How Long Is “Father Goose”?

Cary Grant plays Walter Eckland, an irascible beach bum persuaded by Commander Frank Houghton to become a 'spotter' based on an uninhabited Pacific island during the Second World War. His job is to report enemy shipping movements in return for a regular supply of Scotch. But his life is interrupted by the arrival of shipwrecked school teacher Catherine Freneau and her six female charges. They're a chalk-and-cheese couple; he dissolute, she strait-laced but slowly their antipathy begins to thaw until matters take a dramatic turn when the Japanese land on the island. Ralph Nelson's romantic comedy works not just because of two outstanding stars but also thanks to the six girls who lead Eckland a merry dance.