Director Peter Godfrey’s Christmas In Connecticut (1945) is a sunny little misguided ball of fluff, ably aided by that absent-minded and jovial holiday spirit permeating its delightful mood throughout.
The story concerns all-American able-bodied seaman Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) who, through a gracious whim of fate, and a genuinely nimble-minded nurse, Mary Lee (Joyce Compton), is invited to the idyllic country estate of syndicated homemaker/columnist Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) for the Christmas break.
Lane is the Martha Stewart of her generation – a highly successful, hugely popular contributor to Alexander Yardley’s (Sidney Greenstreet) monthly magazine. Yardley is a loveable curmudgeon, virtually ignored by his own family and destined to spend the holidays alone. Under the pretext of being a lonely widower, Yardley finagles an invitation to Elizabeth’s home in the country. What a story! What publicity! What good will!
One problem: Liz is a fake!
She has no husband, no child, no picturesque farm nestled in the sweet wood of New England’s winter playground. Fortunately, what Elizabeth does have is John Sloan (Reginald Gardiner), a stuffed shirt architect who would love to make Liz his wife. She reluctantly agrees to his proposal so that she can have use of his idyllic country home for her rouse, but she doesn’t love him. At every turn Liz delays their wedding and, through a series of rather contrived complications, easily falls in love with Jefferson instead.
The film loosely flirts with a series of “what if” scenarios: what if Elizabeth was single (which, of course, she is): what if Yardley finds out that his most popular featured writer is a fraud (which, of course, he does); what if it could all turn out in the end (no kidding – it will).
The cast also includes stoic spook/character actress, Una O’Connor as feisty housekeeper, Norah, Dick Elliot as the bumbling Judge Crothers and the marvellous S.Z. Sakall- a cinematic treasure, as restaurateur Felix Bassenak, the real man behind those fabulous recipes Liz has been claiming for her own to her readership.
It must be said that the screenplay by Lionel Houser and Adele Comandini (hacked together from a story by Aileen Hamilton), lags - particularly during the first third that opens with a lengthy prologue of Jones' harrowing near death experience at sea and rather soppy recuperation at an army hospital. Worse, the characters lack conviction. Save the screwball comedy - at times quite humorous - these are cardboard stick figures with little believable involvement. Yet, the story is so vivaciously told and with such economy of wit that it really doesn’t matter. Christmas in Connecticut is a fluffy, mind-numbing charmer.
Warner Brothers DVD exhibits some mild damage and age related artefacts. The gray scale has been impeccably rendered with deep solid blacks, very clean whites and barely a hint of film grain presented throughout. But the image is frequently softly focused with a loss of fine detail. The audio is mono and adequately represented. Extras include a vintage featurette and the film’s original theatrical trailer.
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
3
VIDEO/AUDIO
3
EXTRAS
1
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