Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) is a food writer for a best-selling women's magazine. In her articles, she provides fantastic recipes and waxes poetic about the joys of living on her Connecticut farm and taking care of her husband and baby. When the magazine's owner, Alexander Yardley (Sidney Greenstreet), decides that a Elizabeth should host a real-life war hero at her farm for Christmas, the trouble begins. You see, Elizabeth doesn't really live on a farm in Connecticut, she isn't married, she doesn't have a baby, and - worst of all - she can't even cook. For years, she's been getting all of her recipes from her old friend Felix (S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall - how can you not love someone named Cuddles?). Felix is a refugee from Czechoslovakia, who set up a restaurant in New York City with help from Elizabeth. Now, Felix cooks meals for her so she won't starve and provides her with her award-winning recipes. She bases all the stuff about the farm on one owned by her friend and would-be suitor John Sloan (Reginald Gardner). When Sloan hears about her predicament, he sees a way to finally coerce Elizabeth to the alter. He'll let her use his farm to entertain Yardley and the war hero if she'll agree to marry him. Felix and her editor, Dudley Beecham (Robert Shayne), try their best to dissuade Elizabeth - after all, she doesn't love Sloan - but she feels she has no other choice. It's take Sloan up on his offer or lose her job.

The real fun begins when the war hero, Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan), shows up at the farm house. Elizabeth is instantly smitten. Yup! It's love at first sight. Only problem is that Elizabeth is supposedly already married to Sloan, and she supposedly has a baby. Jones caring for her baby and later singing to her clinches the deal. What's a girl to do? Well, keep putting off the ever-persistent Sloan while flirting shamelessly with Jefferson Jones. The animals help her out quite a bit with this. A cow that wanders into the kitchen one evening provides an excuse for her and Jones to walk that cow back to the barn and be alone together. This leads to them canoodling in a snow bank. Go figure. Later, when they decide to sit in a one-horse open sleigh, the horse wanders off with them in tow, giving our love-struck couple yet another opportunity for some serious flirtation. Yardley sees them together, and he's furious. He fires Elizabeth, but Felix changes his mind by bribing him with food. Smart man, Felix is.

Christmas in Connecticut is a funny movie, in more ways than one. Yeah, it has a lot of funny moments and funny lines, like when Felix, upon seeing Elizabeth's new mink coat, comments that, "Nobody needs a mink coat but the mink." But this movie is funny in other ways too. Yes, it's a Christmas movie (or maybe I should say a holiday movie) but the opening scene is of a German u-boat sinking an American destroyer. And the first 20 minutes of the film revolve around the survivors of that attack - Jones and Seaman Sinkewicz (Frank Jenks). And while Jefferson and Elizabeth never get around to actually kissing, this was still heady stuff for 1945. Jones doesn't know that Elizabeth isn't married, so this is about as close as you can get to adultery in 1945 without actually committing it. The film also explores some real gender-bender issues like the career woman who can't cook or care for children, and the men who can obviously do both. But all in all, this is a great little movie that's really a lot of fun. Stanwyck is utterly radiant as Elizabeth Lane, and Sydney Greenstreet - always a favorite of mine - is great as her bellicose boss. Cuddles Sakall is charming as the wise and kindly Felix, who feeds people's hearts as well as their stomachs.

Christmas in Connecticut was directed by Peter Godfrey, and it's rated G. It's filmed in glorious black-and-white and has a runtime of 102 minutes.

Man's Favorite Sport (1964)

When it comes to the great outdoors, no one knows more than Roger Willoughby (Rock Hudson). Willoughby is the country's premiere expert on outdoors sports. He work's for Abercrombie & Fitch (the original A&F that sold high-end sporting goods, not the modern teen fashion shack). He teaches customers how to camp and hunt. He's written a best-selling book about fishing. Willoughby is the go-to guy for anything to do with nature. There's only one slight problem. Willoughby has never set foot in the woods. He lives in San Francisco. He's never been camping, doesn't hunt, and can't fish. In fact, he couldn't tell a trout from a salmon if his life depended on it. But as long as he can keep up the pretense of knowing, he'll be fine. Or so he thinks. Enter Abigail Page (Paula Prentiss) and Easy Mueller (Maria Perschy). These two finagle Willoughby's boss, Mr. Cadwalader (John McGiver) into entering Willoughby in a fishing contest to drum up business for the store. Sure that willoughby can't possibly lose, Cadwalader informs his outdoors expert that he's going into the outdoors.

Willoughby knows, of course, that he can't fish. He confides in Abigail. She tells him not to worry, that she and Easy will go along and help him out. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell just which of the three is more inept in the woods. Willoughby arrives at the lake loaded for bear, and runs smack into John Screaming Eagle (Norman Alden) a wise-cracking Native American who tries to make a touch on Willoughby. From here, the antics really get going. Willoughby can't do anything right. He can't even set up a tent, so he stays in a cabin at the lodge instead. When he tries to fish, he gets his line tangled in the trees, snags dead branches in the water, and nearly drowns himself on several occasions. Abigail and Easy devise a way to get Willoughby out of the tournament by pretending that he's got a broken arm. Unfortunately, when the cast dries, he can't lower his arm. Abigail removes the cast with a skill saw! And right in the middle of the whole mess, Willoughby's fiance shows up from Texas, wanting to know what he's doing with Abigail and Easy.

The biggest shocker of all, though, is that Willoughby actually wins the tournament with no help at all. Of course, he didn't actually catch the fish. They more or less committed suicide, by jumping on his hook when the line was tangled in some branches, by getting caught in his waders when he fell in the water, and several other means that have nothing to do with fishing. Because of this, Willoughby feels he can't accept the trophy. It just wouldn't be sporting. So he confesses everything. Of course, Cadwalader fires him on the spot, much to the dismay of his best customers. They lobby for Willoughby's reinstatement. Cadwalader finally gives in. But where's Willoughby? And where's Abigail?

