Houseboat is a 1958 American romantic comedy film directed by Melville Shavelson. Both the love theme "Almost In Your Arms", sung by Sam Cooke and "Bing! Bang! Bong!", sung by Sophia Loren, were written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. It was presented in Technicolor and VistaVision. Starring Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Martha Hyer, Harry Guardino, the film was written by Shavelson and Jack Rose on the basis of an original script by Grant's wife at the time, Betsy Drake. It was released on November 19, 1958. Plot For over three years, Tom Winters (Cary Grant), a lawyer working for the US State Department, has been separated from his wife and three children: David (Paul Petersen), Elizabeth (Mimi Gibson), and Robert (Charles Herbert). The film begins as he returns home to Washington from Europe following his wife's death. The children want to stay in the countryside with their mother's wealthy parents and her sister Carolyn (Martha Hyer), but instead Tom takes them with him to live in Washington, D.C. They all visit the Washington Monument. Robert complains about visiting dead people. One evening, they attend the Boston Symphony. Robert disrupts the concert when he plays his harmonica. An Italian girl, Cinzia (Sophia Loren), laughs. After the concert ends, Robert separates himself from the family and disappears. Cinzia has an argument with her father. Robert later shows up in a small rowboat with Cinzia, who seeks to experience America up close and personal. They land at a nearby carnival, where they eat pizza, dance, and "win" a harmonica. Robert catches on quickly on how to play a song on his new harmonica. Later, she brings Robert home to a worried Tom. Cinzia's father is upset with her arriving home so late. He demands that she travel with him. Cinzia decides to accept Tom's job offer. The next day, he hires her as maid to care for the children while he is away. What follows are a series of misadventures as Tom attempts to move Cinzia and the kids away from Washington to a house in the country. Unfortunately, a train destroys the house. They wind up as inhabitants of a leaky, rotting houseboat. However. a complete renovation of the premises proves successful, and their floating new home becomes the backdrop for various episodes where Tom discovers that Cinzia is unable to cook, do laundry, or even make coffee. David tries to