At the Movies

Another holiday classic that merits a viewing this weekend is Christmas in Connecticut.

This light hearted romantic comedy boasts an all star cast including Barbara Stanwyck, Sydney Greenstreet, Dennis Morgan and a host of others. With a witty script and zany plot, it is frothy holiday entertainment. Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a columnist for “Smart Housekeeping” magazine, who writes about her Connecticut farm, husband and baby, touting her extraordinary culinary and housekeeping skills. Her columns have produced sky rocketing numbers for the magazine, which pleases pompous publisher Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet) to no end.

The movie, produced on the heels of WW II, naturally features a war hero, Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan). Adrift at sea for weeks, following the torpedo demise of his destroyer, Jones has been recuperating in the hospital. Lane’s columns of home cooked meals, read to him by his adoring nurse, have been the key to his recovery. The nurse, hoping to wrangle a marriage proposal out of the ever evasive Jones, thinks a weekend of bucolic bliss might snap him to his senses. Through a contact with Yardley, she arranges that Jones be included in Lane’s Christmas weekend at her farm. Yardley, thrilled as he sniffs out fodder for the perfect all American story, decides to join in. And this is where the fun begins because Lane, while a wonderful writer, is actually a non-cooking single woman living alone in New York City, being fed her gastronomic information by her friend Felix, an amiable Hungarian chef, played to perfection by S.Z. Sakall.

She convinces suitor John Sloan (Reginald Gardiner) to lend his Connecticut house for the weekend and the crazy ruse takes form.

 

Christmas in ConnecticutWhile not competition for my very favorite holiday classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, The Bishop’s Wife or Love Actually, it’s a fun romp for this festive time of year. I wish I had vaulted ceilings so I could have such a tall tree.

Or a sleigh that would pick me up from the train and deliver me to my stone farmhouse.

movie stills

4 thoughts on “At the Movies

  1. Dear Stacey,
    The Husband and I will be watching our four favorite black and Christmas movies tomorrow after church as we recover from the family and friends Christmas Eve dinner tonight. Left overs and The Bishop’s Wife, Miracle on 34th St., It’s a Wonderful Life and The 1934 A Christms Carol. All about the mystery and magic of Christmas. I have never seen Christmas in Connecticut but plan to add it to our Christmas Day list!
    We, your many grateful and adoring readers, wish you and your beaurtiful family and handsome husband a wonderful life as well this Christmas of 2011.
    Fondly,
    Dr. Pat

  2. This is one I haven’t seen this Christmas. You always have great movie suggestions, q!
    It has been fabulous getting to know you this year. I look forward to seeing all of the wonderful posts you have planned for 2012.
    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
    Teresa
    xoxo

  3. Wishing you a Merry Movie Christmas! I always love your movie reviews – funny those old movies, everyone looks so well dressed, so chic and the voices seem velvety smooth and gay.
    Enjoy your Christmas eve. We are awaiting Santa….he arrives on the firetruck in our village and it is magical…if only we had a blanket of white.
    pve

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