Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Christmas in Connecticut
Directed by Peter Godfrey
Written by Lionel Hauser and Adele Comandini from a story by Aileen Hamilton
1945/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Netflix rental

Elizabeth Lane: Everytime I’d opened my mouth he talked. I felt like Charlie McCarthy.

Another film to add to the list for the holidays. I love Barbara Stanwyck in romantic comedies and she is very lovable, as well as independent, here. Sidney Greenstreet is also a hoot. If this was made today, it would be a take-off on a much kinder and gentler Martha Stewart.

Elizabeth Lane (Stanwyck) writes a popular cooking and home decorating column for a woman’s magazine.  She can wax poetic about food and the joys of country living but cannot boil and egg and lives in a city apartment.  She gets most of her tips from her uncle  Felix (S.K. Skazal), a Hungarian chef.

Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) was adrift for 15 days when his destroyer was torpedoed.  He spent the entire time day-dreaming about food.  A nurse that fell for him in the hospital wants him to experience the joys of home life and writes to Elizabeth’s magazine to see if she will take him on.  Elizabeth’s boss Alexander Yardley is at loose ends for Christmas himself and decides it would be a great circulation booster for Elizabeth to host the sailor at her home in Connecticut for Christmas dinner.

Elizabeth has no home but she does have a suitor with a suitable farm house.  He has been after her to marry him for months, maybe years.  She finally agrees, being able to think of no reason not to except that she doesn’t love him.  They plan to marry at the farm house and have Uncle Felix finesse the cooking.  They also end up having to borrow a baby.

Of course, Elizabeth falls in love with Jefferson almost at first sight so there are mix-ups aplenty.  With Una O’Connor as a housekeeper.

The best way to describe this is “sweet”.  It was just what I was looking for yesterday.

Trailer