Holiday Affair (1949)

A young widow is torn between a boring attorney and a romantic ne'er-do-well.

Director:

Don Hartman

Writers:

Isobel Lennart (screenplay), John D. Weaver (story "Christmas Gift")

Stars:

Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Mitchum	...	Steve Mason
Janet Leigh	...	Connie Ennis
Wendell Corey	...	Carl Davis
Gordon Gebert	...	Timmy Ennis
Griff Barnett	...	Mr. Ennis
Esther Dale	...	Mrs. Ennis
Henry O'Neill	...	Mr. Crowley
Harry Morgan	...	Police Lieutenant (as Henry Morgan)
Larry J. Blake	...	Plainclothesman
Helen Brown	...	Emily

Storyline

Just before Christmas, department store clerk Steve Mason meets big spending customer Connie Ennis, really a commercial spy. He unmasks her but lets her go, which gets him fired. They end up on a date, which doesn't sit well with Connie's steady suitor, Carl, but delights her son Timmy, who doesn't want Carl for a step-dad. Standard (if sweet) romantic complications follow.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | department store | model train | department store santa | department store clerk | 

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Taglines:

Mitchum's Latest !

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the kitchen scene, Mitcham gives Leigh a "Merry Christmas Kiss". Janet Leigh was to say later, "The expression that is on my face of being overwhelmed was for real". Mitcham was later to say, "I wanted to make the kiss memorable, as though the characters were never going to see each other again. The Perks of being an actor are at times not bad".

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Goofs

The film appears to take place in New York City, but the store that Robert Mitchum works at is Crowley's, which was only in downtown Detroit.

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Quotes

Connie Ennis: If you wish for things you can get, you're gonna be happy. If you wish for real big things, all you're gonna get is real big disappointments.

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Alternate Versions

Also shown in a computer-colorized version.

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Connections

Remade as Lux Video Theatre: Holiday Affair (1955)

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Soundtracks

Auld Lang Syne
(uncredited)
Written by Robert Burns

User Reviews

Bringing In A Little Christmas Cheer

World War II widow Janet Leigh supports herself and her son Gordon Gebbert with a job as a comparison shopper who runs afoul of salesman Robert Mitchum. Mitch is a rather footloose character who's got a temporary job at the Christmas buying season in New York so he can earn enough money to buy a ticket back to California where he wants to spend time building boats and living carefree.

Of course Leigh's interested, but not enough to give up the stability for herself and her son that lawyer Wendell Corey could provide and he's most interested in matrimony. So will she take Mitchum or Corey?

A Holiday Affair is one of those gazillions of films about war widows and their romances that Hollywood made for about 10 years after V-J Day. Janet Leigh is certainly a bright addition to the rolls, in her youth she had a nice innocent charm to her which in fact got her the film.

She was loaned out to RKO and Howard Hughes for a three picture deal and A Holiday Affair was the one Hughes interfered the least with. Her other two films in the package were Two Tickets to Broadway and Jet Pilot. Of course the reason she was at RKO was because Howard Hughes had his hormones in overdrive over her. She had a couple of dates with him and she was less than impressed, but Hughes took a while to get the message she wasn't interested.

She did enjoy working with both Mitchum and Corey. According to Lee Server's book on Mitchum, the set was a relaxed and happy one, but that Mitchum and Corey were full of all kinds of practical jokes. Never a dull moment.

Mitchum had some good chemistry with Leigh and with young Gordon Gebbert. Best scene in the film was at a police station where Mitchum is arrested on Christmas Day and Leigh and Corey go to straighten out a mistake. There's a droll performance by Harry Morgan as the patient police sergeant who's always up for a new story.

A Holiday Affair is a nice unpretentious little film about Christmas in New York and hopefully people will catch it TCM in December.

Details

Official Sites:

HBOMAX Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 December 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Christmas Gift

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1