Hausboot (1958)

Hausboot: Directed by Melville Shavelson. With Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Martha Hyer, Harry Guardino. A widower, his three young children, and a bombshell nanny get to know each other better when circumstances have them living together aboard a badly neglected houseboat.

“At first glance, u0026quot;Houseboatu0026quot; looks like the worst type of sitcom: stern father gets saddled with his estranged children, later hiring a governess who is really a runaway from high society. Saccharin-prone viewers might bail early, but give it time. Cary Grant plays the dad with an amusing mixture of concern, consternation and suspicion; he enjoys a good time, but he goads his kids into being more than what he sees, and when his son pushes back it seems an exceptionally realistic reaction. As for Sophia Loren, basking in her movie-star close-ups, she takes a cartoonish character (which is written like a cynical refugee from u0026quot;Roman Holidayu0026quot;) and gives the lady a big heart. Her bonding with the children (and with Grant) is a treat, and while I wasnu0026#39;t quite convinced it would all work out happily, I was genuinely entertained. A surprising jewel. *** from ****”