- Directed by Peter Godfrey
- July 27, 1945 (New York City) / August 11, 1945 (US)
A single magazine writer that pretends to be a farm wife and mother for the sake of her popular lifestyle column falls in love with a returning war hero while hosting him and her boss for Christmas.
Christmas in Connecticut is a bit of classic Hollywood that has all the makings of a Lifetime or even Hallmark film. It’s a series of comedic mix ups that lead to romance as the career minded woman realizes that career without love is meaningless. Then there is the guy who uses a con to get what he wants and instead finds love. The story is basically the two main characters navigating their own deceptions to get the person they really want. Sometimes these navigations cause more problems.
Career woman Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) is essentially a fiction writer writing a popular column about the life she wishes she had but doesn’t. She is certainly talented at fiction with a gift for knowing what people want and is presenting her fakery as truth. Her chef friend Felix (S.Z. Sakall) sounds like he contributes a great deal more to the column with her just assembling the bits. Barbara Stanwyck had range. She played everything from femme fatales to matriarchs to this and she sold each one with an ease that would make most actors jealous.
This contains your standard mix of characters and situations but is fresh because it is one of the first films to use them. Elizabeth is immediately taken by the war hero Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) and that accidentally causes all the problems. He is clearly taken with her as is the case with these movies.
Jefferson on his end has convinced his nurse Mary Lee (Joyce Compton) that he’s pretty much interested in marrying her right off the bat when all he wants is better food while in the hospital. This is before off-camera Mary Lee marries Jefferson’s war buddy. Elizabeth who is facing potential termination because she’s going to be revealed as a fraud decides to marry John (Reginald Gardiner) who she has apparently never gone on a date with but keeps proposing marriage. Could you even do that today in a movie?
You have to pay attention and maybe even understand the thinking of the time to get the jokes. Like when John is at the buffet table and Felix serves him some horseradish. He’s actually calling what John is saying something else. That’s part of the beauty of this movie. It’s cute and occasionally sweet with nothing ever shoved in your face.
Felix is the flabbergasted supportive friend that most if not all of these movies have. He has the best interest of Elizabeth at heart but is also willing to go along with just about whatever she says in an effort to protect her or just be supportive. He looks for moments to push her (or the right guy) in the proper direction. Her editor Dudley Beecham (Robert Shayne) is not only aware but completely supportive of Elizabeth’s deception because it keeps him in his job and is completely panicked once her lie is about to be exposed.
Sydney Greenstreet was a talented actor. With a few minor tweaks his consistently charming characters could be quite friendly or quite threatening. With his voice that was replete with warmth he could be a friend or a boss or a dangerous enemy. Here he is magazine owner Alexander Yardley seeking a good Christmas feast and to finally meet his star columnist. He is kind yet pushy and presumptive.
Felix gets more involved with stopping the wedding to John because he can see that Elizabeth and the soldier are made for each other. John gets involved in the whole scam because he wants a nice job with the magazine for some good pay which will help is architectural business plus the hand of Elizabeth in marriage. The editor needs to keep his job. All understandable reasons which could easily give way to comedy.
The magic of the season makes this go down easy. Christmas in Connecticut takes a few steps into screwball comedy and gets a little preposterous but the situation itself and what’s actually happening is preposterous so none of it is an ill fit. The baby pushes this to a near breaking point but director Peter Godfrey pulls things back.
This is just all around great old Hollywood entertainment. May be a little predictable but that’s what you go in expecting from this. And of course everything‘s wrapped up in a little ribbon by the very end.
Christmas in Connecticut is a Christmas classic that never gets old and is always entertaining. You will laugh and smile and like me, watch again.
Warren Watched A Movie 