No, My Darling Daughter 1961

Wealthy businessman and single parent Sir Michael Carr struggles to understand his daughter Tansy Carr, who sits at that awkward threshold between teenager and adult. His close friend and employee, ex-General General Henry Barclay, faces the same challenge with his son, Thomas Barclay, who has stepped away from the military and resigned from Carr’s automobile company.

During a visit to her father’s office, Cornelius Allingham—an American—catches Tansy’s eye, and the two teens quickly form an inseparable friendship. She eagerly shows him the sights of London, while Carr remains blissfully unaware of the developing relationship. When Carr must travel to New York on business, he sends Tansy along with General Barclay on his fishing vacation in Scotland. She quietly arranges for Cornelius to join them there, and the pair spend their days exploring by motor scooter and sharing camp nights—Cornelius even sleeping outside the tent—without telling anyone at home.

Upon realizing his daughter is missing, Carr uncovers photographs of Cornelius and leaps to the worst conclusion, launching a nationwide police manhunt. Thomas, who had already bristled at the idea of pulling Tansy out of her scrapes, uses his army training to locate the couple and track them down. He covertly approaches, overpowers Cornelius, and returns a resistant Tansy to London.

When Cornelius comes to, he learns that he is wanted by the police. He voluntarily goes to Carr and explains that he is the millionaire son of Carr’s business associate and that he holds a significant stake in Carr’s own company. Relieved that his daughter has not fallen for a fortune hunter, Carr gives his blessing to the young couple’s engagement. Yet a new feeling complicates the story: Thomas realizes he is in love with Tansy as well; when he kisses her, she reciprocates, and the two decide to elope. General Barclay, initially furious at the plan he helped to arrange, is reminded by Carr that this outcome was, in a sense, the hope they all shared.