As others have said, there are elements of The African Queen and The Beachcomber in Father Goose, but I don't know if anyone has mentioned The Pied Piper (1942), in which crusty old grouch Monty Woolley led a group of schoolchildren to safety in the middle of World War Two. Father Goose kind of reminded me of that one, too.
Which is to say, this isn't the most original idea for a movie. And frankly, it's not done in a particularly fresh way. Something about it seems a little tired. Maybe it's Cary Grant, who was around 60 at the time. He looks great for 60, but then his co-star is in her early 30s. And anyway, is he supposed to look great? He's playing a drunken sot living in an old shack on a Pacific island.
I'm not saying he doesn't try to dress and act the part, but you can only mess up a handsome guy like Grant so much, and his face and body are still attractive, in spite of some stubble and dirt.
Somehow the movie doesn't really go far enough, either. But I'm not sure what the problem is. You don't ever get the feeling any of it is real. It seems like Grant is just acting, and you know he's going to go home to his soft bed at night, somewhere in Los Angeles.
The teaming of him with Caron seems more like a Hollywood package deal than inspiration. Wouldn't this have been better with, say, Deborah Kerr? Maybe even Katharine Hepburn. Grant complained that his costars kept getting younger - so why didn't he try to act with any older women?
Don't get me wrong - Caron is an excellent actress. But aside from the age gap, I don't think these two have any natural chemistry. Nor do I think the director, Ralph Nelson, is inspired, in any way. Even the filming location - Jamaica - seems uninspired, un-Pacific, and unexciting. And the schoolgirls Caron has in tow are simply unlikeable.
Trevor Howard is around, too, as a Naval officer who interacts with Grant - often by short-wave radio.
I don't mean to say it's a bad film but it's little more than pleasant. Ralph Nelson did direct the delightful Lilies of the Field the year before, but mostly he was adept at more dramatic fare, and he didn't inject too much personality into his films. If someone like Howard Hawks had directed Father Goose it may have had more life and spark.
Which is to say, this isn't the most original idea for a movie. And frankly, it's not done in a particularly fresh way. Something about it seems a little tired. Maybe it's Cary Grant, who was around 60 at the time. He looks great for 60, but then his co-star is in her early 30s. And anyway, is he supposed to look great? He's playing a drunken sot living in an old shack on a Pacific island.
I'm not saying he doesn't try to dress and act the part, but you can only mess up a handsome guy like Grant so much, and his face and body are still attractive, in spite of some stubble and dirt.
Somehow the movie doesn't really go far enough, either. But I'm not sure what the problem is. You don't ever get the feeling any of it is real. It seems like Grant is just acting, and you know he's going to go home to his soft bed at night, somewhere in Los Angeles.
The teaming of him with Caron seems more like a Hollywood package deal than inspiration. Wouldn't this have been better with, say, Deborah Kerr? Maybe even Katharine Hepburn. Grant complained that his costars kept getting younger - so why didn't he try to act with any older women?
Don't get me wrong - Caron is an excellent actress. But aside from the age gap, I don't think these two have any natural chemistry. Nor do I think the director, Ralph Nelson, is inspired, in any way. Even the filming location - Jamaica - seems uninspired, un-Pacific, and unexciting. And the schoolgirls Caron has in tow are simply unlikeable.
Trevor Howard is around, too, as a Naval officer who interacts with Grant - often by short-wave radio.
I don't mean to say it's a bad film but it's little more than pleasant. Ralph Nelson did direct the delightful Lilies of the Field the year before, but mostly he was adept at more dramatic fare, and he didn't inject too much personality into his films. If someone like Howard Hawks had directed Father Goose it may have had more life and spark.