Houseboat is a 1958 romantic comedy

Romantic Comedy

Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...

 film starring Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...

, Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...

, Martha Hyer

Martha Hyer

Martha Hyer is an American actress.She attended Northwestern University and was a member of Pi Beta Phi fraternity. After completing her education, she next appeared in The Locket in 1946...

, Paul Petersen

Paul Petersen

William Paul Petersen is an American movie actor, singer, novelist, and activist. Primarily known for his character-type roles in the 1960s and 1970s, as an adult Petersen established the organization A Minor Consideration to support child stars and other child laborers through legislation,...

, Charles Herbert

Charles Herbert

Charles Herbert is a former American child actor of the 1950s and 1960s. Before reaching his teens, Herbert was renowned by a generation of moviegoers for an on-screen broody, mature style and wit that enabled him to go one-on-one with some of the biggest names in the industry, and his appearances...

 and Mimi Gibson

Mimi Gibson

Mimi Gibson is a former child actress. After the early death of her father, her mother took her and her sister to Los Angeles. At only 18 months, she was a popular calendar model, posing with cute animals. By age two she was appearing in movies. During the 1950s and early 1960s she would appear...

. The movie was directed by Melville Shavelson

Melville Shavelson

Melville Shavelson was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. He was President of the Writers Guild of America, West from 1969 to 1971, 1979 to 1981, and 1985 to 1987. He came to Hollywood in 1938 as one of comedian Bob Hope's joke writers, a job he held for the next...

, who also directed the original 1968 version of Yours, Mine and Ours

Yours, Mine and Ours (1968 film)

For the remake of this film starring Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo see Yours, Mine and Ours Yours, Mine and Ours is a 1968 film, directed by Melville Shavelson and starring Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda and Van Johnson...

.

Plot summary

For several years, Tom Winters (Grant) has been estranged from his wife and their three children, David (Petersen), Elizabeth (Gibson), and Robert (Herbert). The film begins as he returns home from Europe shortly after his wife's death. The children want to stay in the country with their mother's wealthy family, including her parents and her sister Carolyn (Hyer), but Tom takes them to Washington DC, where he works in the US State Department

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

.

The children resent their father's presence, and, at an outdoor concert, Robert runs away. He is found by Cinzia Zaccardi (Loren), the daughter of a famous Italian conductor. She too is running away and is enchanted by little "Roberto" and his harmonica. When she brings him back home, Tom offers her a job as a maid, which she eventually accepts.

Carolyn, now divorced from her husband, offers Tom and the children her old guest house, which was supposed to be moved to a new foundation. However, on the way there, they encounter the guest house being towed down the road, and the house is smashed by a train in a comical scene in which the tow-truck driver, Angelo Donatello (Guardino), flirts with Cinzia and accidentally hits Tom's car. Feeling guilty, Angelo sells Tom his leaky, run-down old houseboat.

Once moved in, Tom discovers that Cinzia is unable to cook, do laundry, or make coffee. Carolyn and others incorrectly insinuate that Cinzia's relationship with Tom is sexual while she innocently wins the affection of Tom and the children. Meanwhile, Tom spends his evenings with Carolyn, who is secretly in love with him. On the 4th of July

Independence Day (United States)

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...

, she tries to embarrass Cinzia by selecting a gaudy dress for Tom to buy for her, but Cinzia transforms it into an elegant evening gown. She looks so beautiful in the gown that Angelo, a confirmed womanizer, cancels a date with her out of a fear of falling in love and proposing to her.

That evening, Carolyn arrives at the boat with Captain Alan Wilson (Hamilton) and his wife. Alan, who is somewhat drunk, jokes about Cinzia's living arrangement with Tom and slaps her on the behind as she serves drinks. She throws a drink on him in retaliation. Tom asks Alan to leave the boat, but Carolyn takes Alan's side, so Tom asks all three of the guests to leave. David cheers Cinzia up, and they make plans to go fishing, but Tom ruins David's plans by inviting Cinzia to his country club. Once there, Tom reconciles with Carolyn and they agree to get married. As he dances with Cinzia, he finally realizes he is in love with her, but she learns of the proposal, becomes upset, and runs away. Tom catches her, and a little while later, David unhappily finds them kissing in a rowboat.

