Mr. Hulot’s Holiday by Jacques Tati (1953)

It's the month of July, at the beginning of summer vacation. A crowd of city-dwellers is waiting for the train which will take them to the beaches. Reacting to the nasal, quasi-incomprehensible voice coming from the loudspeaker, the crowd runs from platform to platform. It dives each time into the underground passage between the platforms until it manages to come up, apparently by chance, beside the right train. The cargo of vacationers on board, the train pulls out of the station and flies through the countryside.

At the same time other vacationers in cars speed toward the beaches on the highways. M. Hulot putts along among them in a weird little sports car (an Amilcar), a vehicle which moves along jerkily, backfiring and smoking and losing automobile parts as it bumps over the paving stones of the village streets.

In another city additional vacationers cram into a bus which will take them to a little seaside resort where they will spend the next two weeks or the whole month. We finally arrive at the resort where the story is situated. The Beach Hotel is located at the center of a tiny village. All of the clients, largely people of modest means and/or large families, will take their meals and spend their evenings here during their beach vacation. In this surge of tourists we note many English nationals and a very pretty blond woman, Martine, who moves into her room in a villa overlooking the beach.

From the moment he arrives, Hulot annoys the other vacationers by leaving the hotel door open. A brisk wind sends papers flying and creates a general disturbance. Despite Hulot's exquisite courtesy and consideration towards others, his clumsiness and absent-mindedness will constantly provoke incidents, both minor and major, which will make virtually everyone angry at him: the hotel owner, the waiter, a boat owner, a retired military officer, a bus driver, and a businessman, among others. The businessman, M. Schmutz, works throughout the vacation, receiving telephone calls from all over the world.

The children, on the other hand, are delighted with Hulot, marveling over both his eccentric manner and his odd car. The only adults who seem to enjoy Hulot are an elderly but athletic Englishwoman and "Henry," the elderly husband of another Englishwoman. Henry and his spouse stroll constantly around the village, the wife always out in front, her husband lagging a few steps behind. Henry, who has a talent for observation, seems to be the only person who keeps an eye on Hulot and is aware of his involvement in a number of mysterious incidents which upset the humdrum routine of the holiday community.

Hulot irritates the waiter by arriving late for meals, then disturbs his table companion. In the evening he destroys the calm of the hotel lounge by playing a jazz record at full blast. The next day at the beach, playing sheriff, he delivers a swift kick to M. Schmutz's backside in the mistaken belief that he is being a Peeping Tom as the attractive Martine puts on her clothes in her cabana on the beach. Later he is riding in a canoe which suddenly folds in two, trapping him inside what now looks like a giant shark's jaws. Panic breaks out on the beach. The following day he plays tennis and exasperates all of his opponents, experienced players whom he beats by using a bizarre service technique. Martine, one of the spectators, begins to enjoy Hulot's antics. That evening while playing ping-pong, he disturbs the card players in the hotel lounge - and sets off a fight among them - by constantly searching for lost ping-pong balls around their tables.

Attracted to Martine, Hulot invites the young woman to go horseback riding with him the next day. He eventually has to give up the idea, since his horse becomes irked with him and forces him to run away and seek cover. However, Hulot and Martine meet again that evening at a costume ball which is generally ignored by most of the other vacationers. The only adults in costume, they spend the evening dancing together.

The next morning, on the way to a big picnic outing, Hulot is forced to stop to change a flat tire. When he tries to jack up the car, it falls and rolls off down a hill with two ladies aboard in the rumble seat. When Hulot returns to the hotel late that evening, with a dog in hot pursuit, he takes refuge in a shed where fireworks are stored. When he lights a match to see where he is, he sets off a spectacular fireworks display. His frantic efforts to douse the fireworks are useless, and everyone in the hotel is awakened. The next morning marks the end of the holiday. Nearly all the vacationers are angry at Hulot and give him the cold shoulder as they bid each other goodbye. The old English lady and the husband of the stroller, however, as well as all the children, are very grateful to Mr. Hulot for brightening up an otherwise boring vacation. The film ends with Hulot's departure in his strange car. He leaves behind a deserted seaside scene, with the final shot of the film freezing into a postcard bearing a postage stamp --in color!