The greatest movie ever made..!

Such a frustrating disappointment

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Cary Grant's effortless screen charisma was the primary selling point of a 1964 comedy called Father Goose.Grant lights up the screen as Walter, a beachcomber who lives on an isolated south seas island who has been recruited by the military to spot enemy aircraft during World War II, where he is allowed to pretty much live like a hermit and drink to his heart's content who finds his quiet existence disrupted by the arrival of a teacher (Leslie Caron) and seven young girls who have become shipwrecked on the same island as Walter.Peter Stone's screenplay, which seems to have been tailored to Grant's comic sensibilities, actually won an Academy Award, but it's not just the screenplay that works here, but the offbeat choice of character for Grant as well. Grant was always known as being suave, urbane, and sophisticated on screen, but Grant took a calculated risk here playing a character the polar opposite of his traditional on screen image...Walter is unshaven, slovenly, crude, self-absorbed, and a bit of a sexist and having such a character interacting with a straight-laced teacher and a group of young girls turned produced comic gold.Grant offers one his best performances here and his chemistry with Caron is surprisingly solid, considering the vast difference in their ages. I guess it isn't an issue here because the relationship between the two characters is more combative than romantic and Caron somehow manages to hold her own against a cinematic legend who, even though he would make his final film appearance three years later, proved that he still had the chops to carry a movie by himself, but he gets help here from an offbeat character, an unusual story, and breezy direction from Ralph Nelson.

A pack of school girls in uniform and caps running around in constant tropical heat? Food and water never a priority and nobody showing a trace of sweat? This movie is so silly and unbelievable the comedy seems to be straining and never hits home.Cary Gant and Trevor Howard put in good performances. But I don't know how these fine actors could have resisted smirking and scoffing at this silly script. With all the alcohol consumption tagged as funny and frivolous by the storyline, no wonder Trevor Howard became a serious alcoholic and later succumbed as a result.The World War 2 setting as backdrop for a situation comedy rivals Hogan's Heroes. If this had been a story about survival on a tropical island during the war, even with some comedy, it might have worked. But the party-like atmosphere and antics under what would really be fear and hardship makes it simply silly, vapid, and uninteresting. A waste of acting talent and energy.

During the start of World War II, Walter Eckland (Cary Grant) buys a boat on cheap to sail around in the south Pacific. He doesn't care about the world and not even the war. Australian Naval commander Frank Houghton (Trevor Howard) forces him to observe for the incoming Japanese. Just to be sure, Frank punches a hole in Walter's boat. Walter is stranded on a deserted island. His code name is Mother Goose. Frank has hidden bottles of boozes and gives Walter each location when he gives a confirmed sighting. Frank tricks Walter to rescue a man in danger from the Japanese. When he gets there, the man is dead and he finds schoolteacher Catherine Frenau (Leslie Caron) and seven schoolgirls. He's a drunk and she's a "Goody Two Shoes". They clash and eventually fall in love.Cary Grant is funny and charming as always. Leslie Caron is a bit young for Grant but they develop good chemistry. Verbal combat is always a good way to develop that chemistry. She's playing a bossy spinster. This is a fun little rom-com.

I'm confused by the number of good reviews for this film and even more by the Oscar this screenplay received. I guess people have childhood memories that are better than the picture.On the positive side, it was nice to see Cary Grant in a part outside of his usual flawless hero.On the negative side, "Father Goose" contains so much sexist propaganda that it had my girlfriend wincing in pain. That's a sad statement, because I never would have watched this film without her insistence.Grant plays an army officer consigned to a remote island to keep an eye on Japanese troop movements. He's shortly placed in charge of a group of school girls and their teacher, Leslie Caron.In pretty short order, we are treated to "hilarity" surrounding Grant's alcoholism. He discourages one of the young lady's crushes by coming on to her. Worst of all, we learn that the quickest way to a woman's heart is for her to be slapped in the face by a man. Over and over until she decides to marry the brute.For some reason, lots of reviewers seem to find this behavior enchanting, which makes some of the skewed ratings I've seen on IMDb all the more suspect.