Plot

The son of a snobbish Wall Street banker becomes engaged to a woman from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family not realizing that his father is trying to force her family from their home for a real estate development.

Stenographer Alice Sycamore is in love with her boss Tony Kirby, who is the vice-president of the powerful company owned by his greedy father Anthony P. Kirby. Kirby Sr. is dealing a monopoly in the trade of weapons, and needs to buy one last house in a 12-block area owned by Alice's grandfather, Martin Vanderhof. However, Martin is the patriarch of an anarchic and eccentric family where the members do not care for money but for having fun and making friends. When Tony proposes to Alice, she states that it would be mandatory to introduce her simple and lunatic family to the snobbish Kirbys, and Tony decides to visit Alice with his parents one day before the scheduled get-together. There is an inevitable clash of classes and lifestyles: the Kirbys spurn the Sycamores and Alice breaks with Tony, changing the lives of the Kirby family.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Tony Kirby Jr., vice president of Kirby and Company, and his stenographer Alice Sycamore are in love with each other and want to get married. They both realize that a major problem in doing so is the incompatibility of their respective families. Tony's father, the company's owner and president Anthony P. Kirby, is a cutthroat businessman who doesn't care who he steps on to earn the almighty dollar, the amount of which being how he measures his worth and the worth of others. Tony's mother is a pretentious snob. Both his parents openly but quietly disapprove of the union. Alice's extended family, on the other hand, are an eccentric lot. They all have a "do whatever you want to do because you like doing it" mentality, which was initially fostered by the family patriarch, Alice's maternal grandfather, Martin Vanderhof, in whose house they all live. With the exception of Alice, they are somewhat blissfully unaware that their lives are unconventional. However, their attitude of openness and inclusion has reaped them the rewards of a multitude of unconditional friends, some who live with them solely because they came one day, liked what they saw, were welcomed with open arms, and have never left. Tony and Alice want to deal with the incompatibility issue head-on, although they both take differing paths in how to deal with it. Another problem is that A.P. Kirby is working on the biggest deal of his career - cornering the munitions market, especially lucrative in the lead up to probable war--that requires a massive land acquisition, which includes Grandpa Vanderhof's house, but he refuses to sell. Grandpa is unaware of who wants to buy his house, while A.P. is unaware that Grandpa is the one hold-out who could ruin his entire plan.—Huggo

Anthony P Kirby is a wealthy banker. In order to clinch his next deal, his company, Kirby and Company, is buying up all the properties in a neighborhood. Everyone has sold, except one. Martin Vanderhof won't budge, not for any offer. He is happy where he is, living with his daughter, son-in-law, two granddaughters, grandson-in-law and a few other people in a community largely free of life's pressures. Mr Kirby's son Tony, is a new-appointed Vice President of Kirby and Company and is in love with his secretary, Alice Sycamore, Mr Vanderhof's granddaughter. Their relationship, and the property issue, puts the two families, the Kirbys and Vanderhofs, on a collision course. It's more than a clash of families but a clash of outlooks, ideals and what's important in life.—grantss

Sweet-natured Alice Sycamore falls for banker's son Tony Kirby. But when she invites her snooty prospective in-laws to dinner to give their blessing to the marriage, Alice's peculiar extended family--including philosophical grandfather Martin Vanderhof, hapless fledgling ballerina sister Essie and fireworks enthusiast father Paul--might be too eccentric for the staid Kirbys.—Jwelch5742