Directed by Ralph Nelson
Produced by Robert Arthur
Written by S. H. Barnett
Peter Stone
Frank Tarloff
Starring Cary Grant
Leslie Caron
Trevor Howard
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) December 10, 1964
Running time 118 minutes
Language English
Father Goose is a 1964 romantic comedy film set in World War II, starring Cary Grant, Leslie Caron, and Trevor Howard. The name derives from "Mother Goose" which is a codename unwillingly used by Grant's character.
Plot
During the early days of World War II, South Pacific beachcomber Walter Eckland (Grant) is coerced by his old friend, Commander Frank Houghton (Howard), into becoming a coast-watcher for the Allies. He is escorted to a deserted island, to watch for Japanese planes passing overhead. As incentive, whisky is hidden in various spots around the island; every time he reports a sighting, once the sighting is confirmed by coast-watchers on other islands, he is rewarded with directions to a bottle. To further ensure he stays put, when Houghton leaves, his naval vessel "accidentally" hits Walter's boat, punching a gaping hole in its hull.
Later, Houghton finds a replacement. The only problem is, Walter has to retrieve him from a nearby island in enemy-infested waters. When Walter goes there in a dinghy, he unexpectedly finds Frenchwoman Catherine Frenau (Caron) and seven young schoolgirls under her care stranded there. She informs him that the man he came for was killed in an air-raid. He reluctantly takes them back with him.
There is no way to evacuate them safely, though Houghton arranges for more supplies to be dropped by parachute. The fastidious Catherine and the slovenly Walter soon get on each other's nerves; they call each other "Miss Goody Two Shoes" and "a rude, foul-mouthed, drunken, filthy beast". But after a while, he adjusts to her and her girls. Catherine is amused to learn that Walter had been a history professor before he ran away to the South Pacific to escape the rigid conformity. The two fall in love and arrange to be married by a minister over the radio.
A strafing Japanese airplane interrupts the ceremony. Since they have been detected, Houghton sends a submarine to pick them up, but an enemy patrol boat shows up at the same time. Walter takes his boat out to lure it out beyond the reef, so it can be torpedoed by the submerged sub. In the process, his boat is blasted out of the water, but he survives and everybody is safely evacuated.
Production
Father Goose was filmed on location in Jamaica.
Cast
(Codenames for each cast member are shown in parentheses)
- Cary Grant as Walter Christopher Eckland (Mother Goose)
- Leslie Caron as Catherine Freneau (Goody Two Shoes)
- Trevor Howard as Commander Frank Houghton (Big Bad Wolf)
- Jack Good as Lieutenant Stebbings (Bo Peep)
The children:
- Sharyl Locke as Jenny
- Pip Sparke as Anne
- Verina Greenlaw as Christine
- Stephanie Berrington as Elizabeth Anderson
- Jennifer Berrington as Harriet "Harry" MacGregor
- Laurelle Felsette as Angelique
- Nichole Felsette as Dominique
Reception
The film won the Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, which was written directly for the screen by S. H. Barnett, Peter Stone, and Frank Tarloff, and was also nominated for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. It received a nomination for the 1965 Golden Globe Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy award.
References
External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Father Goose (film)
- Father Goose at the Internet Movie Database
- Stephanie Berrington McNutt, one of the child actresses and now a lawyer, talks about making the movie
1960s
1970s