| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Christmas in Connecticut (1945) |
| Director | Peter Godfrey |
| Writers | Lionel Houser, Adele Comandini; story by Aileen Hamilton |
| Lead Cast | Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan |
| Supporting Cast | Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardiner, S.Z. Sakall, Una O’Connor, Frank Jenks |
| Genre | Romance, Comedy |
| Release Date | August 11, 1945 (USA) |
| Duration | 102 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Not officially reported |
| Box Office | Successful 1945 release (exact numbers not widely documented) |
| IMDb Rating | 7.3/10 |
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If ever an old time comedy begged to be screwier, it’s Christmas in Connecticut. Filmed on the same set used for Bringing Up Baby (1938), this holiday stocking stuffer by Peter Godfrey could have used an infusion of Baby like energy and zaniness. It’s almost as if Godfrey and screenwriters Lionel Houser and Adele Comandini couldn’t decide whether to go for screwball comedy or something more romantic and heartwarming in the Frank Capra tradition. And even Capra’s best comedies seem wittier, with more zip and memorable lines. Ultimately, that’s what makes the sure footed It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) a major holiday classic, while Christmas in Connecticut remains a minor one.
The premise behind Christmas in Connecticut would certainly seem to cry out for the kind of madcap comedy that cut loose on the same set under Howard Hawks’ direction, so it’s hard not to wonder what this film would have been like if the more accomplished Hawks had been behind the camera.
Barbara Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a woman known worldwide as America’s Best Cook a Martha Stewart like icon who writes for Smart Housekeeping magazine. But Lane is a sham, plain and simple. She lives in a New York City apartment and writes descriptions of her non existent husband, baby, and farm in Connecticut based on her vivid imagination and a quaint house that an acquaintance owns. All those mouth watering recipes come from her Hungarian restaurateur friend, because when it comes to cooking, she can barely boil water. Everything threatens to bubble over when a nurse writes to the publisher asking that he grant a wounded sailor’s wish to have Christmas dinner with America’s Best Cook and her family. To avoid a scandal, she decides to accept an offer of marriage by the friend she’s turned down time and again, and the baby comes courtesy of the maid who’s babysitting for a factory worker.
When the big boss shows up with a curious serviceman in tow (Dennis Morgan), the house is Christmas ready, but not Elizabeth. With secrets to protect and a sailor afoot who makes her have second thoughts about settling for a man who doesn’t fan her flame, there’s room for all sorts of misunderstandings. They materialize, but not with the kind of revolving-door flair you might expect, partly because the tone shifts back and forth from the romantic to the comedic. Still, Stanwyck is at her warm and winning best, and it’s a special pleasure to watch three veteran character actors with Santa Claus builds bounce in and out of scenes. Sydney Greenstreet is appropriately pompous as publisher Alexander Yardley. His Casablanca co star, S.Z. Sakall, is at his English butchering best as the chef. And Dick Elliott, who would go on to play Mayor Pike on The Andy Griffith Show, turns up as the judge who isn’t sure if he’s going to get to perform a marriage or not.
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