Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Henry Koster directs. William C. Mellor behind the camera. Johnny Mercer scores. Marjorie Fowler cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 264 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Directed by Henry Koster, shot by William C. Mellor. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Johnny Mercer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Marjorie Fowler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara and Fabian carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Jimmy Takes A Vacation... You Have All The Fun!".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0056255 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 10 themes, including "dancing", "california", "beach", "based on novel or book".

The technical file

Cinematography

William C. Mellor

Original score

Johnny Mercer

Editing

Marjorie Fowler

Makeup / hair

Helen Turpin

Runtime

116 min · 1h 56m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$2,000,000

Box office

$4,000,000

Return

200% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) ↗

Also by

Henry Koster

• 
  The Crosspatch

  1935 · ★ 9.0
• 
  The Ugly Girl

  1935 · ★ 9.0
• 
  Elopement

  1951 · ★ 8.3
• 
  Peter

  1934 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Fraulein

  1958 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Married by the Stork

  1932 · ★ 8.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation ≣ 1962 ≣ Trailer

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation - Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• CinemaSerf2026-04-02
  ★ 7/10

  Well we had the “Huggetts” and the French “Monsieur Hulot” so I suppose it only fair that the Americans got “Mr. Hobbs” to have his own version of the family holiday from hell. All he (James Stewart) actually wants to do is head to the beach with wife “Peggy” (Maureen O’Hara) and spend some quality time doing nothing at all. She, on the other hand, sees this as an ideal opportunity to assemble their entire family, and that includes two grandchildren as well! “Roger” is frankly horrified at the prospect as he hasn’t much by the way of paternal instinct and his children range from 10-18 as well as his two married daughters. For the most part the kids are content with his fatherly indifference. “Danny” (Michael Burns) just wants to be left to watch reruns on the telly whilst “Katey” (Lauri Peters) has just had dental braces fitted so she doesn’t want to talk to anyone at all. Just to add to the poor man’s woes, the house they have rented is barely held together by rust, rot and goodwill; the plumbing is as temperamental as the weather and their housekeeper “Brenda” (Minerva Urecal) quickly abandons ship. After a few days of this, poor old “Roger” is climbing the walls but then he hears of a dance in town and so off they set. Initially “Katey” struggles to get a partner, but after some intervention (and $5) from her dad, the handsome young “Joe” (Fabian) gets her on her feet. What chance this could actually end up being more than simply a financial transaction? What chance “Roger” isn’t just going to walk into the sea and keep going? There is some fun to be had here, usually at the hands of a Stewart who always had his own unique form of comedy timing, and which works well with an O’Hara who also knew how to raise a smile. Fabian has a go at growing a goatee - before anyone even knew what that was, and there are some amiable swipes at parenting techniques that reflect more intellectual rather than spontaneous thinking. We’ve only got the one, brief, song and that’s cancelled out by one of the most unlikely examples of fisticuffs you’re ever likely to see through some steam. If proof were ever to be needed about the madness of organising a family holiday, then this could supply that in spades (and buckets) and it’s an easy - if perhaps a little too long - observation of how you need a holiday after your holiday.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  20th Century Fox

  US

Key crew

• NovelEdward Streeter
• SoundWarren B. Delaplain
• Set DecorationWalter M. Scott
• Costume DesignerDonfeld
• EditorMarjorie Fowler
• Art DirectionJack Martin Smith
• HairstylistHelen Turpin
• OrchestratorJack Hayes
• Special EffectsL.B. Abbott
• SoundAlfred Bruzlin
• Second Unit DirectorWilliam Witney
• Set DecorationStuart A. Reiss
• Assistant DirectorJoseph E. Rickards
• Makeup ArtistBen Nye
• OrchestratorLeo Shuken
• Art DirectionMalcolm Brown
• Associate ProducerMarvin A. Gluck

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• dancing
• california
• beach
• based on novel or book
• sailing
• house
• summer vacation
• family vacation
• beach house
• houseguest

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1962-06-15NR

Also known as

International titles

• Monsieur Hobbs prend des vacancesFR
• Mister Hobbs Va In VacanzaIT
• Mr. Hobbs szabadságra megyHU