Father Goose (1964) is a romantic comedy film set in World War II, starring Cary Grant, Leslie Caron, and Trevor Howard. The name derives from "Mother Goose" which is a codename unwillingly used by Grant's character.

Plot

During the early days of World War II, South Pacific beachcomber Walter Eckland (Grant) is coerced by his old friend, Commander Frank Houghton (Howard), into becoming a coast-watcher for the Allies. He is escorted to a deserted island, to watch for Japanese planes passing overhead. As incentive, whisky is hidden in various spots around the island; every time he reports a sighting, once the sighting is confirmed by coast-watchers on other islands, he is rewarded with directions to a bottle. To further ensure he stays put, when Houghton leaves, his naval vessel "accidentally" hits Walter's boat, punching a gaping hole in its hull.

Promotional photo of Leslie Caron in Father Goose

There is no way to evacuate them safely, though Houghton arranges for more supplies to be dropped by parachute. The fastidious Catherine and the slovenly Walter soon get on each other's nerves; they call each other "Miss Goody Two Shoes" and "a rude, foul-mouthed, drunken, filthy beast". But after a while, he adjusts to her and her girls. Catherine is amused to learn that Walter had been a history professor before he ran away to the South Pacific to escape the rigid conformity. The two fall in love and are married by a minister over the radio.

A Japanese airplane picks that moment to strafe the ceremony. Since they have been detected, Houghton sends a submarine to pick them up, but an enemy patrol boat shows up at the same time. Walter takes his boat out to lure it out beyond the reef, so it can be torpedoed by the submerged sub. In the process, his boat is blasted out of the water, but he survives and everybody is safely evacuated.

Cast

(Codenames for each cast member are shown in brackets)

• Cary Grant as Walter Christopher Eckland (Mother Goose)
• Leslie Caron as Catherine Freneau (Goody Two Shoes)
• Trevor Howard as Commander Frank Houghton (Big Bad Wolf)
• Jack Good as Lieutenant Stebbings (Bo Peep)

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
• Nichole Felsette as Dominique

Awards

The movie won the Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, which was written directly for the screen by S. H. Barnett, Peter Stone, and Frank Tarloff, and was also nominated for Best Film Editing and Best Sound.

It received a nomination for the 1965 Golden Globe Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy award.

Production

Father Goose was filmed on location in Jamaica.

External links

• Stephanie Berrington McNutt, one of the child actors and now a lawyer, talks about making the movie

de:Der große Wolf ruft fr:Grand méchant loup appelle it:Il gran lupo chiama pt:Father Goose tr:?a?k?n Baba (film)

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