Father Goose (film)

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Reception
5 Awards and nominations
6 References
7 External links

Father Goose

Directed by Ralph Nelson
Produced by Robert Arthur
Written by S. H. Barnett
Peter Stone
Frank Tarloff
Starring Cary Grant
Leslie Caron
Trevor Howard
Studio Granox Productions
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

While the Royal Australian Navy evacuates Salamaua in February 1942 ahead of a Japanese invasion, Commander Frank Houghton (Howard) coerces old friend, American beachcomber Walter Eckland (Grant), into becoming a coast-watcher for the Allies. Houghton takes Eckland, who is uninterested in anything other than fishing and drinking, to deserted Matalava Island to watch for Japanese planes. As incentive, whisky is hidden in various spots around the island; when Eckland reports a plane, once coast-watchers on other islands confirm it, Houghton rewards him with directions to a bottle. To further ensure he remains on duty Houghton's naval vessel "accidentally" hits Eckland's boat, leaving a large hole in its hull.

Houghton finds a replacement watcher, but Eckland has to retrieve him from a nearby island. 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, and Eckland reluctantly takes them back with him.

There is no way to evacuate them safely, though Houghton drops more supplies by parachute. The fastidious Frenau and the slovenly and uncouth Eckland's personalities clash; they call each other "Miss Goody Two Shoes" and "a rude, foul-mouthed, drunken, filthy beast". He adjusts to her and her girls, however, and cares for her through what they mistakenly believe is a deadly snakebite. Frenau learns that Eckland had been a history professor before he fled civilization to the South Pacific.

The "frustrated spinster" and the "undisciplined, self-indulgent escapist" fall in love and arrange to be married by a military chaplain over the radio. A Japanese airplane interrupts the ceremony. Since they have been detected Houghton sends an American submarine to pick them up, but an enemy patrol boat shows up at the same time. Eckland takes his boat out to lure the Japanese vessel out beyond a reef so the submarine can torpedo it. His boat is sunk, but Eckland survives and the submarine safely evacuates everyone.

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

Production

Father Goose was filmed on location in Jamaica.

Reception

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (May 2010)

Time Out Film Guide panned the film, complaining, "It's a shame that Grant ... should have logged this sentimental claptrap as his penultimate film" and "Grant frequently looks as if he really didn't want to be there, wading lost in a sludge of turgid drama and pallid comedy." Film4 agreed, stating "the story all too slowly descends into sentimental sludge."

Awards and nominations

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

^ Established by the mention of the surrender of Singapore
^ "Father Goose (1964)". Time Out Film Guide. http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/66491/father_goose.html. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
^ "Father Goose". Film4. http://www.film4.com/reviews/1964/father-goose. Retrieved March 21, 2010.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Father Goose (film)

Films directed by Ralph Nelson

1960s

Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) • Lilies of the Field (1963) • Soldier in the Rain (1963) • Fate Is the Hunter (1964) • Father Goose (1964) • Once a Thief (1965) • Duel at Diablo (1966) • Counterpoint (1967) • Charly (1968)

1970s

...tick...tick...tick... (1970) • Soldier Blue (1970) • Flight of the Doves (1971) • The Wrath of God (1972) • The Wilby Conspiracy (1975) • Embryo (1976) • A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich (1978)