I was recently shocked to discover how much I enjoyed 1939’s Remember the Night, which stars Barbara Stanwyck. This was allegedly a Christmas movie, though I believe it would be enjoyable any time of year. Six years later, Stanwyck was cast in a yet another Christmas screwball comedy, Christmas in Connecticut.
The plot is a clever conceit. She’s a popular magazine columnist, mixing in recipes with anecdotes about life on her farm in Connecticut with her husband and baby. Except she’s actually a single and very urbane woman who gets her recipes from the chef of her favorite restaurant (S. Z. Sakall), while the descriptions of the farm are of a property owned by a long-time suitor (Reginald Gardiner).
Sydney Greenstreet is her publisher and he is oblivious to her ruse. A letter he has received inspires him to have her host a convalescing sailor (Dennis Morgan) spend the holidays at the farm she’s doesn’t actually have. Greenstreet invites himself as well.
One element of this setup that beggars belief is why the publisher would care whether Stanwyck is the real deal or not. I doubt most people, even at the time of film’s original release, thought columnists were everything they pretended to be on paper. All such a person would care about is how many subscribers she brings in, and, apparently, she is his cash cow.
She will have to deal with a real cow when Gardiner’s farm is employed for her ruse. Her reactions are consistently hilarious throughout the runtime, including the first time she hears that cow lowing.
As for a husband, that was to be taken care of just before the guests arrive, as she has agreed to marry Gardiner. But the approaching sleigh bells force a hasty cancellation of the small ceremony in his living room. It’s a shame he thought to stop the record of “The Wedding March”, because that would have been really confusing to Morgan as he enters the house.
What is interesting about Gardiner’s character is he may be selfish and a boor, but he’s not exactly what I would call a bad person. He’s simply bland and a bit schemey. As an architect, he is prone to waxing euphonic about various mundane elements of his house at the most inopportune times. As a disenchanted Stanwyck says to him, “John, dear, when you’re kissing me, don’t talk about plumbing.”
It is no surprise she will fall in love with Morgan, despite the difficulties posed by her pretending to be married. There’s a great scene where they find themselves alone outdoors at night walking the aforementioned cow back to the barn. You could cut the sexual tension with a knife, especially when she shyly asks him if he’s ever kissed a married woman before.
The person who most assists Stanwyck in her plot is Sakall. Initially, he’s just doing all the cooking. Soon, however, he is masterminding all manner of devious shenanigans. It’s always good to see him in anything, though he is better overall in smaller doses such as in Casablanca. Greenstreet, the other veteran from that picture, is better equipped to carry more of a picture.
There are a great many moments in this film I liked. A sudden change-up in babies loaned out to pose as Stanwyck’s is inspired. There are even small moments that made me smile, such as when Morgan and Greenstreet both happen to descend upon the kitchen for a midnight snack. Not sure why, but I tend to like scenes where characters have an impromptu late bite together. Something always feels close to improvisation in such moments.
I really liked Christmas in Connecticut, even if all the major actors tend to act a tad too broadly, especially near the end. Still, there’s much to be said for a film with a concept like this and the talent at hand. Not many could make this line simultaneously funny and poignant: “What a night. Moonlight, snow…and a cow”
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet
Watched on blu-ray