Holiday Affair (1949)

With a cast list containing Janet Leigh, Robert Mitchum and Wendell Corey you think this would be a crime thriller. It is a romantic comedy.Leigh is a widow with a young boy and works as a comparison shopper, regarded at the time to be a despicable profession.She meets Mitchum in a department store who works there as a toy salesman over the Christmas holidays to earn enough money so he can return to the west coast. He is selling toy trains but although he guesses she is a comparison shopper, he does not report her and gets fired for his non action.Wendell Corey is a lawyer who has been courting Leigh for years but she has never got over her husband and her boy does not seem to like Corey. However something stirs when she encounters Mitchum and they keep on meeting and he also purchases a train set that her son wants for Christmas.This is not a whimsical or sentimental film, the people feel real with real problems of the post years, poverty or bereavement or just trying to get the girl.Despite the cast, this is a low key film, where everybody is nice to each other. Corey does have the thankless role as the nice guy who has go up against Mitcham for the girl. At one point he even defends him in court. However Mitcham the drifter with a dream of building boats is the one who sizes up Leigh.

There's no question that this was a modestly made movie and it wasn't much of a success, either. Totally forgotten, it was rediscovered by TCM and now is considered a Christmas Classic, which is clearly is.All of the acting is really quite good, other than Wendell Corey's typical one-dimensional style of acting. Since his part is of a rather conventional, dull lawyer, I guess he does what's required.What most other people seem to suggest that it's a rather thin story, it's well conceived and really quite well written. Janet Leigh's son Timmy in the movie is picture perfect too.What's really a revelation is to see Robert Mitchum play such a nice, light comedic part. Despite his usually off-the-cuff persona - on and off the screen - he was really a gifted and talented actor and this film really shows how charming he could be.This film is really a nice treat.

"Holiday Affair" isn't a film that ranks with the traditional Christmas classics – "A Christmas Carol," "Miracle on 34th Street," "White Christmas" or "It's a Wonderful Life." But, it is an interesting and heartwarming story from a time when many people found Christmas observance difficult. The film came out on Christmas Eve, 1949, but was set around Christmas of 1947. World War II had been over just two years. While the American and world economies were in recovery, many people were still struggling personally. Especially those who had lost loved ones in the war. Many returning GIs were struggling to make it in the work place. So, it is very much a Christmas film of a special time in history.The movie is based on a story by John D. Weaver, "Christmas Gift." It has just the right mix of drama, romance and comedy woven around a Christmas setting. Janet Leigh plays Connie Ennis, a war-widow for two years. She has a 6 1/2-year-old son, Timmy (played by Gordon Gebert). He had never seen his father. They call each other Mrs. Ennis and Mr. Ennis. Wendell Corey is a young attorney and friend, Carl, who wants to become more than Connie's friend. But, she can't let go of the memories of her dead husband so she can move on with her life. Robert Mitchum plays Steve Mason. He's a five-year war veteran himself. After the war, he worked on a ship going to South America. Since then, he's been in New York working, and he nearly has enough money saved for his dream plans on the West Coast. He wants to design and build sailing boats. Steve enters the story by chance while working as a sales clerk in the toy department of one of the big department stores. Connie comes to buy an electric train that Steve is demonstrating. She has the exact amount and wants to take it with her now. Steve spots her for what she is – a comparison shopper (aka, spy for another store). She'll buy the train then bring it back the next day. He should report her to the store detectives, but he doesn't. That sets the stage for the rest of the film that involves comedy, romance and endearing actions by little Timmy. One can guess how it turns out, but it's still much fun to watch as the romance unfolds. The cast are all very good, and the direction and technical production are excellent. It isn't so much a stretch having this couple fall for each other in a very short time as it is Connie falling for Steve at all. Because Mitchum plays his role in his most comfortable and familiar persona as someone who isn't terribly excited about romance or anything else. He says he loves her, but he doesn't emote that love. That was an avowed characteristic of Mitchum's acting persona. Leigh gives more life and reality to her role. But, Timmy will capture one's heart for sure, and it's a happily ever after movie. "Holiday Affair" has two very funny, memorable scenes. The first is an exchange between Steve and Carl after they meet in Connie's apartment. While she's fixing them a drink they stand with their backs to the fire and exchange single lines of general talk. It's a very clever sketch, and very funny. The second is a longer scene toward the end in a police court with Harry Morgan as the police lieutenant. It involves Steve, Carl, Connie, the lieutenant and uniformed and plain clothes cops. It's hilarious and one of the funniest court scenes I've ever seen in the movies.Here's a little trivia. Comparison shoppers worked on the sly for large stores until the mid to late 20th century. It was one way retail businesses had to know what their competition was doing. They could alter their prices to draw more shoppers and sales. With the spread of television stations and sets after 1950, stores no longer needed these secret spies. In time, technology advances also led to the evaporation of other retail jobs such as floorwalkers and store detectives. Incidentally, Robert Mitchum was 24 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He was one of a handful of actors who didn't rush off to enlist in the Armed Forces. But, he did wind up serving a short stint in the Army when he was drafted in early 1945. The war was nearly over and he never had to leave the States. From April 12 to Oct. 11, 1945, he served as a medic in California. My dad was in the medical corps and served in Europe. After the war ended there, he was assigned to the West Coast. He met Mitchum in a bar one night, and knew who he was. Mitchum was short on cash, so my dad gave him $10 and Mitchum wrote him a check. Needless to say, dad never cashed that check, but carried it in his billfold for years to show people after he told them the story.This is an enjoyable movie with a heart-warming story and a nice cast of popular stars of the time. It also has considerable historical value. It shows a slice of life for many thousands of families who were personally and emotionally affected by the war for many years afterward.

Without saying much about the plot of this film, let me say that "Holiday Affair" is a wonderful film that has three things going for it.The story is clever, tight, and touching. It is not easy to balance a story on a series of coincidences without losing the audience's belief, but "Holiday Affair" is so charming and winning viewers want to invest in its storyline.It works as both a Christmas holiday film--with stirring and sentimental lessons--and as a romance. Various twists challenge the viewer to guess where the story might lead.The cast is wonderful. Janet Leigh plays the single mother who finds her affections torn between Wendell Corey and Robert Mitchum, both worthy of her consideration. Her son, Timmy, is played by Gordon Gebert in a memorable portrayal. It ranks right up there with Natalie Wood's performance in "Miracle on 34th Street". It is easy to recommend this film.