Un optimista de vacaciones

Banker Roger Hobbs (James Stewart) has had it with family vacations. He dictates to his secretary the latest debacle. His daughter wanted to go to Paris with her friends. His son would rather watch TV westerns. His wife (Maureen O'Hara) had rearranged their two-some vacation into a family gathering by the seashore. His adult daughter arrives with her family but there is trouble. The house is a mess and nobody is happy.

It's light family dysfunction until there is a more serious marriage difficulty. The daughter's marital problem does threaten to push too far into serious territory. Jimmy Stewart plays a great father-knows-best character. He's great at both serious and comical. His charms and the movie's easy fun help keep this on the tracks. It's an enjoyable fun family film.

Mr. Hobbs wants to take a nice quiet vacation to the beach for the summer but Mrs. Hobbs insists on taking the whole family, daughters, son-in-law, grandchildren, cook and various drop ins, with them. There goes his peaceful trip.

The kind of role that Jimmy Stewart could play in his sleep but he and Maureen O'Hara manage to make the material better than it should be. They keep the whole enterprise moving along with some cute side stories, Fabian is charming as a suitor to their daughter who is going through growing pains not helped by her new braces and the distinctive presences of John McGiver and Marie Wilson contribute a bit of spice in small scenes of a supposedly straight laced couple who hold the key to a new job for Jimmy's son in law, John Saxon-looking particularly handsome here.

Harmless fun and if you're a Stewart fan irresistible.

This is an old-fashioned movie about a married couple's attempt to bring their distant family back together. It's not raunchy, violent or nasty, and its depiction of a mum, dad and children living in a "nuclear" family may seem quaintly out-dated, but Stewart and O'Hara provide warmth and depth. Based on a book by Edward ('Father of the Bride') Streeter, Mr Hobbs is one of this American author's typical small-town, upper-middle class heroes who the whole world and his wife (and Mr Hobbs's own wife)are out to get. Simple mechanical devices, plumbers and visiting luminaries' wives all spell trouble, but somehow Mr Hobbs comes through to win the day. Not the greatest film ever, but for anyone who grew up in the early 60s and wants a reminder of how simple life seemed back then, this is a good film to watch.

This pleasant comedy may seem a bit on the dull side to modern audiences conditioned by R-rated gross-out fests (at least it's in color, for those so spoiled they lack the ability to get into a black and white story), but a nice nostalgia trip for those longing for the "simpler, more innocent" times of the mid-twentieth century. (I'm not an old fuddy-duddy chronologically, just in spirit.) Stewart is your average Dad, taking above average Mom (Maureen O'Hara) and family to spend the summer in a rustic Victorian house at the beach. They encounter the usual problems with antiquated plumbing and teenage romance, with a few interesting plot developments. If you know character actor Johm McGiver, he has one of his funniest roles as a bird-watching executive. Definitely recommended for Stewart fans or those interested in '50 & '60s nostalgia; but not for those who can only laugh at the stuff in Austin Powers or Team America (I like all these movies, incidentally).

"Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation" is one of the most enjoyable family films ever made. When it was released back in 1962, it was a big hit. But if you are a sophisticate, don't write it off just yet. The plot is simple: Harried St. Louis banker Roger Hobbs (James Stewart) is looking forward to a quiet, romantic vacation with his wife Peggy (Maureen O'Hara) who, unknown to him, has instead opted for a family reunion in a rented Northern California beach house. Not only has she included her teenage daughter Katie and younger son Danny but her married daughters and their families as well. The beach house turns out to be a monstrosity which Hobbs describes as "Dragonwyck". When their daughter Susan and her husband Stan show up with their bratty kids, things quickly get worse. The family is complete when daughter Jane and her husband Byron arrive with their infant daughter. By now, both Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs are somewhat disenchanted with this "family reunion" as Susan and her husband fight until he walks out on them, while Jane's husband takes up with the local bathing suit-clad vamp Manika. Daughter Katie meanwhile, grows more sullen by the day, sulking because of her new braces and brother Danny simply glues himself to the television set. Add an unhappy Finnish maid and you really have a recipe for disaster. But thanks to the delightful performance by Stewart, the laughs come thick and fast. His dry wit enlivens the film and almost single-handedly keeps it alive. And I mean alive because in spite of a capable cast including Fabian, John McGiver and Marie Wilson, the film belongs to Stewart. He does wonders with his hapless father role and keeps the audience in his corner every second. With the support of the eternally beautiful O'Hara (who's hardly anyones idea of a grandmother) and a memorable Henry Mancini score, "Mr. Hobbs" may depict a harrowing "vacation" but it's one the the viewer will thoroughly enjoy taking. The film has just been released on a beautiful widescreen DVD, with an original trailer and a few other extras. Bon Voyage!