Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

ofpsmith Father Goose is a great film, with a great story, great characters, and great actors. Walter Eckland (Cary Grant) is a man who ran away from society on a boat. He is pretty much aimless and does almost nothing for anyone else's benefit. But during World War 2 Royal Australian Navy Commander Frank Houghton (Trevor Howard) pushes Walter to become a watchman on a desolate pacific island so he just searches for Japanese planes. One day he comes across Catherine Freneau (Leslie Caron) a snobby school teacher and all of her female pupils who inadvertently end up on Walter's island. The writing in this movie is great. All of the characters are fantastic, Walter, Catherine, Commander Houghton are all enjoyable. And all the acting is stellar from top to bottom. I can definitely recommend this movie. You will not be disappointed.

tigerized No, it's not a high budget, CG intensive, action packed blockbuster. It's half a century old, contains no vulgarities or explicit scenes, no gore, very little gunfire, and only two decent explosions at the very end. (Sorry.) I do believe, however, that Father Goose is everything it was intended to be, and more. It's become a staple of regular viewing over the years in our household, to the point where bits of dialog are quoted frequently as perfect rejoinders. Even our kids say "All of them, Frank" when asked a question where a quantity or amount is the logical answer. (In more adult settings, "my coconut is empty" is more frequently employed.) For a film to work its way into the subconscious like this means the viewer has found something to cherish and commit to memory, and pull out with some glee whenever the situation warrants. Of course, this effort is wasted on those who haven't viewed the film. Fortunately, this is easily corrected.Cary Grant is the perfect reclusive curmudgeon who only wants to be left alone to pursue his dual pastimes of cruising the South Pacific and drinking. Leslie Caron is his ideal opposite, a school mistress stranded with her young charges on a remote island facing Japanese invasion. In spite of the mutual hostility, the story of them finding common ground to keep the girls safe is hilarious and heart warming, especially when framed by the harsh realities of World War II in the South Pacific.Produced at a time before filmmakers were constrained by political correctness in scripting and casting, Father Goose contains no overt or even subtle societal or political messages. In this regard, it's very refreshing to watch and enjoy. It contains enough suspense and clever dialog to keep adults engaged, and yet remains safe enough for family viewing. It's a romantic comedy that even guys and kids can enjoy, very well written and acted, and still holds up well even decades later.

tommyknobnocker 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.

MARIO GAUCI Cary Grant's penultimate film was one I had missed out on countless times on Italian TV: it is a curious blend of romantic comedy and war adventure (winning the Best Screenplay Oscar no less) that proves a surprisingly palatable, if overlong, confection. Grant is an alcoholic loner assigned through devious means (by Australian officer Trevor Howard) as a watcher for approaching enemy aircraft on a Pacific island; his codename is "Mother Goose" and they strike a bargain that, with every sighting Grant reports, Howard will divulge the location of one of the many whiskey bottles strategically hidden on the island! The lifestyle of the usually debonair star (here more self-centered than ever and looking deliberately shabby) is thrown further off-balance with the unexpected appearance of Leslie Caron, daughter of the French consul, and her seven girl charges of varying ages (all off-springs of international diplomats); needless to say, he also loses his autonomy of the shack/outpost and is forced to take refuge in the run-down boat that was purposely damaged by Howard to prevent Grant from giving him the slip! Gradually, though, the impressionable children are drawn to our cynical and reluctant hero: the eldest even becomes infatuated with him, while the youngest – who had not spoken a word since their arrival – finally lets loose thanks to his 'support'; besides – as was the norm with old-style Hollywood fare, irrespective of genre – after the initial animosity, Grant and (the much-younger) Caron realize they are made for each other…leading to a marriage ceremony via radio while the island is under aerial attack! As I said, FATHER GOOSE goes through several moods (a battle-of-the-sexes scenario, child interest, thrills, exotic locale) and does so relatively successfully on all fronts: naturally, Grant is always worth watching and the film undeniably very funny in spots and good-looking to boot.