Houseboat

Isn't Romantic Comedy redundant?
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mrsl
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Houseboat

Post by mrsl »

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I recall seeing this on the big screen (must have been with my aunt on our annual together day), but seeing it today, I realized, this is probably the only movie Cary ever wore jeans, and he fills them out pretty darn well. Even in Father Goose, he always wore shabby Khakis, but here he's in jeans in two scenes. I looked up the time frames to be sure of what I was saying, and was surprised to find Houseboat was made only one year after the torrid affair Cary and Sophia had on the set of The Pride and the Passion. Apparently his ardor had not yet dulled, and it really shows in their one slow dance scene, but hers did and she had to complain to the director about his actions. It's hard to think of Cary Grant being that ga-ga over anyone.

In this, the distant father wakes up when informed that the late mother's family decided to farm out the three kids between Aunt Caroline (Martha Hyer), and the grandparents. So he takes the kids and through circumstances he ends up on a dilapidated houseboat, along with Sophia as a housemaid/babysitter. She happens to be the daughter of a renowned orchestra conductor, who being bored with the tour, has run into the youngest boy and ends up staying. Of course there are the usual pratfalls, jealous Aunt Caroline, and Harry Guardino at his young Italian stallion best. I have to admit the dialog was kind of snappy now and then, in fact had me lol. Sophia and Cary are both so great at comedy, their talents are what raises this above the three stooges level. And the children are handled beautifully in several instances. I'm looking forward to seeing it again soon.
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Anne


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jdb1

Re: Houseboat

Post by jdb1 »

I'm with you all the way on this one, Anne. I was a little girl the first time I saw it, and I loved it then (I'm sure for the kid element more than anything else). When I was about to watch it again as an adult, after many years, I wondered if I would like it as much as the first time. I certainly did, and I've enjoyed it as much on repeated viewings.

Interestingly, when I learned about the circumstances of the Loren/Grant affair, and then saw Houseboat again, it looked different to me. The slow dance scene is kind of sad-making, and I now find the wedding scene at the end the least credible scene in the movie.

As nice as the onscreen Loren/Grant sparks are in Houseboat, I think Loren actually generates a lot more (and without any offscreen backstory) with Gable in It Started in Naples, which was made shortly after Houseboat. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Loren wasn't one of millions of other movie-going women who was carrying a Platonic torch for Gable for years.

As for the men going ga-ga thing, apparently Loren generated a lot of that in her co-stars.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: Houseboat

Post by charliechaplinfan »

It's took me ages to get what was great about Sophia Loren, I didn't take to her in this movie, I had to see Italian movies to really get it. I can see it now but I guess her charms are more for the males. Cary was crazy about her and she went and married Carlo Ponti who did not measure up to him in the looks department but could guide her career.

I agree with you about the chemistry, it was more evident with Clark Gable, although Cary aged better Clark had something he didn't, I can't put my finger on it perhaps the kind of characters Cary played would wine and dine you, you couldn't be certain of that with Clark but I guess you'd have just as good a time.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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mrsl
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Re: Houseboat

Post by mrsl »

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Yes there is a sad feeling during the slow dance, but, not on her part but his, I felt the real sadness during the wedding ceremony. According to imdB and other things I've read in the past, she was over her 'crush' by the end of filming The Pride & the Passion, but he was not. He was in fact, still married to Betsy Drake at the time yet still sent flowers and such to Sophia. He was really hooked. You can't control who you love, you can control what you do with the feelings, but Cary had worked with the most beautiful women in H'wood, but something about Sophia hit him between the eyes. I've never disregarded an actor for having an affair with a co-star, they work so closely and even if those love scenes are choreographed, there must be occasional times when a kiss triggers something that hadn't even been felt 5 minutes before.

As for Sophia, I believe she really was in love with Carlo Ponti. Who can say what causes attraction? He had been managing her for years already, so it's not like it was something new. I think it was a matter of an Italian wife back in Italy which halted their getting married, but then she died, leaving him free. Clark was easy - he was a good time Charlie, and you probably knew where you stood with him.
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Anne


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charliechaplinfan
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Re: Houseboat

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I've read about Cary's affair with Sophia Loren, I think it was out of character for him, he didn't normally have affairs with leading ladies. I didn't know Carlo Ponti was married and his wife died only that she married him sometime after the affair with Cary Grant ended. I'm not sure but I think it only became public knowledge after Sophia wrote her memoires.

