Today’s quick review: Christmas in Connecticut. As a favor to a friend, publisher Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet) sends Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) to spend Christmas with Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck), a popular recipe columnist for one of Yardley’s magazines. There’s just one catch: Elizabeth is a fraud. To keep her job, Elizabeth has to find a way to fake the good cooking and loving home she writes about in her columns.
Christmas in Connecticut is a romantic comedy about a popular writer with no choice but to live up to her false reputation. Her elaborate ruse ropes in her uncle Felix (S.Z. Sakall), a wealthy suitor (Reginald Gardiner), and a farm in Connecticut, all to dupe her publisher and give a lonely sailor the Christmas he’s dreamed of. A fruitful premise and a clever script are enough to make Christmas in Connecticut a solid pick for fans of the classics.
Elizabeth’s ruse is handled well enough to fuel the film’s comedy and set up its romance. The film’s comedic elements are typical for its genre and era, a series of escalating lies that spiral out of control. The gags aren’t brilliant, but they are consistently entertaining. Barbara Stanwyck has great comedic timing, helping to sell many of the jokes. S.Z. Sakall also manages to steal the scene once or twice as Elizabeth’s crafty uncle Felix.
Christmas in Connecticut’s romance has less development, but it still manages to set up a suitably complicated love triangle. To pull off her ruse, Elizabeth reluctantly agrees to marry her long-time suitor, John Sloan. But before they can tie the knot and make their fake marriage real, Jefferson arrives and captures Elizabeth’s heart. What follows is a light courtship with a few complications that’s used mainly to serve up more comedy.
Christmas in Connecticut is a pleasant comedy that delivers what it promises. Though it’s not quite as sharp with its dialogue or performances as the best comedies of the era, it’s still a strong choice for anyone in the mood for old-fashioned fun. For a classic romantic comedy in a similar mold, try The Philadelphia Story or It Happened One Night. For more comedy in the same vein, try My Man Godfrey or The Thin Man.
7.4 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 to 7.5 for well-structured comedy.