Mr. Skitch 1933

Ira Skitch, Will Rogers, a prominent resident of Flat River, Missouri, has fallen victim to the Great Depression and the bank has foreclosed on his home. With only a pittance settlement to show for it, Ira loads his wife, adult daughter Emily, three younger children, and six dogs into the beat-up family jalopy and sets out for Los Angeles along a slow, scenic route meant to educate their children and give them a chance at a different life.

At Yellowstone National Park, Emily Skitch, Rochelle Hudson, is saved from drowning by handsome Harvey Denby Charles Starrett. Ashamed of her newfound poverty, Emily pretends to be wealthy. Denby comes from a wealthy family and is preparing to enter West Point, but the smitten man follows the Skitch family on the journey from one auto camp to another. Ira has made friends with Sam Cohen, Harry Green, a Yiddish ex-New Yorker who had been ordered to retire for his health and now travels the USA in a luxury motor home. Maddie Skitch Zasu Pitts does not seem to get along with two bears that invade their campsite and devour their lunch, a misunderstanding that the bears later turn out to be tame mascots, though Maddie remains unconvinced.

When they reach the Lake Tahoe area that straddles Nevada and California, Ira wins $3,000.00 in a legal casino by latching onto the coattails of a friendly high-roller, Cliff Merriweather [Eugene Pallette]. Certain his luck cannot break, he returns the next night and loses it all. Denby uses the family wealth to build a luxury auto camp in Flat River, makes Ira the manager, and tells him the money came from Cohen. Ira eventually catches on to the deception. However, since Harvey is now his son-in-law, he tables his objections and faces a new reality that blends perseverance with a hard-earned resignation.