Summer Cinema: Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, 1962

Sometimes you need a break from your holiday.

Summer vacations don’t always work out the way they’re supposed to. But while you might not get the experience you’re looking for, you could still get a summer you’ll never forget.

That’s certainly the case in the 1962 film Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation. Based on the book by Edward Streeter, who also wrote Father of the Bride, the film stars Jimmy Stewart as Mr. Hobbs, a banker just looking for a little peace and quiet on his vacation – maybe a romantic trip for two. Instead he gets a broken-down summer house on the beach filled with his grown children who can’t stand each other and their children, who can’t stand Mr. Hobbs.

Jimmy Stewart is terrific in this. Mr. Hobbs feels so put upon (he does have to host his son-in-law’s potential boss, after all), and he really lays on the self-pity in the film’s humorous voiceover. Maureen O’Hara, John McGiver and teen idol Fabian round out the cast (you’ll be singing Fabian’s silly tune Cream Puff for days afterward). Shot in Southern California (Laguna Beach and Dana Point), the film will make you yearn for a beach vacation – just maybe not this one.

Did you know? Look for Herb Alpert in an uncredited cameo in the scene at the country club dance.