Summer Holiday

In June, 1906, in the town of Danville, Connecticut, the Miller family--father Nat, mother Essie, sons Arthur, Richard and Tommy, daughter Mildred, Uncle Sid and cousin Lily--prepare for Richard's high school graduation. Uncle Sid is about to leave for a new position as a reporter on the Waterbury newspaper, and when he proposes to Lily once again, she agrees to marry him, on condition that he stop drinking. Meanwhile, Richard, who is attending Yale in the fall, tries to kiss his sweetheart, Muriel McComber, and practices his fiery, anti-capitalist valedictory speech. At graduation, newspaper owner Nat lets Richard recite only the first, inoffensive part of his speech before cutting him off. When Nat then offers his son a chance to drive the Stanley Steamer home, asking if his conscience will let him enjoy a consumer good purchased off the sweat of the workers, Richard gladly forgoes his Marxist philosophies. By the Fourth of July, however, some of the Millers have grown concerned that Richard is spending too much time reading his radical books. Although Essie is aghast, Nat supports Richard, knowing that he is merely going through a rebellious phase. As everyone makes their picnic plans, Uncle Sid reappears, and when Nat realizes that his brother-in-law has been fired, he pretends to suddenly need to re-hire him. Lily is overjoyed at Sid's return and, thinking he is now sober, wants him to propose again. At the town picnic that day, however, Sid wins the drinking contest and comes home inebriated. Meanwhile, Muriel's father, Dave McComber, visits Nat and accuses Richard of trying to corrupt his daughter with kisses and radical love letters. When McComber says that he refuses to let Muriel see Richard anymore, Nat throws him out, ignoring McComber's threats to pull his advertising from Nat's newspaper. Nat then confronts Richard, who calms his father by proclaiming his chaste love for Muriel. Nat gives Richard the letter McComber forced Muriel to write, which causes a distraught Richard to swear revenge. That night, Sid's drunken antics make everyone laugh except Lily, who cries. A still angry Richard storms out of the house and meets a college sophomore, who asks him to go out with him and two chorus girls. After Richard agrees, his worldy wise date, Belle, takes him to a bar and gets him drunk, then leaves him when he tries to reform her. When she tells the bartender who Richard's father is, the bartender fears he will lose his job, and so throws her out. She then seeks revenge by writing a letter to Nat informing him where Richard was, while at the same time Richard staggers home and is punished by his parents. The next day, Muriel asks Richard to meet her in secret, and they profess their undying love and kiss. When Richard comes home, his parents approve of his love-struck manner, though Nat is concerned about Belle's letter. As he haltingly attempts to talk to Richard about "the birds and the bees," Richard assures him that he only wants to be with Muriel, a good girl. Later that night, as Sid and Lily sit together on the porch swing, Richard waves across the street to Muriel, and Nat and Essie watch over everyone, reminiscing about their own love story. (Verleiher-Text)