A diet of novels is not enough. One must also watch old movies. I feel very strongly about that.
Here is a charming romantic comedy that checks all my boxes. Houseboat (1958) has everything I like in an old movie:
- A feisty and imperfect heroine – an actual, complex character
- Visual splendor (all-teal interior decor; gorgeous vehicles; the transformation of a gorgeous houseboat, not unlike that of The African Queen from 7 years earlier)
- Sparkling, almost volatile dialogue between Cary Grant and Sophia Loren, who have this palpable chemistry together
- Costumes by Edith Head, best era in fashion
“Would you like some tea?” – “Why yes I would, thank you very much,” is not what Cary Grant replies. Quite the opposite. First of all, I have always felt that Cary Grant wears an awful lot of bronzer, and this just proves it. Second of all, I don’t really like his character in this movie (or any movie), the writing, or the way he plays him; it’s very John Draper. Like, men in the ’50s are either written to be chivalrous or inexplicably rude..? I honestly just try to ignore him whenever he’s onscreen, so annoying.
Sophia Loren, playing the 22-year-old daughter of a world-renowned Italian orchestra conductor, exudes so much attitude but also, through her wardrobe, this hyper-distinctive elegance and sophistication—fitting for a character educated in elite Swiss schools, on whom no expense has been spared. This is some primo Dark Academia material right here, I love it.
But of course, she batters herself against the bars of her gilded cage, and we would expect nothing less. It’s great. Like in so many of Loren’s films, we have some scenes of peoples’ faces getting slapped – no spoilers, but if we were playing that drinking game where you take a shot every time somebody’s face gets straight-up slapped in an old movie, I think you’d be taking 2 shots.
I’m obsessed with Loren’s wardrobe, designed by the legendary Edith Head (I am utterly slain by the ensembles in every Audrey Hepburn movie she did). The clothes are a definite major highlight of the film; Loren shines in every scene she’s in. It’s everything, her body is made for these silhouettes, and the way she gesticulates and moves, animating them…
And, again, as in African Queen: the boat itself feels like a character in its own right. It undergoes this wonderful transformation. This is all VistaVision and Technicolor, BTW, so the entire film is this a dazzling spectacle—rich in color, detail. Movies like this, I devour with my eyes. They have a gem-like quality that I find very yummy.
There’s something terrifying to me about the casual misogyny of the ’50s, when I see it in old movies… This particular line of dismissal, uttered by Winter’s young son, captures the general sentiment really well.
In short, if you like old movies; if you like a spicy, lively vixen, trapped by and railing against the patriarchy, looking damn fine while doing it; if you like rom-coms with some weird family dynamics; if you like pretty clothes and pretty pictures, then I highly recommend Houseboat.