'Christmas in Connecticut' remains a holiday treat

Christmas traditions in my house include annual screenings of Christmas movies, old and not so old.

Lori selects “Love Actually,” director Richard Curtis’ 2003 film about eight couples and their lives in the hectic weeks before Christmas in London. It’s an entertaining film and features a talented cast, including Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson. I always enjoy it.

I select “Christmas in Connecticut,” a 1945 production starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, and Sydney Greenstreet. 

There are many other fine Christmas movies. “It’s a Wonderful Life,” starring James Stewart, is popular with all audiences and can be seen on television during the holiday season. Other Christmas favorites include the various versions of “A Christmas Carol,” 1983’s “A Christmas Story,” and 2004’s “The Polar Express.” I enjoy these movies and other holiday features, but “Christmas in Connecticut” remains my favorite.

The movie is set during World War II and presents the tale of Elizabeth Lane (Stanwyck), a magazine columnist who offers advice on cooking and related family matters from her farm in rural Connecticut. Lane is promoted as the finest cook in the United States. It’s all made up. Lane is a single woman who can’t cook and resides in an apartment building in New York City. Lane’s fictitious life is put on a collision course with the truth when her publisher, portrayed by Greenstreet, invites himself to Lane’s Connecticut farmhouse for Christmas and insists on bringing a war hero with him (Morgan).

“Christmas in Connecticut” is an entertaining mix of friendly deception, comedy, and romance. Contemporary audiences might dismiss it as light weight and unrealistic. I like it because it is light, even whimsical at times. The dialogue is crisp, intelligent, and suitable for all ages. 

Stanwyck sparkles as Lane and Greenstreet plays the stuffy publisher to perfection. A talented supporting cast truly bolsters the movie and includes, S.Z. Sakall, Reginald Gardiner, Una O’Connor, Joyce Compton, Dick Elliott and Robert Shayne.

Curiously, the movie avoids the themes common to many Christmas movies — redemption, compassion, forgiveness, and generosity — but it still manages to present a charming (and now nostalgic) depiction of Christmas in rural America.

The movie was filmed entirely on studio sets, typical for productions of its time, and the set for the Connecticut farmhouse is one of my favorites.

If you enjoy “Christmas in Connecticut,” you might also enjoy 1942’s “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” and 1947’s “The Bishop’s Wife.”

“Christmas in Connecticut” is aired during the holiday season. Turner Classic Movies will show it Dec. 24. Treat yourself to some “Christmas in Connecticut.” It just might become a Christmas tradition for you and your family.

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