The children don't want Tom to marry Cinzia. David calls her ugly, Robert rejects her as a mother figure, and Elizabeth wants to continue sleeping in Tom's bed with him. Discouraged by this, Cinzia returns home, but Tom follows her, and she gives in after her father (Cianelli) scolds her. The wedding takes place on the houseboat. The children initially refuse to participate in the ceremony, but as it begins, Elizabeth and David join Tom and Cinzia at the altar, and Robert joins them after playing "Here Comes the Bride" on his harmonica.

Production

Grant's wife Betsy Drake

Betsy Drake

Betsy Drake is an American actress, psychotherapist and writer. She was the third wife of actor Cary Grant.-Early life and education:Drake, the eldest child of two American expatriates, was born in Paris, France...

 wrote the original script, and Grant originally intended that she would star with him. After he began an affair with Loren while filming The Pride and the Passion

The Pride and the Passion

The Pride and the Passion is a historical film drama starring Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren made by Stanley Kramer Productions. Set in the Napoleonic era, it is the story of a British officer who has orders to retrieve a huge cannon from Spain and take it to the British forces by ship...

, Grant arranged for Loren to take Drake's place with a rewritten script for which Drake did not receive credit. The affair ended in bitterness before The Pride and the Passions filming ended, causing problems on the Houseboat set. Grant hoped to resume the relationship, but Loren agreed to marry Carlo Ponti

Carlo Ponti

Carlo Ponti was an Italian film producer with over 140 production credits, and the husband of Italian movie star Sophia Loren.-Career:...

 instead.

Filming locations

Parts of the movie were filmed in Fort Washington, Maryland on the Potomac River and Piscataway Creek at the present site of Fort Washington marina.

Featured cast

Actor	Role
Cary Grant Cary Grant Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...	Tom Winters
Sophia Loren Sophia Loren Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...	Cinzia Zaccardi
Martha Hyer Martha Hyer Martha Hyer is an American actress.She attended Northwestern University and was a member of Pi Beta Phi fraternity. After completing her education, she next appeared in The Locket in 1946...	Carolyn Gibson
Paul Petersen Paul Petersen William Paul Petersen is an American movie actor, singer, novelist, and activist. Primarily known for his character-type roles in the 1960s and 1970s, as an adult Petersen established the organization A Minor Consideration to support child stars and other child laborers through legislation,...	David Winters
Charles Herbert Charles Herbert Charles Herbert is a former American child actor of the 1950s and 1960s. Before reaching his teens, Herbert was renowned by a generation of moviegoers for an on-screen broody, mature style and wit that enabled him to go one-on-one with some of the biggest names in the industry, and his appearances...	Robert Winters
Mimi Gibson Mimi Gibson Mimi Gibson is a former child actress. After the early death of her father, her mother took her and her sister to Los Angeles. At only 18 months, she was a popular calendar model, posing with cute animals. By age two she was appearing in movies. During the 1950s and early 1960s she would appear...	Elizabeth Winters
Harry Guardino Harry Guardino Harry Guardino was an American actor whose career spanned from the early 1950s to the early 1990s. In 1964, he was cast in a short-lived CBS series entitled The Reporter, a drama about a hard-hitting investigative journalist named Danny Taylor. His principal co-star was Gary Merrill as city...	Angelo Donatello
Eduardo Ciannelli Eduardo Ciannelli Eduardo Ciannelli, sometimes credited as Edward Ciannelli, , was an Italian baritone and character actor with a long career in American films, mostly playing gangsters and criminals.-Early life:...	Arturo Zaccardi
Werner Klemperer Werner Klemperer Werner Klemperer was a comedic and dramatic actor, best known for his role as Colonel Klink on the CBS television sitcom, Hogan's Heroes.-Early life:...	Harold Messner
John Litel John Litel John Litel was an American film actor. During World War I, Litel enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery....	William Farnsworth
Madge Kennedy Madge Kennedy Madge Kennedy was a movie and stage actress of the silent film era....	Mrs. Farnsworth

Awards

• The film was nominated for two Oscar Awards: one for Best Original Song for "Almost in Your Arms (Love Song from Houseboat)", and the other for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen.

• Harry Guardino was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
  Golden Globe Award
  The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
  
  for Best Supporting Actor.

• The movie won Golden Laurel Awards for Top Comedy and Top Male Comedy Performance by Cary Grant.