The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959)

"Kate" (Jill St. John) decides that she is going to marry curate "Wilbur" (Ron Ely) but they don't want to wait until her father "Horace" (Clifton Webb) returns home from his month-long trip to Philadelphia. They set a date and give him an ultimatum - so return he does, but hot on is tracks is a court agent trying to serve him with a summons. An other young man (Ray Stricklyn) races to their Harrisburg home to warn him of this impending legal ambush, but when he arrives - well let's just say that it's clear that "Pa" has been playing that trick attributed to old sailors. He is a decent old cove, though, and as the story plays out we discover that though his behaviour is pretty reprehensible, his character does have a few redeeming features and they might just be enough to rescue him from the ire of his wife "Emily" (Dorothy McGuire) and his father - another "Horace" (Charles Coburn). Thing is, the scenario is pretty preposterous and if you try to rationalise it, you might as well just give up. If you can get into the spirit of it, though, it's quite an engaging comedy with Webb on good form, well supported by some quite pithy writing and virtually no melodrama. McGuire hasn't the meatiest of parts, but Stricklyn delivers the fish-out-of-water "Horace III" quite well and you can always count on Coburn to lift the mood. It has dated, but is still quite an enjoyable and silly 90 minutes.