A Holiday Affair is a lesser known Christmas movie. It stars Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh, and was made in 1949. It's worth seeing. Some of the best lines about love come from the men in the movie, including the supporting actor. There is one very short scene with Harry Morgan that's terrific, not realistic, but very funny. Supposedly, the director just let Morgan run with it, the way he wanted, and it turned out great. I am very moved by the movie every time I see it. Another one I've just seen for the first time is Remember the Night, from 1940, starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stynwck. It's an unlikely event, but we buy into it right away, maybe more now more than they did in the 40's. Today, they would have taken a plane, instead of a car. The farm would not be managed by two older ladies, the salt of the earth type women that we all want to nurture us. And there wouldn't be an old-fashioned barn dance, and we'd have too many presents on Christmas Day, instead of the simple exchange of one gift each. But we do buy into it and fully accept it. By the end of the movie, where every thing is not settled neatly the way you want, I was sobbing out loud. It hit very suddenly. The tenderness and intensity between these two lead actors pulled me and had me hoping for the relationship between this unlikely pair A Christmas Story 2 was not as good as the original because of the absence of Darren McGaven, but it's a believable follow-up of the 16 year old version of the 9 year old. The writing stays true to the original, even if the acting does not. And, yes, a resurrected version of the fish net stockinged lamp does show up. |