Houseboat (film)

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Movie
German title Houseboat
Original title Houseboat
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1958
length 105 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Melville Shavelson
script Melville Shavelson ,
Jack Rose
production Jack Rose for
Paramount Pictures
music George Duning
camera Ray June
cut Frank Bracht
occupation

Hausboot (Original title: Houseboat ) is a romantic comedy film from 1958 by director Melville Shavelson , who also wrote the screenplay with Jack Rose . The main roles were played by Cary Grant and Sophia Loren .

action

Tom Winters is a successful Washington civil servant. When his wife, from whom he has been separated for years, dies in an accident, the lawyer, who is a completely inexperienced father, has to look after his three children from one day to the next. The bright siblings Robert, David and Elizabeth are rather skeptical about their father. As hard as Tom tries, the perky trio never misses an opportunity to make life difficult for him. In addition, his narrow apartment in the city is anything but child-friendly accommodation.

Due to lack of space, Tom decides to look for a new apartment and a housekeeper. When one day the attractive Cinzia Zaccardi stands in front of his door to bring the runaway Robert home, he offers her the job of housekeeper and nanny. Little does he know that Cinzia is really the spoiled daughter of the choleric star conductor Zaccardi, who for her part is looking for a change from the monotonous daily routine. On a whim, she gets involved in the game and accepts the job. Although she is completely unsuitable for any kind of housework, she can handle Tom's children brilliantly.

It doesn't take long for Robert, Elizabeth, and David to take Cinzia deeply into their hearts. Now all that's missing is a suitable place to stay. After the opportunity to take over the country house from Tom's sister-in-law had tumbled in a turbulent manner, Tom was forced to rent a houseboat on the Potomac River . However, the extraordinary dwelling soon becomes a battlefield for a stormy “war of the sexes”. Again and again the proud Cinzia and the strict Tom get into arguments. But also in matters of the heart, the sparks fly on the houseboat. When Cinzia is insulted by Tom's jealous sister-in-law and her friends at a party, Tom takes sides with Cinzia and decides to live with her and the children. In the end, both of them marry in the harmonious circle of their relatives on the houseboat.

background

  • The original script was written by Cary Grant's then-wife Betsy Drake , who was initially intended to play the female lead in the film. Grant had already started an affair with Sophia Loren a year earlier during the filming of Pride and Passion and even made her a marriage proposal. He hoped to build on the relationship from that time by working in Hausboot . Sophia Loren was annoyed by the new advances of her actor colleague, since she was in a relationship with Carlo Ponti , whom she then married during the filming on September 17, 1957. This conflict was a burden for everyone involved in the film project. The script was drastically rewritten by Melville Shavelson and Jack Rose and then had little resemblance to the original concept by Betsy Drake.
  • Filming took place in Washington, DC , and Fort Washington from August 1957 to October 1957 .
  • It was released in theaters on November 19, 1958 in the USA and on September 29, 1959 in Germany.

Reviews

“Realistic comedy in bright colors, whose commitment to the family is masked by half-truths, striking gender roles and slapstick. The not particularly inspired production gets its comedic highlights from the two good-humored main actors, who with their different temperaments ensure good entertainment. "

“A nice film from the happy family genre, which Hollywood has cultivated with true passion in earlier decades until it left the subject more and more to the relevant television series; After Houseboat , you haven't seen that kind of thing in the cinema often, especially not in such a star cast. "

- Donald Deschner: Cary Grant and his films, Citadel film book

Awards

Others

The plot of the German comedy A Houseboat to Fall in Love (2009) quotes motifs from the film.

DVD release

  • Houseboat , CIC Video / Paramount Home Entertainment 2004

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Houseboat (1958) - Trivia - IMDb. Retrieved June 12, 2020 .
  2. Houseboat (1958) - Locations - IMDb. Retrieved June 12, 2020 .
  3. Houseboat (1958) - Release info - IMDb. Retrieved June 12, 2020 .