Tuesday, January 07, 2014

Overlooked Movies: Father Goose

Leslie Caron and Cary Grant.  That should be enough right there to get you to watch this movie.  Grant plays against type as a scruffy, drunken beach bum during WWII, the Big One.  He's stranded on an uninhabitaed island by Trevor Howard, who's put him there to watch for Japanese planes and given him the code name of Mother Goose.  Howard puts a hole in Grant's boat to be sure he stays there.  There's whiskey, though, so Grant's not entirely unhappy.  

Still, he's grateful for the chance to pick up his replacement, and he takes off in a dinghy to a neighboring island to pick the guy up.  When he arrives at the island, he finds that the replacement has been killed and that Leslie Caron is there.  Would you be disappointed?  Well, Grant is, but he finally agrees to take Caron with him to his own island. That's when she springs something else on him: seven little girls.  It takes more persuasion, but Grant gives in.

It turns out that Caron is a neat and tidy person, very much opposed to scruffy old guys who don't clean up their dwellings or their persons. Grant's kicked out of his house and his whiskey is confiscated.  He and Caron start insulting each other at every opportunity.

Need I say more?  You can guess what happens, I know, but not how it happens.  Besides, the trip to the ending is what matters, and it's a lot of fun.  Or it was for me.  Sure, it's sentimental, but it's also very funny.  Grant is a great comedic actor (and so, it turns out, is Trevor Howard), and Leslie Caron is wonderful.  If you need cheering up, this is one to watch.

6 comments:

Todd Mason said...

Would you be disappointed?

Well, probably not (though I might have my beloved seltzers and diet drinks confiscated), but Cary Grant the man might be, even as the character was, for slightly different reasons. But, then again, the popular read on Barbara Stanwyck has been disputed...and some folks are still resistant, for a variety of incorrect reasons, to the notion that people can play on more than one team...

Anonymous said...

Spot on, Bill. I watch at least part of the movie anytime it's on. It is a joy.

Stilwell

Anonymous said...

I haven't seen this one in donkey's years (which WBAGNFARB) but I remember it fondly.

Jeff

Gerard said...

This frequently played on television several years ago. A favorite of mine.

Michael E. Stamm said...

This was the only Cary Grant movie I saw on the big screen, when it was released; I think it was his next-to-last. I've loved it, and him, and her, ever since, and have always remembered the theme song ("Pass Me By"). Thanks for posting this.

Jeff Flugel said...

I too really enjoy this film and especially Grant's irascible performance, said to be closer to his own true nature than his usual suave movie persona. Leslie Caron is beautiful and charming, and the wartime South Pacific island setting an unusual one for a romantic comedy.