The Willards from Terre Haute, Indiana travels abroad for the once-in-a-lifetime vacation in Paris, France. Harry Willard believes that the greatest problem will be avoiding tap water, but bringing his three children will prove to be more troublesome
Just about stands up as a good film in my books.
'Bon Voyage!' is probably disappointing overall, but there's enough produced for it to be deemed marginally positively. The overcooked run time and overly seriously taken plot is what holds this back.
There's also a frustrating lack of adventure too, especially after the opening few scenes seem to indicate a fun journey is on the way around Europe - instead they just toddled about around France, whilst trying to force through heartwarming narratives which don't really come off.
The strongest part of this film is its cast, which is more than decent. Fred MacMurray is unsurprisingly the star as Harry, but Jane Wyman (Katie) and Tommy Kirk (Elliott) give performances which I mostly liked. Kevin Corcoran isn't annoying either, this is the type of role where what he brings to the table actually works well enough.
The film is shot very nicely across land and ocean, though it is mostly outdated in how it portrays some aspects. Still, a film worth a watch - just not one I'll be revisiting any time soon.