Masterful Movie

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Cary Grant's effortless screen charisma was the primary selling point of a 1964 comedy called Father Goose.Grant lights up the screen as Walter, a beachcomber who lives on an isolated south seas island who has been recruited by the military to spot enemy aircraft during World War II, where he is allowed to pretty much live like a hermit and drink to his heart's content who finds his quiet existence disrupted by the arrival of a teacher (Leslie Caron) and seven young girls who have become shipwrecked on the same island as Walter.Peter Stone's screenplay, which seems to have been tailored to Grant's comic sensibilities, actually won an Academy Award, but it's not just the screenplay that works here, but the offbeat choice of character for Grant as well. Grant was always known as being suave, urbane, and sophisticated on screen, but Grant took a calculated risk here playing a character the polar opposite of his traditional on screen image...Walter is unshaven, slovenly, crude, self-absorbed, and a bit of a sexist and having such a character interacting with a straight-laced teacher and a group of young girls turned produced comic gold.Grant offers one his best performances here and his chemistry with Caron is surprisingly solid, considering the vast difference in their ages. I guess it isn't an issue here because the relationship between the two characters is more combative than romantic and Caron somehow manages to hold her own against a cinematic legend who, even though he would make his final film appearance three years later, proved that he still had the chops to carry a movie by himself, but he gets help here from an offbeat character, an unusual story, and breezy direction from Ralph Nelson.

When the film begins, the British commander (Trevor Howard) deliberately strands an 'American'(!), Walter (Cary Grant), on a small island so that he can be an observer for the navy. In order to get his cooperation, bottles of booze have been hidden about the island--and he's told where one is hidden each time he sends them a report on enemy aircraft that is later confirmed. Unfortunately for Walter, this routine is disrupted when he's asked to go on a rescue mission to a nearby island--but when he arrives, he only finds a school teacher and her seven young charges."Father Goose" is an enjoyable family film. However, when I watched it tonight, I noticed that I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the other times I saw the picture. I think it's because this time I noticed things I didn't notice as much the previous times--such as how horribly Miss Freneau (Leslie Caron) and the kids treated Walter. Now, I thought that much of their behavior was rather boorish and mean all for the sake of comedy--such as the kid who kept biting Walter (I would have slapped that brat!) and the one who CONSTANTLY complained about wanting to be home. In hindsight, I wish they'd toned this down a bit--bit it STILL is an enjoyable movie.

This movie comes dangerously close to being a stinker. The Cary Grant and Leslie Caron characters are both a bit exaggerated, Grant with his constantly sucking on a bottle but never appearing drunk, and Caron with her manipulative primness. We know Caron is going to do a Katherine Hepburn to Grant's Bogie in African Queen, and confiscate the liquor, and eventually get him to put on some clean clothes.And, of course, they're going to fall in love. But get married? There's not much of a transition here; at least Grant could have confessed how afraid he was she was going to die, or something. It's a real weak spot in the script, but then I guess this is sort of a children's movie, or at least one of those early Sixties family movies, a la Disney.I'm as shocked and mystified as anyone that this won an Oscar for best original screenplay. But then the good stuff, like Dr. Strangelove, Goldfinger, My Fair Lady and even Mary Poppins were based on books, and so didn't qualify. Speaking of My Fair Lady, can you believe Grant turned down Henry Higgins to be in this mediocrity? And he had hopes of Audrey Hepburn stooping to co-star, although I must admit, she would have been good in the role, as always. I wish Caron had played it more like Caron, with more class and finesse, and less anger.I saw this when I was a kid, and found it reasonably amusing. Viewing it from an older perspective, I can sympathize a lot more with Grant's character. The strongest section is the beginning, when he is being strong-armed into being an island watcher, the antithesis of South Pacific's Emile De Becque. The little girls certainly do a good job of being annoying, and providing a bachelor with good reason for retaining this status.Grant provides enough edginess to avoid turning this into a saccharine Disney number. He delivers a well-balanced comedic performance. But the roles are fairly generic, and other actors who could have played the lead, include Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon or Walter Matthau.What makes Father Goose most interesting, from a cinematic perspective, is that it came only a year after director Ralph Nelson's masterpiece, Lilies of the Field. This was a heart-warming story not unlike Father Goose, of a reluctant hero dragged into doing his duty by a bunch of women. But it was a gentle, slow movie grounded in realism. I wonder if Father Goose could have been made with a similar approach? Instead, we have slightly unrealistic acting matched with a somewhat improbable story. It might have been better had it been more believable. It might have been more dramatic, but then it might not have been as funny.As to one comment about it being "sexist," that's hilarious. What do you expect the little girls to do, grab a machine gun and mow down the Japanese sailors? Swim out and attach a mine to the Japanese patrol boat? Father Goose is very much a product of its time: an early Sixties mainstream comedy. And that's the way it was.Oh, as to the mystery of the screenplay Oscar, perhaps it had something to do with writer Frank Tarloff having been blacklisted during the Fifties for being an "unfriendly witness" before the HUAC committee, and having moved to England. He wrote under assumed names, but what, I do not know. Perhaps the award was a surrogate for some of his work under a pseudonym.Father Goose is not a masterpiece, even of its genre, but it is reasonably entertaining, and holds up fairly well. It could have been better, from an adult perspective, but no one involved needs to apologize. Most of all, it is good, clean family fun, which might be why some reviewers are so ecstatic about it.

During WWII many an island coast watcher were found not only useful, but often invaluable to the Allies in the Pacific. In this zany but delightful comedy, the film " Father Goose " takes Cary Grant and nearly replicates his actual persona. He plays Walter Eckland a crusty, middle age, south seas beachcomber with no intention of changing his lay-back lifestyle simply because there is a major war taking place. However, his lifetime friend Frank Houghton (Trevor Howard) once harbor master, now a Naval Commander for the British Navy and his aid Lieutenant Stebbings (Jack Good) convince him to join the coast watching service. Having little choice, Eckland reluctantly agrees. Things are tolerant enough for him as long as he's stuck alone on a deserted island keeping an eye on the Japanese navy when overnight, he's invaded by a bevy of preteen girls. They not only disturb Eckland's solitary existence, but completely disrupt his once peaceful solitude. The girls' prissy guardian/governess, Catherine Freneau (Leslie Caron) immediately sets out to make the best of a difficult situation and that includes altering the reclusive life of reluctant Father Goose. This movie was listed among Grant's favorites and watching it, easily becomes an audience Classic as well. ****