I suppose comparing Cary Grant and Clark Gable is like comparing apples and oranges, the only thing they seem to share in common is their initials.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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moira finnie
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Re: Houseboat

Post by moira finnie »

A little insight into the Ponti-Loren marriage from the New York Times archives:

Sophia Loren married Carlo Ponti by proxy in Mexico in 1957, reportedly three years after he had obtained a Mexican divorce from his first wife, (though some sources said that may not have been a valid dissolution of that marriage). Loren had been Ponti's protegee since she was a teenager. This marriage between the two was very big news worldwide, though the affair with Grant was a much quieter one, with few hints dropped in the press. Since divorce was not recognized in Italy at the time, when Loren and Ponti moved back to Italy, Carlo was eventually charged with bigamy, a political as well as hypocritical attempt by Italian authorities to embarrass Ponti for making legal what had been a common law marriage for a decade before the marriage ceremony, (everything would have been okay if he'd just lived with her, apparently). Italy's legal system was probably responding as well to the Vatican's criticism of Loren in the early '60s, when she showed up at the christening of her sister's baby (who was a granddaughter of Benito Mussolini, believe it or not) and was treated as though she was a walking "near occasion of sin". (Raised as a Roman Catholic, I try to remember this was the same era when Elizabeth Taylor's lifestyle was fair game for criticism by the cardinals, who apparently had skipped that part of the bible that asked us to "judge not; lest ye be judged.")

Thanks to the comical slowness of the Italian system of justice, Ponti's attorneys were able to get his '57 marriage annulled in Mexico to try to nullify the charge of bigamy (no dice, said the Italian prosecuting attorneys), though they were able to delay this bigamy trial for years*. The charges against the couple dragged on until 1968 when they were finally dropped for good, 11 years after they were first charged with this crime.

Not surprisingly, the Italian authorities later accused Sophia of violating another law related to taxes. I believe that Loren had to spend some time in jail, where she brought some class to the place. Not so oddly, Ponti and Loren moved away from Italy after these events, living in Switzerland and Paris while raising their two sons. From what I recall reading about Sophia's attitude toward the much older Ponti, she felt a deep loyalty to him, and thrived under his nurturing love for her, which may have provided her with the security her life lacked while growing up with an absent father, who barely acknowledged her existence.

I've always thought that Loren and Grant made a great couple on screen too. I think Houseboat had a bad case of the cutes at times, but liked the moments when Grant interacted with the children by himself. It was fun to see Eduardo Ciannelli playing a good guy as Loren's conductor father. She was very beautiful in this period, though I don't think she was very comfortable with English on screen until years later. I agree about the somber air surrounding the wedding scene.

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*if anyone has been following the trial of the young American student in Italy for slaying her roommate in Perugia, you may know that the murder trial took off for the entire summer! So much for swift justice.
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mrsl
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Re: Houseboat

Post by mrsl »

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Thanks Moira:

I knew all of that but wasn't sure about what happened to the Italian wife (I really thought she died until I started to read your account, then I recalled the newspaper headlines). I am old enough to have lived through it, but matters not personal to me are easily dismissed. What CCFan said about Cary is true - he was not known to have affairs with his leading ladies or anyone for that matter, and if he did, his agents and studio kept it all well hidden.
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Anne


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charliechaplinfan
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Re: Houseboat

Post by charliechaplinfan »

Moira I just read your reference to the trial of Amanda Knox in Italy. I thought it had gone quiet, now I know why. I don't know what to expect as the outcome of this trial but to suspend it like this is ridiculous.

Thanks for the insight into Loren and Ponti, it's very interesting. It call to question too that women like Loren who have missed a father, although they may fall hard for their handsome leading men wha they crave is the secure santuary of a man like Ponti who is willing to play husband and absent father too. Somehow I don't think Cary could have done that for her. Like most actors he was a little self centred.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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mrsl
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Re: Houseboat

Post by mrsl »

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CCFan:

As much as I've read and enjoyed your posts, I've never bothered with the time stamp on them. But when I saw the one above, I thought, what in the world is she doing up at that hour, until I realized your afternoon is our middle of the night.


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Anne


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ken123
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Re: Houseboat

Post by ken123 »

I just dont care for this film or for any Sophia films for that matter. Call me weird. :(
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: Houseboat

Post by charliechaplinfan »

mrsl wrote:.
CCFan:

As much as I've read and enjoyed your posts, I've never bothered with the time stamp on them. But when I saw the one above, I thought, what in the world is she doing up at that hour, until I realized your afternoon is our middle of the night.


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Anne I just saw your post. Yes, sometimes I'm posting and I stay connected for a couple of hours whilst I'm doing jobs and no other soul is at the Oasis during that time.

Ken, I felt like that until I saw Sophia's Italian films, then I changed my mind. She's pretty good. It Started in Naples is my favorite of her American films.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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Re: Houseboat

Post by knitwit45 »

ken123 wrote:I just dont care for this film or for any Sophia films for that matter. Call me weird. :(

ok, you're weird! :lol: :lol:
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ken123
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Re: Houseboat

Post by ken123 »

knitwit45 wrote:
ken123 wrote:I just dont care for this film or for any Sophia films for that matter. Call me weird. :(

ok, you're weird! :lol: :lol:
:lol:
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