Waste of time

Best movie ever!

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Blistering performances.

"Houseboat" proves that being a Cary Grant film is NOT a guarantee for entertainment. This film simply does not work. It feels odd for many reasons. It is said that Grant was once in love with his co-star Sophia Loren and, since she married Carlo Ponti, he did not want to make this film. This is likely to be true because there are only a few love scenes and they all look somehow forced. He looks quite unhappy in most scenes with her and she, although pretty to look at, also seems to be inhibited to be close to him. At one point of the film I started to wish that he would marry his sister-in-law instead. That would have made more sense.But these personal riffs are not the only reason why the film falls flat on the face. The screenplay is to blame for most of the problems. The story cannot decide between being a serious approach about parental problems, in particular widowed fathers who have lost contact to their children, and a lighthearted comedy about a father of three getting an Italian housekeeper who is too pretty to be ignored and shows the father how to treat children well.If that would not be enough there is a sister-in-law, quite nice and pretty too, and loved by the children as well, who is madly in love with Grant and he seems to like her too. And there is Sophia's father, a famous Italian conductor, who is a cardboard-type of Italian protective parent. What is very annoying too, is, there is a lot of harsh language on all sides, fathers, children, ladies and others and two incidents of slapping faces, both without real reason and therefore the more surprising and even shocking.The whole thing probably could have been handled well in the hands of an experienced director, like Stanley Donen or Blake Edwards, who have an ear for bad dialogue, and there is plenty of this in the film. But Melville Shavelson was definitely the wrong guy to steer this project. Many scenes are wasted by discussing things over and over again, but no good points are made. And it looks like Grant REALLY felt uncomfortable with the kids.As other reviewers already pointed out, there are so many visual faults: 1. The house on the railway tracks run down by a train, and we don't see the impact, just a few splinters flying towards Cary Grant; 2. The houseboat, completely wasted as a source for fun; 3. Too many badly done rear projection and "outdoor" studio settings; 4. and the worst, the strange complexion of Sofia Loren, she looks so dark as if she were an African American. And much too old, although she was 24 at the time! And then there are these awful texts the children had to say, they constantly talk and act like diminutive grown-ups!The whole film has an unsatisfactory, even sick feeling, as if you watch people constantly making the wrong decisions and the happy end never felt so wrong as in this film. Sorry folks who admire this film, but this had to be said. Fully agree with the author of WRONG WIFE.

Aside from his Hitchcock movies and "Charade," this is virtually the only watchable movie Cary Grant made after 1944. It's really just one more of the bland family-friendly sitcoms that blight his later career, but more interesting than most for a couple of reasons. One is the passel of motherless kids, who for a change are convincingly sullen, bitter and unreachable until a brief last-minute conversion. The other is the presence of Sophia Loren -- raw-boned, gauche, gorgeous, and in real life determined not to become the fourth Mrs. Grant. The movie is contrived and totally unconvincing, but the two stars' tortured feelings for each other keep seeping through, giving many scenes an edgy tension you can't shake off. Loren's artless singing of the fine ballad "Almost in Your Arms" is haunting; their subsequent dance has an emotional fierceness that practically burns a hole in the screen.

This is a very cute and inconsequential family film starring Cary Grant and the very young Sophia Loren. While it is not a movie that will change your life or make a huge impression, it's still an awful lot of fun. Cary is a widower who lives on a houseboat with his kids. The trouble is that he needs a combination housekeeper and mom for the kids, so he goes about trying to hire one. He picks Ms. Loren and after a while everyone in the family succumbs to her very ample charms. Considering she was a great housekeeper (though she couldn't cook), loved the kids and was built like,....Sophia Loren, it certainly isn't surprising that by the end of the film Cary has also recognized her as prime wife material. Predictable,...yes. But who cares, as it's a lot of fun and yet another nice outing from Grant. Plus, the romance that predictably develops between them and the way the film ends is highly entertaining. While I give this movie only a 7, it is well worth seeing--deep no--but lots of fun. About the only serious negative is the REALLY annoying song that Loren sings throughout the movie. But, once again, being Sophia Loren, most audiences of the day probably weren't there to hear her singing.

Ordinarily, I kind of enjoy these tame old Sixties comedies, but watching Cary Grant in a role written for a B- or C-lister is always painful. As a romantic male lead, there's never been anybody better, but comic dad parts are best left to the Paul Dooleys of the world.The kids are remarkably charm-free, the novelty of the houseboat is tiresome, and the plot is entirely predictable.However, if Sophia Loren is your cup of tea, then by all means feast your eyes. She's at her luscious prime here. A better idea for all concerned might have been to dispense with the family angle, and have it be a romantic drama with Grant and Harry Guardino -- who does a lot with a little here -- vying for her charms.