Father Goose

Since we're Cary Grant fans around here, this afternoon we watched this movie from 1964, pretty late in his career. I saw it back when it was new but hadn't watched it since then, so it was almost like I hadn't seen it before.

It's a minor entry in the list of Grant's films but still pretty enjoyable. Set in the Pacific during the early days of World War II, it's the story of a coastwatcher and all-around reprobate (Grant), who gets saddled with taking care of the daughter of a French diplomat and the seven schoolgirls who she's taken under her wing as they try to stay out of the hands of the Japanese. Leslie Caron (not a favorite of mine) plays the French woman; Trevor Howard is the Australian officer who coerces Grant's character into taking the job as a coastwatcher, who reports by radio about enemy ships and planes he observes from his hidden post.

There's a little action, and a slight sense of the fact that at this point during the war, everybody was afraid that the Japanese were going to invade Australia. Mostly, though, what you get is romantic comedy, and there were few better at that than Cary Grant. He's as smooth and likable here as ever. This is an amiable movie, far from a classic but a pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours.