Banker Roger Hobbs (James Stewart) wants to spend his vacation alone with his wife, Peggy (Maureen O'Hara), but she insists on a family vacation at a California beach house that turns out to be ugly and broken down. Daughter Katey (Lauri Peters), embarrassed by her braces, refuses to go to the beach, as does TV-addicted son Danny (Michael Burns). When the family is joined by Hobbs' two unhappily married daughters and their husbands, he must help everyone with their problems to get some peace.