Review of Houseboat (1958) by Sarah G — 21 Jul 2008
What's interesting about this movie is a the controversy about it, and seeing such tensions made evident in the film at times. Pretty much, Cary Grant was married to actress, Betsy Drake, at the time, who was originally supposed to play the role Loren played.
However, in the movie, "The Pride and the Passion" Grant and Loren met and had a steamy affair. This resulted in Grant requesting Loren's presence in his next project "Houseboat." What's been said is that Grant always loved her more than she him.
Grant allegedly asked her to marry him, yet she was around that time engaged to someone else. Cary Grant found this out the day they were shooting the wedding scene in "Houseboat." I say all this so that if you see this movie, you take note of every touch, every interaction between them.
Knowing all this real life backstory makes it all real interesting. Other than that, the movie was just okay for me. Grant isn't quite as charming as he normally is...way too serious...and not in a good way.
The plot doesn't always flow well and the script isn't as good as it could be. The most charming moment was when Sophia Leron spent time with one of Cary Grant's character's sons who had run away.
The child and Leron danced together and played some games at a carnival. it was very cute.
This review of Houseboat (1958) was written by Sarah G on 21 Jul 2008.
Houseboat has generally received positive reviews.
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