''Father Goose'' is a 1964 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film set in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, starring

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...

, Leslie Caron and Trevor Howard. The title derives from "

Mother Goose The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howeve ...

," the

code name A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial ...

assigned to Grant's character. Based on a story ''A Place of Dragons'' by Sanford Barnett, The film won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. It introduced the song "Pass Me By" by

Cy Coleman Cy Coleman (born Seymour Kaufman; June 14, 1929 – November 18, 2004) was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist. Life and career Coleman was born Seymour Kaufman in New York City, United States, to Eastern European Jewish parents ...

and

Carolyn Leigh Carolyn Leigh (August 21, 1926 – November 19, 1983) was an American lyricist for Broadway, film, and popular songs. She is best known as the writer with partner Cy Coleman of the pop standards "Witchcraft" and " The Best Is Yet to Come". With ...

, later recorded by

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

and others. It was Grant's penultimate film.

Plot

While the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister o ...

evacuates Salamaua in February 1942 ahead of a Japanese invasion,

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Frank Houghton coerces an old friend, American beachcomber Walter Eckland, into becoming a coast watcher for the Allies. Houghton escorts Eckland to deserted Matalava Island to watch for Japanese airplanes. To ensure Eckland stays put, Houghton sees to it that his own ship "accidentally" knocks a hole in Eckland's launch while departing, so his only boat is a utility

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, whic ...

. To motivate Eckland, Houghton has his crew hide bottles of whisky around the island, rewarding each aircraft sighting (once it is confirmed) with directions to one of the bottles. Eventually, Houghton offers Eckland a replacement (actually another coast watcher in need of rescue), but Eckland has to retrieve him from nearby Bundy Island by dinghy. He instead finds eight civilians stranded there who escaped from

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

: Frenchwoman Catherine Freneau and seven young schoolgirls (four British, two French and an Australian) under her care. She informs him that the man he came for was killed in an air raid. Eckland reluctantly takes the party back to Matalava with him, but there is no safe way to evacuate them. The fastidious Freneau clashes repeatedly with the slovenly, uncouth Eckland; they call each other "Miss Goody Two Shoes" and "a rude, foul-mouthed, drunken, filthy beast," respectively. In the end, though, he adjusts to her and the girls, with Eckland getting one of the traumatised girls to speak again. Freneau learns that Eckland had been a history teacher before he became fed up and chose life in the South Pacific. Afterwards, Eckland cares for Freneau after they mistakenly believe she has been bitten by a deadly snake. With nothing else to do, he gives her whiskey; she gets drunk and speaks freely. Now in love, the couple arrange to be married by a

military chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term '' ...

over the radio, but strafing by a Japanese airplane interrupts the ceremony. Since they have been detected, Houghton sends an American submarine, USS ''Sailfin'', to pick them up, but an enemy patrol boat shows up first. Leaving Freneau and the schoolgirls in his dinghy, Eckland takes his now-repaired launch out to lure the Japanese vessel beyond the surrounding reef so the submarine can torpedo it. The Japanese sink the launch, but the submarine sinks the patrol boat. An uninjured Eckland, his wife, and the girls are picked up.

Cast

as Walter Christopher Eckland * Leslie Caron as Catherine Louise Marie Ernestine Freneau * Trevor Howard as Commander Frank Houghton * Jack Goode as Lieutenant Stebbings * Peter Forster as the chaplain * Simon Scott as submarine captain * Ken Swofford as submarine helmsman 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 * Nicole Felsette as Dominique

Production

''Father Goose'' was filmed on location in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

. When Grant was asked by a Universal Pictures executive to read the short story, he liked it well enough to pass it along to Peter Stone, who told him he wanted to write the screenplay. Grant then arranged for him to be signed to ''Father Goose''; Stone's contract called for a picture a year for five years. Director Ralph Nelson stated he tried to avoid professional child actors; with one exception, he succeeded. The Japanese patrol vessel at the end of the film was portrayed by a former U.S. Coast Guard wood hull 83-foot WPB patrol boat.

Reception

''Father Goose'' grossed $12,500,000 at the domestic box office, earning $6 million in US theatrical rentals. '' 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 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms ...

agreed, stating "the story all too slowly descends into sentimental sludge." In its contemporary review, '' Variety'' found more to like: "Cary Grant comes up with an about-face change of character.... eplays an unshaven bum addicted to tippling and tattered attire, a long way from the suave figure he usually projects but affording him opportunity for nutty characterization. Leslie Caron and Trevor Howard are valuable assists to plottage...."''Daily Variety'', December 31, 1963

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' critic, considered it "a cheerfully fanciful fable" and "some harmless entertainment". Of the title character, he wrote, "It is not a very deep character or a very real one, but it is fun."

Awards and nominations

S. H. Barnett, Peter Stone, and

Frank Tarloff Frank Tarloff (February 4, 1916 – June 25, 1999) was a blacklisted American screenwriter who won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for '' Father Goose''. A child of Polish immigrant parents, Tarloff grew up in Brooklyn, New York, ...

won the Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, which was written directly for the screen.

Ted J. Kent Theodore John Kent (October 6, 1901 – June 17, 1986) was an American film editor who was nominated for Best Film Editing at the 1964 Academy Awards for the film '' Father Goose''. He worked on over 150 films from 1929 to 1967, including many ...

was nominated for Best Film Editing and Waldon O. Watson for Best Sound. It received a nomination for the 1965

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy award.

References

External links

* * * * *
Stephanie Berrington McNutt, one of the child actresses and now a lawyer, talks about making the movie
{{Ralph Nelson 1964 films 1964 romantic comedy films 1960s adventure comedy films American adventure comedy films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Ralph Nelson Films scored by Cy Coleman Films set on islands Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award Pacific War films Universal Pictures films War adventure films 1960s American films