Summer Holiday

1948
Approved
1h 33m

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

676

YOUR RATING

Agnes Moorehead, Mickey Rooney, Gloria DeHaven, Walter Huston, Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins, Marilyn Maxwell, and Frank Morgan in Summer Holiday (1948)

Danville, Connecticut at the turn of the century. Young Richard Miller lives in a middle-class neighborhood with his family. He is in love with the girl next-door, Muriel, but her father isn't too happy with their puppy-love, since Richard always share his revolutionary ideas with her.

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Coming-of-Age Period Drama Musical

Turn-of-the-century Connecticut. Young Richard Miller, from a middle-class family, loves neighbor Muriel despite her father's objections to Richard's revolutionary ideas.Turn-of-the-century Connecticut. Young Richard Miller, from a middle-class family, loves neighbor Muriel despite her father's objections to Richard's revolutionary ideas.Turn-of-the-century Connecticut. Young Richard Miller, from a middle-class family, loves neighbor Muriel despite her father's objections to Richard's revolutionary ideas.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

676

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Summer Holiday (1948) is a 1948 American musical-comedy film, directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Mickey Rooney and Gloria DeHaven. The picture is based on the play "Ah, Wilderness!" (1933) by Eugene O'Neill, which had been filmed under that name by MGM in 1935 Ah Wilderness! (1935) with Rooney in a much smaller role, as the younger brother. Though completed in October 1946, this film sat on the shelf until 1948.

Goofs
At the beginning of the "Stanley Steamer" segment Richard Miller (Mickey Rooney) lights the burner in the steamer then gets in and drives away accompanied by several explosions from under the hood. A Stanley Steamer took several minutes to develop steam and could not be driven immediately, also there was nothing under the hood but a burner and a boiler neither of which would cause explosions of the type shown.

Quotes
Richard Miller: Mankind was better off when we lived in the Dark Ages... when everybody went around naked!
Uncle Sid: Well, maybe so. But today it might interfere with your social life.

Connections
Featured in TCM Guest Programmer: Michael Feinstein (2015)

Soundtracks
Our Home Town
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Ralph Blane
Performed by Walter Huston, Mickey Rooney, Gloria DeHaven, Selena Royle (dubbed by Denny Wilson), Agnes Moorehead, Shirley Johns, Michael Kirby, Frank Morgan, Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins
[Sung by the primary cast in the opening scene montage]

User reviews32

Review

Featured review

5/10

A gorgeous musical rendition of...

... Eugene O'Neil's heartwarming masterpiece, "Ah, Wilderness". Unfortunately, the Technicolor beauty just covers up a bland production ponderously directed by Rouben Mamoulian who has many fine credits to his name.

I had high hopes for this film, mainly because of its great cast and the fact that it is from producer Arthur Freed, who was responsible for the best musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Mickey Rooney, Walter Huston, Agnes Moorehead, and Frank Morgan are all fine actors who are capable of much better than this. The film's screenplay had no spark to it, and the scenes that were supposed to be pivotal to the characters' development garnered no reaction from me as a viewer. The actors seemed to know the script wasn't that good because in each scene, they recited their lines without enthusiasm or conviction. As a musical it was mediocre. The songs are not catchy or memorable and are largely talked rather than sung. I guess every producer and studio is entitled to a stinker. If you want to see a really good family based musical, try "Meet Me in St. Louis", or if you want to see Mickey Rooney at his best in a musical try "Strike Up the Band."