Professor Susan Drake (Ruth Hussey) is aboard a boat in the Caribbean along with her father, Professor Drake (Charles Coburn), and her brother Tom (John Hubbard). They go out on deck and hear somebody has jumped into the water in a suicide attempt. It turns out to be a famous bandleader who is drinking away his sorrows over his wife leaving him. This turns out to be Melvyn Douglas as Jerry Marvin, who gets to make quite the entrance wrapped in blankets and brought back aboard the ship.
Later in San Cristobal, the Drakes see Jerry wandering around, drunk. The car taking passengers back to the boat is about to depart, and soon thereafter the boat. They grab a very inebriated Jerry and push him into the car. Later, when all are back aboard the boat, the discover that Jerry meant to stay in San Cristobal - He had a job there, all of his luggage is there, and since he had checked out of his cabin, his cabin is gone. Sure, Jerry's drunken state had the Drakes thinking he was going to miss the boat by accident, but they are at fault too. They try to make amends by having him stay in one of their state rooms while Tom and his dad double up. They pay for him to have additional clothes, and they pay for his airfare back to San Cristobal at the next port of call.
Jerry is awful to the Drakes about them butting in for awhile, but Susan's sassiness wins him over. He gives them access to his country house in New York while they will be working there, and then he shows up there unexpectedly. Jerry sobers up, writes a symphony and performs it, and asks Susan to marry him.
But then SHE reappears - his not quite ex wife Babe. She appears at the New York house to say hello to Jerry, winds up having a tumble down the stairs, and according to the doctors is paralyzed from shock, and is a now maybe permanent guest in Jerry's home.. Susan believes Babe can walk based on objects that were out of reach that she later saw Babe using, but nobody has actually seen her walking, and if Susan says anything to Jerry she figures it could backfire. So Susan wants to prove Babe can walk and let the proof do the talking. How will this turn out? Watch and find out.
Melvyn Douglas wouldn't be funny unless he is dishing some of the sass, but here he plays a rather guileless person compared to his other roles, just accepting his ex wife at face value. It is Hussey who is playing the kind of role that he often did, suspicious of the facts as presented. As usual, a little Charles Coburn goes a long way. With an unusual combination of plot devices and characters - Douglas as a bandleader who writes a symphony, the idea of a family of globetrotting college professors, and even Warm Springs, Georgia entering the conversation, this low key comedy is worth your time.
Later in San Cristobal, the Drakes see Jerry wandering around, drunk. The car taking passengers back to the boat is about to depart, and soon thereafter the boat. They grab a very inebriated Jerry and push him into the car. Later, when all are back aboard the boat, the discover that Jerry meant to stay in San Cristobal - He had a job there, all of his luggage is there, and since he had checked out of his cabin, his cabin is gone. Sure, Jerry's drunken state had the Drakes thinking he was going to miss the boat by accident, but they are at fault too. They try to make amends by having him stay in one of their state rooms while Tom and his dad double up. They pay for him to have additional clothes, and they pay for his airfare back to San Cristobal at the next port of call.
Jerry is awful to the Drakes about them butting in for awhile, but Susan's sassiness wins him over. He gives them access to his country house in New York while they will be working there, and then he shows up there unexpectedly. Jerry sobers up, writes a symphony and performs it, and asks Susan to marry him.
But then SHE reappears - his not quite ex wife Babe. She appears at the New York house to say hello to Jerry, winds up having a tumble down the stairs, and according to the doctors is paralyzed from shock, and is a now maybe permanent guest in Jerry's home.. Susan believes Babe can walk based on objects that were out of reach that she later saw Babe using, but nobody has actually seen her walking, and if Susan says anything to Jerry she figures it could backfire. So Susan wants to prove Babe can walk and let the proof do the talking. How will this turn out? Watch and find out.
Melvyn Douglas wouldn't be funny unless he is dishing some of the sass, but here he plays a rather guileless person compared to his other roles, just accepting his ex wife at face value. It is Hussey who is playing the kind of role that he often did, suspicious of the facts as presented. As usual, a little Charles Coburn goes a long way. With an unusual combination of plot devices and characters - Douglas as a bandleader who writes a symphony, the idea of a family of globetrotting college professors, and even Warm Springs, Georgia entering the conversation, this low key comedy is worth your time.