Christmas in Connecticut

Christmas in Connecticut (1945 - Directed by Peter Godfrey) Barbara Stanwyck stars as a well-known magazine food writer who has been lying to her millions of fans that she is married with child and lives the traditional wife/mother role in a lovely country farm house. Magazine editor Sydney Greenstreet decides that Stanwyck should host returning war veteran Dennis Morgan at her country house over the Christmas holidays! Yikes! What's Stanwyck to do? Why marry her long time suitor, architect John Sloan, (who just happens to have the perfect country house in Connecticut) in a hurry and high tail it out to Connecticut faster than you can say "I do" before the boss finds out and she loses her job and becomes the laughing stock of the country.

This is a charming and lightly played holiday tale that allows Stanwyck to turn in one of her best comedic roles. The movie has all the ingredients for a holiday classic: a farm in the country, lots of snow, mishaps and miscommunications to keep everyone guessing as to how the whole thing will turn out in the end. Of course, Stanwyck never does marry her architect friend and instead falls head over heels with the war hero.

It's one of the lesser known holiday movies, but year by year, is getting more and more attention. If you don't go for the heavily sweet holiday fare, this is just what the doctor ordered.