Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

A food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas.

Director:

Peter Godfrey

Writers:

Lionel Houser (screenplay), Adele Comandini (screenplay) (as Adele Commandini)

Stars:

Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Elizabeth Lane
Dennis Morgan	...	Jefferson Jones
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Alexander Yardley
Reginald Gardiner	...	John Sloan
S.Z. Sakall	...	Felix Bassenak
Robert Shayne	...	Dudley Beecham
Una O'Connor	...	Norah
Frank Jenks	...	Sinkewicz
Joyce Compton	...	Mary Lee
Dick Elliott	...	Judge Crowthers

Storyline

Journalist Elizabeth Lane is one of the country's most famous food writers. In her columns, she describes herself as a hard working farm woman, taking care of her children and being an excellent cook. But this is all lies. In reality she is an unmarried New Yorker who can't even boil an egg. The recipes come from her good friend Felix. The owner of the magazine she works for has decided that a heroic sailor will spend his Christmas on *her* farm. Miss Lane knows that her career is over if the truth comes out, but what can she do?

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Plot Keywords:

square dance | screwball comedy | connecticut | food | farm | 

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Taglines:

It's the fun show that's the one show to see! (original ad)

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

11 August 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

Indiscrição

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Felix (S.Z. Sakall) first meets Yardly (Sydney Greenstreet), he takes an immediate dislike to him and mumbles under his breath, "Fat man" and walks away. In The Maltese Falcon (1941) Greenstreet played the role of Kasper Gutman whose code name was "Fat Man".

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Goofs

Several days prior to Christmas, a magazine publisher says that a food writer at a rival magazine is scheduled to give birth nine months later in September, even though it would be impossible for him to know that in the third week of December. In 1945, doctors could not detect pregnancies until four-six week after conception.

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Quotes

Felix Bassenak: Sam?
Sam: Yes, sir?
Felix Bassenak: Catastrophe, what is it?
Sam: It's from the Greek. It means "a misfortune, a cataclysm or a serious calamity."
Felix Bassenak: It is good?
Sam: No, sir. That's bad.

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Connections

Referenced in Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)

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Soundtracks

Bridal Chorus
(uncredited)
from "Lohengrin"
Music by Richard Wagner
Played on the phonograph for the wedding ceremony

User Reviews

Classic Holiday Movie!

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.