On paper this was to die for; strong book based on a play by Eugene O'Neill (his only comedy Ah, Wilderness, in fact), score by three-time Oscar winner Harry Warren, direction by Rouben Mamoulian, and a cast headed by Mickey Rooney. Alas, the studio lost faith in it, kept it on the shelf for two years then jettisoned half the score for good measure. It seems clear they were aiming for another Meet Me In St Louis, both films were set at the turn of the century and focussed on a family but this one missed by a mile. I'm not prepared to write it off completely; it has a fair quota of charm and people like Selena Royal, Agnes Moorhead, Walter Huston and Frank Morgan aren't exactly chopped liver but it could have been so much better.
Review of Summer Holiday
