Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Blistering performances.

* Thanks to this wonderful movie Elvis-wannabe pop singer Fabian will never be forgotten. He drew many kids to this great Saturday matinee movie in that pre-British invasion golden age of teen idol singers era.

I am reading reviews of Mr Hobbs takes a vacation and can't believe some of the stuff I'm reading .. "boring script?" ... "miscasted" .. I firmly believe anyone who doesn't like this movie was not born in the 60's or never took a vacation with his family .. This is a simple story of a simple time .. sorry no sex violence .. Jimmy Stewart doesn't turn into a Zombie ... it's just a pure and simple movie filmed during a pure and simple time .. and yet some of the issues are still here today: family troubles, growing up with braces, identifying and communicating with a Grandfather ..I smile ear to ear when I see this BECAUSE it doesn't have sex or violence .. it merely transports me to a simpler time when my Mom and Dad poured us all into the back of the station wagon .. me complaining the whole time .. and yet when it was over I was so sad to leave and have memories I still cherish ..So sad they don't make these type of movies anymore... it simply wouldn't sell ...

Jimmy Stewart had the physical mannerisms of an easily exasperated person, but playing this sort of endlessly befuddled parent didn't suit the measured intelligence that Stewart brought to his characters in the latter half of his career in feature films. The result is a forced comedy about a family vacation at the beach, with whiny kids, finicky appliances and nubile younger neighbors. Maureen O' Hara is along for the ride as the dutiful mom trying to force feed her family a happy shared experience.The biggest problem with this movie is that it is a comedy that isn't very funny. Somehow this film got 3 Golden Globe nominations, 1962 must have been a weak year for comedies.

There is nothing wrong or bad about this film; the cast is strong, and the writing acceptable. The problem, frankly, is that it is just not that interesting. However, if we approach this film without high expectations, then we can accept it for what it is: a mildly amusing movie that allows us to sit comfortably with two of our all-time favorite actors, Jimmy Stewart and Maureen O'Hara (although, to be honest, Maureen is not that interesting here either). So, if you love Jimmy Stewart, and want to make a point of seeing every movie he is in, then definitely watch this movie. But be prepared to have to put up with unappealing child actors, badly dated 1960's "teen scenes", and a number of other actors and actresses who we never particularly care about. Luckily, very few scenes indeed do not feature Jimmy Stewart.Well, I take some of that back; "Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation" is saved towards the end by the appearance of John McGiver and Marie Wilson as Mr. and Mrs. Turner, a business couple who make a point of being very dull. They are actually pretty funny, especially McGiver, and the scenes featuring these actors save the whole movie from being a completely dreary waste of time. To be fair, Fabian is not bad either, playing his role rather sympathetically; and the family's 1960 Dodge wagon, with its fantastically distinctive grill, is also cool to see.Particularly annoying is a lengthy sequence in which Jimmy Stewart and his son are piloting a sailboat out of a harbor; this they do with great difficulty, barely missing hitting other boats, and upsetting a water-skier. The problem is, Stewart and his boat are clearly sitting in front of a projection screen. Now I understand that it is much easier and cheaper to film scenes sometimes in front of a projection screen; scenes with people "walking down the street", when they are actually in front of a movie screen showing the sidewalk, are common and harmless enough. But here, the humor of the situation completely depends on us believing that Stewart is hardly able to control his boat, causing several near misses with other boats. The fakeness of the projection is so obvious that the whole scene is just a painfully long (over 2 minutes of this) debacle.The beach scenes are odd too. Valerie Varda, a Hungarian-born actress, has an accent that is definitely not Hungarian (I grew up surrounded by Hungarians, and can pick up the accent across a room). I don't know what the accent is, but it is very hard to follow; she had a blessedly short acting career after this film. John Saxon appears in a bathing suit, with a shockingly well-built body (if I may say so), and it appears that, though he is married to Jimmy Stewart's daughter, he is on the verge of having an affair with Varda; in the end, though, this idea is not pursued.One final note: when Stewart's family enters the massive yet run-down vacation house, Stewart goes to climb the stairs; as he takes the first step, he grabs the large knob on top of the railing, and it lifts right up. He stares at it a moment before replacing it; I have to believe that this moment was intended to pay some minor homage to "It's a Wonderful Life", where a similar stair-railing knob comes to symbolizes the crumminess of Stewart's home in that film.