As the 1960s progressed, the Disney company got more and more desperate for a hipness factor in their family comedies, bringing in modern artifices to jazz up their relics (here it's Michael J. Pollard playing a hot-rodder). Considering everything else is so archaic, Pollard's appearance is rather odd...the presence of Burl Ives alone should tell you what you're in for. Advertised as a vehicle for sixteen-year-old Hayley Mills, the movie is actually an ensemble piece set during the ragtime era, and the cumbersome outfits and hairdos Hayley wears fail to suit her well; still youthful and spirited, she's heavier here and doesn't have much of a character to work with. Dorothy McGuire glows on cue as the (rather mature) widowed mother of three youngsters forced to move from Boston to a hick-town in Maine. Some of this is pleasant and it's all quite well-scrubbed (featuring yet another Shaggy Dog, and two nature-montages which aren't so much misplaced as they are artistically suspect). Definitely not the best place for one to introduce themselves to Hayley Mills' versatile talents, but as a corny Disney pic for the family it isn't too bad. ** from ****