Black and White
Cast:
Barbara Stanwyck – Elizabeth Lane
Sidney Greenstreet - Alexander Yardley
Dennis Morgan - Jefferson Jones
Reginald Gardiner -John Sloan
S Z Sakall - Felix Bassenak
Directed by Peter Godfrey
I would like to think that Christmas classics are only childish entertainment. Something I think Hollywood of today has forgotten. When was the last time the dream factory offered up an adult Christmas film? This was certainly not the case during the Golden Era of Hollywood which produced the top ten Christmas genre films of all time.
So finally, let's not forget the adult Christmas classic. "Christmas in Connecticut" which has Barbara Stanwyck portraying a Martha Stewart-type columnist.
A journalist who writes mouth-watering descriptions of Christmas with her husband and baby at her Connecticut estate, while actually she's a bachelor girl living in a dingy New York flat.
The recipes she dispenses in her columns are all on loan from her friend Felix, (S Z Sakall) the gourmet chef at his self-titled trendy Manhattan Hungarian restaurant.
Stanwyck who is usually remembered for her tour-de-force performances gives a refreshing portrayal of the chic magazine writer who’s supposed to be an expert homemaker. (To this day I believe Candice Bergen took Stanwyck’s model to be her alto ego Murphy Brown.)
Her publisher, Greenstreet, decides that for publicity purposes they need to bring a soldier boy home from the war to be entertained for the holidays, so they procure a suitable Connecticut home for the ruse.
Stanwyck's snotty architect boyfriend (who's all wrong for her) pretends to be her husband, and they borrow a baby. Fun ensues when she and the soldier boy (Dennis Morgan) fall in love.
The cast includes one of the favourite ‘bit players,’ S Z Sakall (1884 – 1955) who was nicknamed ‘Cuddles’ after is role in “Ball of Fire” (1941) again with Barbara Stanwyck. Sakall was equally at home in drama (Casablanca) as he was in comedy.
“Christmas in Connecticut” filmed in black & white, but like all Hollywood classic movies it simply does not need to in color to be appreciated.
The 1992 version starring Dyan Cannon, Arnie Schwarzenegger and Kris Kristofferson is a pointless remake with its fake snow and despite being filmed on location.
Everything aside, the original 1945 film is really something to catch. Stanwyck turns in a witty performance and the rest of the film follows in her footsteps.
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