Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Directed by Peter Godfrey. Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, S. Z. Sakall, Reginald Gardiner, Joyce Compton, Robert Shayne, Frank Jenks, Una O’Connor, Dick Elliott.

Slight holiday trifle of love, lies and flapjacks. City magazine writer Stanwyck pretends to be a married housewife living on a Connecticut farm for her “down-home” food column, but when returning war hero Morgan wants to meet her, she’s forced to save face (and her job) by continuing the charade by hosting his visit at an actual farm with actual cows, an actual husband, and even an actual baby. The stars are short on chemistry—Stanwyck consistently wears a look of disgust on her face due to the circumstances, while well-mannered Morgan has less charisma than intelligence, and he must already be plenty short on the latter to fall for this ruse—plus, the ambling pace draws out what should have been a much tighter, tarter brand of farce. Sufficient number of funny bits (“Did you say the baby’s name was Robert?”) and the always dependable presence of shrewd, droll Greenstreet help keep it an amiable experience, however. Released during the interim between the Allied victory in Europe and their victory in Japan, which proved to be perfect timing for the picture to become a major financial success. Remade for television in 1992 (directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger!).

64/100