Everything seems to be going wrong with the Hobbs Family's "idyllic" vacation, with everyone tense and on edge- even their son, when the television tube burns out. Then their eldest and her husband get in a fight which results in him walking out, while their second daughter is sitting alone, crying because the Professor has left her home with the baby and gone out on the town with the vamp next door, and their other daughter still only occasionally ventures out of her room to get food. It appears that the increasingly harried and exasperated Mr. Hobbs is going to have to take the situation in hand, or he's never going to get a minute's peace.
I recently watched Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation, the 1962 comedy starring James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara. This is a Jimmy Stewart movie which I'd never seen, mostly because I generally avoid comedies from the '60s, especially ones which star actors I like. Because they're frequently awful. But I took a chance on this one because I thought, with Stewart and O'Hara, it was sure to have some redeeming qualities. And you know what? It's actually not at all bad. The premise is that bank executive Mr. Hobbs- Stewart- wants to take a nice vacation abroad with his wife- O'Hara- but she has other plans. Troubled by the fact that their family isn't as close and loving as a family should be, she plans a seaside vacation to which she invites their whole brood. This includes their two younger children who are still at home: their teenage daughter who barely leaves her room and refuses to smile because she's self conscious about the braces on her teeth, and their tween son, who only takes notice of his father if he stands directly in front of the TV, and then only long enough to ask him to get out of the way. It also includes their two older daughters who are married, their spouses and children. Mr Hobbs isn't wildly enthusiastic about this plan; although a fond father, he has a bad feeling about having all of their progeny in one place at one time, thinking that it's a recipe for disaster. And at first he seems proven right. Friends have offered them the use of their beach house and they arrive at it to find that, though not without its charms, the house is a ramshackle affair with serious plumbing issues. These issues cause their humourless housekeeper- whom they've brought along to cook and clean- to leave in a huff the day after they arrive. Their son has brought along the TV and is still plunked in front of it, merely in a different location, and their daughter Katey is just as morose and uncommunicative as she was at home. And then the rest of the family shows up. Their eldest daughter and her husband and two young kids arrive, bringing chaos in their wake. Their daughter has read a number of books on child rearing and believes it damages children's psyche to be told "no" and so she doesn't. The two kids run riot through the house, forcing Mr Hobbs to take a firm hand with them which upsets his daughter and makes his grandson resent him; every time the little, er, tyke sees his grandfather, he glares and says that he hates him. The Hobbs' son-in-law would prefer to discipline the kids but defers to his wife; he's feeling defeated and downtrodden anyway because he's lost his job and has been unemployed for months. Their financial woes are putting additional stress on their marriage, leading to tense exchanges between them, and uncomfortable moments for the rest of the family. Then the other daughter and her husband show up with their baby. She is sweet and the baby super cute, but her husband... oy vey. He's a smarmy and smug college professor who condescendingly talks down to everyone, including his in-laws. To make matters worse, the beach house next door is inhabited by a floozy on the make. She's constantly flaunting herself in a series of lowcut and/or miniscule bathing suits and throwing herself at any man of means who appears. She tries her wiles on Mr. Hobbs but gets nowhere (skank, he's married to Maureen O'Hara) so turns her sights on Professor Son-in-law who is more susceptible, his already sizeable ego further inflated by her fawning attention. Everything seems to be going wrong with the Hobbs Family's "idyllic" vacation, with everyone tense and on edge- even their son, when the television tube burns out. Then their eldest and her husband get in a fight which results in him walking out, while their second daughter is sitting alone, crying because the Professor has left her home with the baby and gone out on the town with the vamp next door, and their other daughter still only occasionally ventures out of her room to get food. It appears that the increasingly harried and exasperated Mr. Hobbs is going to have to take the situation in hand, or he's never going to get a minute's peace. (To Be Continued...)
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