Dated

The opening theme song tells us to put the cat out before going on vacation? Hmmm. Is that wise? And, did I hear correctly when Fred MacMurray said that ‘we got the Indians under control’… huh? If this movie were to be made again, it would be changed drastically. I also noticed that there is little concern about Skipper separating himself from the rest of the family. Today, no parent can take their eyes off their kid for a second for fear that they might be get into serious trouble or abducted by a sicko. Nick O’Mara, with all his teenaged angst, needed a kick in the flying buttress. The tour he gave the Willard family sounded like he was reading straight out of a brochure. He also had all the signs of a future abusive husband and no good father would have allowed him near his daughter. And what’s with that Elliot going around going around flirting with every girl he spotted? At least he appeared guilty and scared when confronted with one of the mothers of his conquests. I also wondered if Katie wasn’t a hidden triangle fantasy in the film. I got the impression that Katie was flattered by Rudolph’s attention. Her discomfort could have been playing coy which made Rudolph lust after her even more. Meanwhile, Harry was always nearby watching all this as a voyeur. He saw another man put his hands on his wife and didn’t do anything about it. I liked the movie. Some how, there was chemistry between Fred MacMurray and Jane Wyman and they worked well together. The movie is dated and you can see how things have changed over the decades. For example, we see a family photo in a passport as opposed to individual pictures… Parisians being nice and friendly to Americans... a young girl allowing a total stranger to take pictures of her with his camera.

Smoke me a kipper. I’ll be back for breakfast