Holiday for Lovers
Cast & Crew
Henry Levin
Clifton Webb
Jane Wyman
Jill St. John
Carol Lynley
Paul Henreid
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In Boston, psychologist Robert Dean and his wife Mary say goodbye to their eldest daughter Meg, who is joining a four week tour of South America before returning to college. On the last week of the tour, the Deans receive a telegram from Meg, notifying them that she plans to stay in São Paulo for six more weeks to take a course from famed architect Eduardo Barroso. Alarmed, Robert immediately books seats for the family on the next flight to São Paulo, prompting their wise-cracking, jive-talking younger daughter Betsy to complain that the trip will ruin her summer vacation. At the São Paulo airport, the Deans are met by Meg, attired in a sophisticated dress, and the suave Eduardo, who is her father's age. Robert's worst suspicions are confirmed when Meg ebulliently announces that Eduardo has arranged a one-year scholarship for her to study sculpture in São Paulo. Meg, clearly in awe of Eduardo, takes her family on a pilgrimage to the great architect's buildings. One day, while the Deans are taking an air tour on a sightseeing plane, their craft is forced down to refuel at the U.S. Air Force Missile Tracking Station. Once on the ground, Betsy is ogled by the women-starved servicemen. Smitten by love at first sight, Sgt. Paul Gattling follows Betsy back to the aircraft, kisses her and promises to visit in São Paulo. Back in the city, Robert goes to the women's residence in which Meg is staying and sees her dash out the door and jump into a taxi. Robert follows, and when he spots Eduardo speeding to meet her, he turns back, disheartened. At the Barroso villa, Eduardo's rebellious son, painter Carlos Barroso, asks Meg to marry him. When Carlos refuses to meet Meg's "bourgeois" family, however, Eduardo wonders if she would wed against her parents' wishes. At the Deans' hotel later, Meg introduces her family to Carlos, who denounces all materialistic values, including the desire to earn a living. Shocked by the bohemian Carlos, Robert makes arrangements for the family to fly to Rio de Janeiro the next day. Soon after, Paul appears at the hotel, AWOL, to see Betsy. Upon returning to base, Paul is demoted from sergeant, but then pleads for a leave due to extenuating circumstances, his love for Betsy. In Rio, Robert announces that they are flying to Lima, Peru the next day to see the bullfights. Feeling betrayed by her father for forcing her to leave Brazil, Meg phones Eduardo to ask him to tell Carlos goodbye. On the phone, Carlos berates Meg for being a little girl who leads her parents' life. Nevertheless, Eduardo and Carlos fly to Lima to rescue Meg and then proceed to the bull ring. There, Robert, whose lifelong dream was to attend a bullfight, is repulsed by the brutality he sees in the ring and runs from the stands back to his hotel. Spotting each other from across the crowd, Carlos and Meg embrace. Back at the hotel, Robert is worrying about his daughters when Paul knocks at the door, famished from his quest to find Betsy. Soon after, Betsy arrives, but when Paul proposes to her, she declares that she is not yet ready to marry. Soon after, Eduardo, Carlos and Meg come to the hotel, and Eduardo informs the Deans that he has purchased three tickets to fly to São Paulo that night. When Meg ardently begs for her father's blessing, Robert coldly bids her farewell. Later, at a nightclub, Robert becomes drunk and when Paul eagerly tells him that Betsy has agreed to marry him, he withholds his permission. After spraying red wine all over his shirt, Robert goes back to the hotel to change his clothes. On the way, he disrupts a street artist in the middle of painting a portrait, prompting the angry artist to chase Robert and knock him unconscious. While he is passed out on the street, Robert is mistaken for a member of a Spanish tourist group and carried unconscious back to the group's waiting plane. Upon awakening, Robert discovers that the plane is bound for Madrid, and convinces the pilot to drop him off in Trinidad. In São Paulo, the clerk at Meg's residence hands her a message to call an international number. After she dials, Robert answers from Trinidad and admonishes her to lead her own life. When he asks if he can attend her wedding, Meg confides that she has some misgivings about Carlos. Soon after, Betsy, Paul and Mary arrive in Trinidad and Robert sheepishly admits that he, too, is fallible. Robert then declares that Betsy, being of age, is capable of reaching her own decision about marriage.
Director
Henry Levin
Cast
Clifton Webb
Jane Wyman
Jill St. John
Carol Lynley
Paul Henreid
Gary Crosby
Nico Minardos
Wally Brown
Henny Backus
Nora O'mahoney
Buck Class
Al Austin
Nestor Amaral
José Greco
Eric Morris
Gardner Mckay
Manuel Paris
Anna Kareen
Angelo De Meo
Anthony Rosa
Enrique Valadez
Michael Davis
Rosario Caro
Frank Marrero
Tom Hernandez
Marjorie Bennett
Jan Arvan
Marco Lopez
Mary Foran
Larry Thor
Stoddard Kirby
Neyle Morrow
David Ahdar
Don Diamond
Danny Zaldiver
Elman Bahnimtewa
Salvador Báguez
Peter Helm
Robert Contreras
Abel Franco
Paul Fierro
Rickey Torres
Wendy Wilde
Al Haskell
Harry Vejar
Manuel Alda
Henry Delgado
Zolinda Mara
Cosmo Sardo
Osvaldo Franca
Ruben Moreno
Elvira Corona
Ingrid Goude
Linne Ahlstrand
Rachel Stephens
Crew
L. B. Abbott
Herman A. Blumenthal
Alfred Bruzlin
Sammy Cahn
Charles G. Clarke
Luther Davis
Leonard Doss
Eli Dunn
Paul S. Fox
Stuart Gilmore
James B. Gordon
Mack Gordon
Earle Hagen
Leigh Harline
Charles Lemaire
Harry M. Leonard
Louis Loeffler
Alfred Newman
Ben Nye
Walter M. Scott
Herbert Spencer
Helen Turpin
James Van Heusen
Harry Warren
Bob Weatherford
David Weisbart
Lyle R. Wheeler
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to a March 1957 Hollywood Reporter news item, Twentieth Century-Fox bought the rights to Ronald Alexander's play as a vehicle for Clifton Webb. Although the play was set in European tourist spots, the studio decided to change the film's setting to South America. An August 1957 Los Angeles Times news item announced that Suzy Parker was signed for a role in the picture, and the studio was considering Bing Crosby for a part, but neither appears in the released film. In November 1958, the studio was dickering with Maurice Chevalier to play the role of "Eduardo," according to a Hollywood Reporter news item.
A December 1958 Hollywood Reporter news item announced that Diane Varsi was to play the part of "Meg," but she refused the role, according to a January 1959 Hollywood Reporter news item, and soon after retired from the film business and moved to Vermont. Varsi's last film before leaving Hollywood was Compulsion . Diane Baker then was announced as Varsi's replacement. January and February 1959 Hollywood Reporter news items note that Gene Tierney was originally to play the role of "Mary," but was forced to withdraw because of illness. The studio then started negotiations with Joan Fontaine, but when those collapsed, Jane Wyman was signed for the role, her first in three years.
A January 1959 Hollywood Reporter news item reports that background shots were filmed in South America. Studio publicity contained in the film's production file at the AMPAS Library adds that backgrounds were shot in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil. Location filming was done at the Los Angeles International Airport, the Lockheed Airport and Clover Field, all in Los Angeles. The Variety review commented that the "superimposed scenes of the actors against the backgrounds" were not convincing.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1959
CinemaScope
Released in United States 1959
