Grant is Walter Eckland, an antisocial, unkempt escapee from "civilization" that spends his time bumming around the South Seas on an old yacht. At the start of WWII, he's coerced into service as a "coast watcher", an observer stationed on a remote island as a lookout for Japanese planes or ships, by the wily and dry-witted local Royal Navy authority figure, Comdr. Houghton (Howard). Eckland is bribed with booze to perform in His Majesty's service. One of his first assignments is to boat over to another island and rescue a fellow coast watcher. But, on arriving, he finds only his colleague's grave and the Caron character, Catherine Freneau, the daughter of a French government official, who's been stranded with a bevy of underage schoolgirls of which she has charge. Walter naturally takes them back to his island and his hovel, where the differences between the two adults soon surface. To Eckland, Freneau becomes "Goody Two Shoes", while, to the latter, her knight in stained armor becomes the "Filthy Beast".

While admittedly silly entertainment, FATHER GOOSE is a delightful romantic comedy that doesn't, like some of the current Tinseltown offerings, rely for laughs on sensitive body parts being caught in zippers, bodily fluids masquerading as hair gel, or carnal knowledge of apple pies. This film has Class, chiefly due to the presence of Grant, who character demonstrates more suavity unshaven and without socks than any one of today's crop of male actors dressed up in a tux. (Perhaps only Sean Connery, Robert Redford and Paul Newman are close to being in the same league.) Caron's strong-willed and very feminine Freneau is more than a match for Eckland's obstinately boorish masculinity - a pairing made in heaven, or at least Hollywood.

Perhaps my high esteem for this film is more a function of nostalgia. But there're a lot of other films from that same period of my youth that are eminently forgettable, so I have to think that FATHER GOOSE is a cut above.


Father Goose   March 26, 2008
 38 out of 38 found this review helpful

Cary Grant is cast as Walter Eckland in this very funny classic comedy. His normal sexy leading man characteristics are downplayed to let his comedic genius shine through. He stars opposite Leslie Caron cast as Catherine Freneau. They are an accident waiting for a place to happen at their first meeting, and it just gets worse from there. Walter is bribed and threatened into service as a watcher in WWII. Catherine is a diplomat's daughter given the responsibility of escorting several school children into a safer area. When they are all stranded together, the hilarity, and battle of the sexes begins.

This is one of my favorite comedies, and one of Cary Grant's last movies. No one does it like he does. A great film that the entire family can enjoy together.



Goody Two Shoes and the Filthy Beast   November 2, 2001
 19 out of 24 found this review helpful

Walter Christopher Eckland (Cary Grant) A drifter, has obtained a boat from someone fleeing the oncoming war. Due to a lack of coast watchers (the "should have been" watcher getting himself eaten), Walter is pressed into service. Certain measures were taken to get him there and to encourage his participation.

On a mission to save a fellow cost watcher Walter ends up with Catherine Louise Marie Ernestine Freneau (Leslie Caron), who is escorting several schoolgirls out of harms way and was stranded. Place any man and woman on an island toss in some schoolgirls, a little liquor, snake, tie, Japanese, and you have a mixture for comedy.


A great classic comedy!   August 7, 2000
 13 out of 13 found this review helpful

"Father Goose" is one of my all-time favorite movies. Made in 1964, it's a warm, slightly off-beat romantic comedy, starring Cary Grant and Leslie Caron.

Walter Eckland (Grant) is an irascible, middle-aged, slightly besotted curmudgeon sailing the South Pacific during World War II in search of...well, something...anything! After getting caught "borrowing" some gasoline from the British Navy for his boat, he's blackmailed into serving as a plane spotter. Resentful after being stranded on a tiny island, he misses his liquid companionship, which the Navy has taken from him and hidden. So, Walter vows not to lift a finger to help the Navy. He relents, though, (after being promised some liquid refreshment) and motors on over to a neighboring island to rescue a fellow plane spotter in danger of capture by the Japanese.

Alas, the fellow plane spotter is dead. Walter instead finds Catherine Freneau, a very proper, teetotaling, but attractive French schoolteacher with seven young girls in her care. Stranded on the neighboring island, she asks Walter for help. He reluctantly agrees, and they all return to Walter's home base. And then...

Well, I won't give the story away. Needless to say, fireworks erupt between Catherine and Walter, and the classic battle of the sexes is on!

This is a very funny movie, although it's probably better for the guffaw and the bellylaugh, rather than the outright howl of laughter. Grant is superb in his role as the gruff but kind-hearted Walter (a refreshing departure from his usual role as a romantic "smoothie"), and Caron nearly steals the show with her comic portrayal of the equally warm-hearted schoolma'arm hiding behind a facade of old-fashioned primness.

If you like a good old-fashioned romantic comedy with great action, a superb plot, sparkling screenplay, lots of laughs, AND featuring your favorite stars...you'll love Father Goose!


Grant's Skills on Full Display in Lighthearted WWII Romp With a Game Caron   December 20, 2005
 10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I have a certain fondness for this 1964 movie because it is one of the earliest I remember seeing in the back of my parents' 1963 Rambler station wagon at the now-defunct Burlingame Drive-In near San Francisco. The film's catchy theme song, "Pass Me By", was in my head for years. In the intervening years, I have come to recognize Cary Grant's immaculate precision as a comic actor, and even playing a grizzled, alcoholic beachcomber like Walter Eckland, he still exudes the sharp wit and crack timing that is his hallmark. In fact, Grant is at the top of his game here.

Sharply written by Peter Stone and Frank Tarloff, the story revolves around Eckland's futile attempts to remain reclusive aboard his boat tooling around the South Pacific. Unfortunately, WWII is raging on, and the British Navy need to use him as a hidden spotter of Japanese fighter planes. He is tricked into the role and remains shipwrecked manning his post on an isolated island. Enter Catherine Freneau, a priggish French schoolteacher, who has been stranded on another island with seven schoolgirls. Eckland fetches them, and they all cohabitate with inevitable shenanigans occurring.

Director Ralph Nelson, who generally made relatively lightweight fare, keeps the story fairly facile until they come under attack and a suspenseful element is carried through to the end. In what turned out to be his last leading role, romantic or otherwise, Grant was applauded at the time for dispensing with his suave manner to inhabit this character, but actually it's a throwback to the everyman characters he played in "Only Angels Have Wings" and "Gunga Din". The difference is that at age sixty, he displays his talents as both romantic comedy lead and action hero with such seasoned adroitness.

As Catherine, Leslie Caron demonstrates just how greatly underrated she is as a comedy actress. Even though her character threatens to be strenuously rigid, she conveys Catherine's vulnerability with subtle nuance and also has a very funny drunk scene where she gets to show off her ballet dancer gams. Grant and Caron have great chemistry. Trevor Howard dryly plays Eckland's friendly adversary, Commander Houghton, who transmits instructions by ham radio, and the girls are all gratefully portrayed with individual personalities. I have always been impressed how this film maintains its light heart and humor even though it's clear that the wartime setting is a critical element of the plot. It remains good, solid entertainment.