Movie Monday: Christmas in Connecticut

Movie Monday: Christmas in Connecticut

Interestingly, Christmas in Connecticut was released in August 1945. However, according to IMDb, the move was purely strategic, “capitalizing on the post-war euphoria sweeping the nation following the end of World War II…recognizing the potential for success in the immediate post-war period, rather than waiting for the traditional holiday release.” A smart decision – the movie earned $3 million, more of a fortune in those days than now – a was one of the year’s most successful movies.

The movie features Barbara Stanwyck as Elizabeth Lane, a single, lifestyle writer who can’t boil water yet writes a regular column with recipes and homemaking tips and Dennis Morgan as Jefferson Jones, the returning soldier, a hero in the eyes of everyone. Sydney Greenstreet plays the publisher who sees a publicity opportunity and insists Elizabeth host a dinner for our intrepid soldier who has read all of her recipes while in the hospital.

Stanwyck who was orphaned at four years old and raised partially in foster homes, worked from a very

young age. At sixteen, she was selected as one of Ziegfield’s chorus girls. She moved into acting and the 1927 play Burlesque made her a Broadway star. Two years later she moved to Hollywood where Frank Capra chose her for his romantic drama Ladies of Leisure. She did well and by the late 1930s was a sought-after actress, and by 1944, she was the highest-paid actress in the US.

Dennis Morgan, not often remembered, yet an actor who appeared in dozens of films, got his start as a singer with a troupe in Chicago. He also spent some time as a radio announcer before moving to Hollywood in 1936 where he almost immediately found work with MGM, then Paramount who cast him as a leading man. Warner Brothers signed him as a contract player which was typical for the time and kept him busy.

British-born Sydney Greenstreet went into acting at the age of 61 and is probably best remembered for his roles in The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and Passage to Marseille. He’d only been in Hollywood for four years when he appeared in Christmas in Connecticut, a “witty performance” according to one source. Making another eleven films, he would retire in 1949.

The movie is referred to by most sources as a screwball comedy which is probably accurate as reality must be suspended for most of the film’s duration. However silly, Christmas in Connecticut is warm and endearing and a feel-good flick worth watching. The remake in 1992 that doesn’t quite hit the mark, stars Dyan Cannon and Kris Kristofferson as the romantic couple, and Tony Curtis as her publisher with an update that has the “fraudulent homemaker as an actress…making a reality TV show.” I’d give it a miss.
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The American World War II Home Front in 29 Objects:

Unlike Europe the American mainland escaped physical devastation during World War II as it was not subjected to full-scale invasions. However, that didn’t mean the United States wasn’t impacted by the war. The ramifications of large economic, cultural, and societal changes forced Americans to reconsider entrenched beliefs and traditions.

Artifacts collected from across the nation tell the stories of the American people whose lives were shaped by this second “war to end all wars,” World War II.

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Photo Credits:
Movie poster: Theatrical Release Poster
Stills: Courtesy Warner Brothers

Movie Monday: Conflict

Movie Monday: Conflict

Filmed in 1943 but not released until 1945, Warner Brothers’ film noir Conflict starred Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, and Alexis Smith (an actress who made quite a few movies, but I’d not heard of). A cameo appearance is also made by the Maltese Falcon statue. The movie is based on The Pentacle by Alfred Neumann and Robert Siodmak. Despite the “heavy-hitting” cast, the movie didn’t do well.

Bogart and Greenstreet starred in several movies together, but Conflict is the only one in which Bogart played the villain. And played it he did even though he was somewhat blackmailed to take the role. Several sources quote the actor telling Jack Warner “I’m sorry, Jack. I just can’t do it. My stomach will not let me. I am an honest man, and I have to be honest with myself in this manner. If you want to get tough with me…I will feel that I have lots a friend.” However, he accepted after Warner threatened to block production of Passage to Marseille or cast a different actor in the lead role.

On the surface, the plot is a good one and fairly straightforward: Richard and Kathryn Mason appear to

be a happily married couple. Unfortunately, Richard has fallen in love with Kathryn’s younger sister, but he’s resigned to the fact that his wife won’t grant him a divorce. Kathryn derides him every chance she gets, and a series of events occur prompts him to murder her. After the police determine that he “did the deed,” they set him up with a bit of gaslighting to catch him. A pawn shop ticket is mailed to him, and the envelope appears to be addressed in Kathryn’s writing. When he goes to the shop, he finds her locket and what appears to be her signature in the register. He takes the police to the shop, but the locket is gone, and the register is different. Then on the street, he sees a woman who looks and dresses like Kathryn, so he follows her to her apartment, but it’s vacant and no one is inside.

Now convinced Kathryn is still alive, he returns to the crime scene to see if her body is still in the car where he left her. Bad news for Richard: the police are waiting for him.

Bogart and Greenstreet were both lauded for their performances, however, more than one critic commented that neither actor was “good enough to save the film.” Complaints of too many artificial devices and plot holes litter most of the reviews of the time. Since then, critics have been a bit more forgiving.

Personally, I thought the movie’s suspense, cinematography, and psychological aspects make it very watchable, especially for those who enjoy “noir” films.

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A Lesson in Love

He thinks he’s too old. She thinks she’s too young. Can these teachers learn that love defies all boundaries?

Born and raised in London, Isobel Turvine knows nothing about farming, but after most of the students in her school evacuate during Operation Pied Piper, she’s left with little to do. Then her friend Margery talks her into joining the Women’s Land Army, and she finds herself working the land at a manor home in Yorkshire that’s been converted to a boys’ school. A teacher at heart, she is drawn to the lads, but the handsome yet stiff-necked headmaster wants her to stick to farming.

Left with an arm that barely works from the last “war to end all wars,” Gavin Emerson agrees to take on the job of headmaster when his school moves from London to Yorkshire, but he’s saddled with the quirky manor owner, bickering among his teachers, and a gaggle of Land Army girls who have turned the grounds into a farm. When the group’s blue-eyed, raven-haired leader nearly runs him down in a car, he admonishes her to stay in the fields, but they are thrown together at every turn. Can he trust her not to break his heart?

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