everything he needs is right on the houseboat?

Filmed after Grant and Loren's whirlwind affair during the filming of 'The Pride and the Passion', the film was a bittersweet experience for both stars, particularly shooting the wedding scene, as Grant still desperately wanted to marry Loren, but she had already decided to remain with longtime love Carlo Ponti. Viewers aware of the 'behind-the-scenes' story will appreciate the performances of the two leads even more!

After you watch 'Houseboat', catch the flipside of this story in Grant's later 'Father Goose', as a drunken reprobate with a boat who must deal with governess Leslie Caron and her charges! The two films make a fascinating double-feature, and showcases Cary Grant's amazing versatility!

Seen either way, 'Houseboat' is a delight!

a family classic
HOUSEBOAT is one of my favorite movies. I remember my family taping it when I was about 7, and I loved watching it. Needless to say, when the new DVD version was released I instantly snapped it up!

The story is about a widowed Government official (Cary Grant) and his three unruly children. A chance meeting throws the beautiful Cinzia Zaccardi (lovely Sophia Loren) into their lives. Cinzia is the daughter of a prominent classical conductor, and is looking for a change of scene. When she decides to become the children's nanny, no-one is prepared for the hilarity and heartache that is to follow...

This is indeed a lovely family film, with a few shades of "The Sound of Music". The new DVD version offers an average-looking transfer of the film, with a photo gallery and two trailers as the extras.

Also starring Martha Hyer, Harry Guardino, Paul Petersen and Eduardo Cinanelli. (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).