FATHER GOOSE (1964), starring Cary Grant & Leslie Caron. Written by Peter Stone and Frank Tarloff. Directed by Ralph Nelson
ANGELA SAYS:
This one didn't live up to my expectations. I found the first part of the movie very funny as Commander Houghton manipulated Eckland (Cary Grant) into becoming a reluctant coast watcher in the early days of WWII. The interactions between the two is hilarious, and the frustration of Lt. Stebbings as he tries to insist on proper radio protocol and code names is a good side joke. The first real issue I had with the movie was the small launch Eckland took to pick up his replacement. Once it was overloaded with another adult and seven children, of assorted sizes, there wouldn't have been any question about it's being swamped and sunk in the wake of the larger ships.
Once the school girls and Freneau (Leslie Caron) appeared on the scene it felt like a different movie. I felt like it became the typical “orphans sent to the inappropriate uncle movie”. They took over the island and refused to listen to Eckland, granted, they cleaned up and organized the hut. But Freneau refused to listen to anything Eckland said, even when it made sense. It felt like Eckland was the only one who was aware a war was on and the Japanese were coming any day. The children, especially the younger ones, get a pass here, but Freneau should have been much more careful with, and aware of, what the girls were doing.
Lastly, the romance felt contrived. It was like someone said, “Oh, this is supposed to be a ROMANTIC comedy, these two have to fall in love and get married.” I got much more of a brother/sister chemistry between Grant and Caron than a romantic couple. Even the “romantic” moments of the movie felt disjointed.
Overall, not one of my favorites. But (and it's a big but) no time spent with Cary Grant is ever wasted. He is one of my favorite classic-era stars.
TIM SAYS:
Angela is being too hard on the movie. For instance, the point that the dingy was overloaded when Eckland brought the ladies to the island was made in the movie and we see them frantically bailing out water to keep from sinking. Yes, there is an excellent chance they would have sunk in real life, but that would have been a pretty abrupt and depressinging ending. And Catherine not listening to Eckland even when he was giving them reasonable instructions (such as "Stay off the beach") fits her character and shows that she needed just as much character growth as he did. She was initially stuck up enough to automatically dismiss anything the "filthy beast" said.
Also, for a movie that is a broad comedy, I enjoyed that there were subtle examples of character growth, such as Eckland gradually beginning to do his job as a coast watcher without needing to be bribed with whiskey first.
The romance was indeed contrived, but it was hilarious--especially the wedding. I'm sure Angela would agree that our own wedding would have been infinitely more interesting if we had held the ceremony in a seedy hut in the South Pacific while being strafed by a Japanese Zero. That's everyone's dream wedding, by golly!
So for me, the romance gets a pass due to Rule of Funny, even if it fails to be romantic in any real-life sense. It is, after all, a comedy.
