Holiday (1938)

A young man falls in love with a girl from a rich family. His unorthodox plan to go on holiday for the early years of his life is met with skepticism by everyone except for his fiancée's eccentric sister and long suffering brother.

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Donald Ogden Stewart (screenplay), Sidney Buchman (screenplay),

Stars:

Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Doris Nolan

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Katharine Hepburn	...	Linda Seton
Cary Grant	...	Johnny Case
Doris Nolan	...	Julia Seton
Lew Ayres	...	Ned Seton
Edward Everett Horton	...	Professor Nick Potter
Henry Kolker	...	Edward Seton
Binnie Barnes	...	Mrs. Laura Cram
Jean Dixon	...	Mrs. Susan Elliott Potter
Henry Daniell	...	Seton Cram
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry Allen	...	Scotchman (scenes deleted)
Frank Benson	...	Scotchman (scenes deleted)
Aileen Carlyle	...	Farm Girl (scenes deleted)
Edward Cooper	...	Scotchman (scenes deleted)
Robert Hale	...	Scotchman (scenes deleted)
Margaret McWade	...	Farmer's Wife (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Free-thinking Johnny Case finds himself betrothed to a millionaire's daughter. When her family, with the exception of black-sheep Linda and drunken Ned, want Johnny to settle down to big business, he rebels, wishing instead to spend the early years of his life on "holiday." With the help of his friends Nick and Susan Potter, he makes up his mind as to which is the better course, and the better mate.

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Plot Keywords:

holiday | sister | social class | widower | brooklyn bridge | 

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Taglines:

Heart-warming drama -- smiles -- and the tears behind them!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 June 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Vivir para gozar

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The screenwriter of this version of "Holiday", Donald Ogden Stewart, played the role of Nick Potter in the original Broadway production of the play.

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Goofs

Near the end of the movie, Johnny has being announced and is coming up the stairs and Neddie is trying to persuade Linda not to give up. As Neddie then walks away, he has his right arm fully extended down, forgetting that he is supposed to be carrying a drink, then, a second later, he remembers it and bends his right elbow at 90 degrees, keeping it bent.

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Quotes

Mrs. Laura Cram: I've never been up here before. It's awfully quaint, isn't it?
Linda Seton: We like it.

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Connections

Referenced in The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

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Soundtracks

"Bei mir bist du Schön"
Music by Sholom Secunda
Lyrics by Jacob Jacobs
English lyrics by Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin
Played on piano by Lew Ayres

User Reviews

An Important Lesson

I just saw this incredible film for the third time. Unlike what most people comment about this movie, it is more than just "delightful" and "whimsical", or worst yet calling it a screwball comedy. If you call Holiday a screwball comedy, you may as well call It's A Wonderful Life the same thing. There are distinct parallels between these two groundbreaking works. Both deal with strong dreams being crushed. But in the case of Lew Ayres' character it is his "place" in society that stops him from becoming a serious composer. And though he comes from a wealthy family he does not have the freedom that many believe (falsely) to chose what he truly wishes to do. In a tightly-wound capitalistic society as ours, the obligations to continue the legacy of money-making overwhelms the individual's desire to create what many believe is frivolous artistry. What many of us, as well as his father, fail to realize is when this desire is crushed apathy sets in. This brings up the singularly amazing theme of this movie, a theme Philip Barry uses in many of his works, that a society that chases wealth without conscience, that suppresses truly individualistic idealism is a society of superficial, mean-spirited and back-biting people. The party scene in Holiday is a clear-eyed view of our society and how lost we are. Everyone talks down about others under their breath, than hypocritically smiles and fawns over these same people to insure their own place in society. Those who refuse to go along with this status quo are relegated, as Hepburn,Ayres,and the Professor and his wife are, to the childrens' playroom until they "grow-up" and accept things as they are. This films warms an audience with it's superficial whimsy, as "...Wonderful Life" did, yet can drive a cold stare with its slashing and often hurtful glances at how we are all relegated to the playroom of society if we express criticism of the narrow-mindenness and suffocating aspects of capitalism.

Holiday should be an important lesson to many of us on not just how important Life is, but shows us how much more important it is to grasp on to what truly makes it worth living.