Cary Grant, Charles Herbert, Eduardo Ciannelli

Cary Grant and Sophia Loren look just swell together in Houseboat, and why shouldn't they? Grant was still at his best, Loren was bewitching Hollywood as an exotic new ingénue, and offscre...( read more  read more... )en they had had a torrid affair a couple of years earlier, during the shooting of The Pride and the Passion. The two tanned stars are the main attraction in this romantic comedy, which installs single dad Cary and his three children on a dilapidated houseboat on the Potomac River. Sophia is the maid, except she's not really a maid but the cultured daughter of a famous musician. Yes, this is one of those situation comedies in which every problem could be cleared up if only one character told the truth about the situation. If that sort of thing drives you crazy, best skip this one. It's no classic, but those two icons are awfully appealing. --Robert Horton

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72% liked it

6,207 ratings

Unrated, 109 min.

Directed by: Melville Shavelson

Release Date: November 19, 1958

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DVD Release Date: November 5, 2002

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Flixster Reviews (238)


  • August 10, 2009
    Cute entertaining flick from Cary Grant. Not one of his best, but I could spend two hours watching Cary Grant take out his trash. This time around he's a divorced man taking in his three young kids after their mother dies in a car accident. He hasn't been much of a father up unti...( read more)l now, so he's having to spend a little while getting the kids to like him again. When the youngest boy wanders off during a concert and is found by Sophia Loren, she takes him back to Grant's apartment and the kids beg him to hire her as their maid. Through a series of events, the family ends up living on a houseboat. In the meantime....well, you can guess what happens from here. Cary and Sophia scratch and claw at each other first, but then instead of fur, sparks fly. Grant is gorgeous, Sophia is gorgeous, and the whole film is a fun little romp suitable for the whole family. And unlike 90% of the romcoms, this one didn't make me nauseous. Good job.
  • July 20, 2009
    I absolutely love these old classics and I love Cary Grant. How about that Sophia Loren? Wow, what a combination. This movie was really sweet. This pair help each other out in starnge ways. The man learns to be a father and the rich girl learns to be a maid and cook. This is fun...( read more)ny, heartwarming and has the beautiful atmosphere as all the old classics have. What a wonderful way tp spend my sunday afternoon. If anyone likes these classics this is definetly one to watch.
  • April 23, 2008
    love this film if only for the chemistry between it's top stars...electric!
  • February 3, 2008
    Pending Review...

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  • June 16, 2007
    A pretty dumb romantic comedy that skirts a little too close to sitcom territory for comfort, but it's Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. And you can't argue with that.
  • August 10, 2009
    ok seems a bit dated but still enjoyable
  • June 27, 2009
    I thought this would have been better but its somthing I would watch again.
  • May 1, 2009
    Very funny film with a much younger Sophia Loren, This was their second film together but much better than the first.
  • December 23, 2008
    just an adorible movie, ive watched it many times and to me its one of thosse movies you could watch over & over! about a rich girl and a bachelor, he has 3 children he has to raise by himself he decides to hire a houskeeper....for his apartment, then decides the apartment is far...( read more) to small for all five of them, and gets an offer from a sister in law of his to a house being put out in the country, he agrees and the house gets recked by a train because the guy moving it gets side tracked by the sexy...carefree cinzia (sophia) and the friend "angelo" feels in his depted and leads him to the houseboat he owns and gives it to him for free they fix it up and fall in love of coarse over time and she misses her own country in italy and still wants to mary mr winters. another woman comes into mr winters life "carlyn" that sister in law that wanted to sell him that house that got ruined! anywhaes she asks him to marry her and says that shes always loved him but her sister beat her to him, they acept to marrie oneanother, and when chinzia finds out she hast to leave as much as shes conected to all the kids robert, micheal, and the little girl, and exspecialy the feelings for mr. winters...she wouldint want to see him and carlyn togather! so when she goes to leave he thinks of it as a big loss if she left him now, even though she cant cook, he loves her and they get married happi ever after!!!!
  • December 12, 2008
    Gotta love Cary Grant!

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Houseboat Trivia


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