" Disaffected, she feels the family needs a life-style-shaking "miracle" because it has "gone to pieces.That afternoon, however, in his room at his local Sunset Hotel, Foley discovered "Uncle Dave" Thornton (Alan Young), the much-loved park""s owner, accompanied by worker Janice.However, he announced that he had changed his mind about retirement: "That means I""m staying with the force" - and his family was surprisingly supportive that he would work a few more years."The middle-aged, refined-looking, aristocratic gentleman, Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan) ascends a winding staircase, enters his apartment, and then assures his grey-haired, mute servant John (Art Smith) that he will not keep his engagement - as he clarifies his life""s values of irresponsibility and self-indulgence: "This is one engagement I have no intention of keeping.