Howard Hawks' Man's Favorite Sport is one of my favorite movies. It's one of the last in a long line of screwball comedies that stretch all the way back tot he advent of talking film. The dialog is fast-paced and witty, and the situations that Willoughby finds himself in are hilarious. Rock Hudson puts in a solid performance as the beleaguered Roger Willoughby, but the true star of the show - in my opinion - is Paula Prentiss, who gives one of the best performances of her career. She does sexy and funny at the same time and pulls off both brilliantly. Most of the rest of the actors are simply caricatures who act as foils for Abigail and Willoughby. If you're looking for a movie that's lighthearted and just plain fun, I highly recommend Man's Favorite Sport. I first saw it forty-one years ago and fell in love with it. It hasn't lost any of its appeal since then. See if you don't agree.

Man's Favorite Sport is rated G and is filmed in Technicolor. Running time is 120 minutes.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

London, 1939. Guinevere Pettigrew (Francis McDormand) is a governess with no one to govern. She also has nothing to eat. In desperation, she steals a client card from her agency and shows up at the apratment of Delysia LaFosse (Amy Adams), a young singer and actress who's looking for a social secretary. She's also looking for a part in a new play that's being produced, and she's sleeping with the producer, Phil (Tom Payne) in order to get it. The only problem is, she's doing her interview in the apartment of her lover, Nick (Mark Strong). He also owns the nightclub where Delysia performs. He's also a tad bit on the shady side, and a whole lot on the jealous side. Miss Pettigrew scoots the bewildered Phil out the door and cleans up the apartment just as Nick walks through the door. Delysia is taken by the frumpy Miss Pettigrew. She hires her on the spot and gives her a complete makeover. All Miss Pettigrew wants, though, is a good dinner. Meanwhile, Michael (Lee Pace) enters the picture. He's Delysia's former boyfriend, and he wants her back. Delysia loves him, but she wants that part in that play too. While Miss Pettigrew tries to help Delysia sort out her love quadrangle, she starts to fall in love with a lingerie designer named Joe (Ciaran Hinds). After a wild party at Nick's apartment and a brawl between Michael and Nick during an air raid, everything works out the way it's supposed to. Happy ending.

Yeah, that's what I like about these kinds of movies. They have happy endings. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a wonderful little film, one of those that managed to slip under the radar, and miss most of the multiplexes. One reviewer called it a "mediocre film." I couldn't disagree more. This is a fun, snappy little comedy, much like the great screwball comedies of the 1930s. I'd rank it right up there with My Man Godfrey and His Girl Friday. The action moves quickly along, with never a dull moment, and the dialogue is witty. Amy Adams is wonderful as the fickle and irrepressible Delysia trying to decide between true love on the one hand and fame and fortune on the other. Frances McDormand is incredible as the dowdy Miss Pettigrew, and her transformation into Delysia's elegant social secretary is great. There are also some wonderfully poignant scenes between Miss Pettigrew and Joe, as they commiserate with each other about the coming war. The sets are great, as are the props and costumes. Everything is 1930s; there's nothing out of place. And the movie is filmed in luscious color, with the camera taking full advantage of the gorgeous art deco world of 1930s London. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a delightful little RomCom that will put a smile on everyone's face.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is rated PG-13.

On Approval (1944)

One of the wonderful things about Netflix is that I get to stream a lot of questionable movies that I might not otherwise rent or buy. Not questionable like in bad taste, but questionable as in I'm not sure if it's gonna be any good. Since I pay one price no matter how many movie I watch, I can watch quite a few. Every now and then, I strike a gem. That's precisely what I found when I watched On Approval last night. A British production, filmed during WWII - I didn't even know that Brits made movies during the war years - On Approval is a charming, witty little romcom about two Edwardian couples who decide to "try out" marriage to see if it will suit them. George, 10th Duke of Bristol (Clive Brook, who also directed), is a down at the heels royal who's been forced to rent out his estate to the daughter of an American pickle magnate, Helen Hale (Googie Withers). George's best friend, Richard Halton (Roland Culver), lacks not only money but also title. Together the two of them wander about London sponging off anyone they can, until Richard falls in love with Maria Wislack (Beatrice Lilly), a widow whom George despises. The feeling is mutual. Richard wants to marry Maria, but she'll only marry him if he agrees to spend every day with her for three weeks on a deserted island off the Scottish coast - at night he must agree to row back to the mainland and stay in a hotel. Richard agrees to give it a try. Meanwhile, George and Helen, who are also flirting with the idea of marriage, decide to accompany Richard and Maria, much to the latter's dismay. When they arrive, they discover that all of the hotels on the mainland are booked up, so Richard and George are forced to stay at Maria's chateau on the island. Then all of the servants pack up and leave, mistakenly believing that the two couples are living in sin. The quartet is left to cook and clean for themselves, something that Helen and Richard do admirably but that both Maria and George refuse to do. After three weeks, Helen has realized what a lazy cad George is and what a thoroughly nice man Richard is. Likewise Richard has figured out that Maria is a whining, complaining, hyper-critical woman, and that Helen is something of a sweetheart. I'll leave it up to you to decide where everything goes from there. Clive Brooks' On Approval is a great little movie that has slid under the radar for many decades, and it's one that is worthy of a complete restoration. The story is clever, the characters are unique, and the dialogue is fast and witty. There's a great prologue narrated by E. V. H. Emmet, a British producer, writer and actor who enjoyed a film career spanning over forty years. Anyone looking for a little clean, light-hearted entertainment will enjoy On Approval.

On approval is rated G and is available in black and white on Netflix and DVD from Amazon.