SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

JohnHowardReid Director: DON HARTMAN. Screenplay: Isobel Lennart. Based on a story, "Christmas Gift", and a novelette called "The Man Who Played Santa Claus" by John D. Weaver. Photography: Milton Krasner. Film editor: Harry Marker. Art directors: Albert D'Agostino and Carroll Clark. Set decorators: Darrell Silvera and William Stevens. Miss Leigh's costumes: Howard Greer. Music composed by Roy Webb, directed by Constantin Bakaleinikoff. Hair styles: Larry Germain. Make-up: James House. Assistant director: Sam Ruman. Sound: Frank Sarver and Clem Portman. Producer: Don Hartman.Copyright 23 November 1949 by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. U.S. release: 24 December 1949. New York release at Loew's State: 23 November 1949. U.K. release: 6 February 1950. Australian release: 6 April 1950. Sydney release at the Esquire: 10 March 1950. Australian length: 7,943 feet (88 minutes). U.K. length: 7,812 feet (87 minutes).SYNOPSIS: Comparison shopper inadvertently gets toy salesman fired from New York department store. Salesman romances shopper and her six-year-old son.COMMENT: A slight little Christmas romance with a foregone conclusion that seemed a lot more entertaining and engrossing back in 1950 than it does now. Admittedly, the two principal characterizations are fairly intriguing - Mitchum is likeably off-beat at first but becomes more conventionally outspoken as the film progresses; Miss Leigh's profession is refreshingly original - but the rest of the players are handicapped by their strictly clichéd roles, particularly Wendell Corey's stuffy attorney and Gordon Gebert's gap-toothed wonder. The players are not helped by direction that only comes to life with fluid camerawork in some of the crowd scenes, elsewhere letting the cast and the dialogue do all the work in a series of long takes. The dialogue is occasionally witty or pointed but mostly it and the situations are dull to the point of boredom. Even the episode in the police station which could have been fairly amusing seems somewhat strained as Henry Morgan makes heavy weather out of rather thin clouds. Miss Leigh looked good to indulgent males in 1950, but Father Time has stripped a lot of her illusion away, forcing her to rely on a charm and personality that is otherwise blandly inadequate. Photography and other credits are capable enough - even occasionally attractive. A Holiday Affair also has some historical interest as Mitchum's first starring essay into the field of romantic comedy and it must be admitted that he handled the lightweight part with a professional flair of delightful nonchalance (when he wasn't buried under sticky dialogue of the sentimental kind). However, despite mildly enthusiastic reviews and a domestic release that coincided with Christmas, Mitchum's fans were unimpressed and A Holiday Affair added little to RKO's coffers. It was not until his final RKO film, She Couldn't Say No (1954) that Mitchum was again cast in a comedy.

utgard14 Delightful Christmas romantic comedy about a widowed single mother (Janet Leigh) who gets a toy store clerk (Robert Mitchum) fired and thus begins their bumpy road to romance. It's a very special movie, underrated in many ways. The performances are all earnest and authentic. The script is smart, funny, and heartwarming without being cloying. Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh are both great and have a wonderful, believable chemistry together. Child actor Gordon Gebert is adorable. His performance feels very real, though I suspect some of that is accidental. What I mean is sometimes the actor seems to stumble over lines in such a way it doesn't seem like acting. Instead of being a flaw, however, it actually works. His infectious enthusiasm in the role certainly helps. So the question remains how much is intentional on his part and how much is just serendipity. Either way, the end result is an enjoyable performance that feels legit compared to most overly-precocious child actors. Wendell Corey is really good in a well-written role. The 'also-ran' guy in romantic comedies is usually pretty clichéd. This one is a genuinely nice, dependable guy who, like so many nice guys, just can't compete with handsome dreamers like Mitchum. It's a terrific film with a lot going for it. It never talks down to you or plays with your emotions in a cheap way. It's just a very genuine, mature romance story about characters who feel like real people not movie 'types.'

Scarecrow-88 In this wonderful Christmas film, a charming romantic drama unusually starring Robert Mitchum (this was his film noir era of the cool, conflicted, anti-hero) as a down-on-his-luck train salesman (who loses his position when he doesn't turn in comparison shopper, Janet Leigh (this is during the 40s when she was at her most Hollywood beautiful)) who woos a widow (Leigh) after numerous encounters (she is deeply sorry for his losing the job, but with two mouths to feed (her son), and agrees to a lunch in the park with him out of regret), but she's attached to an attorney (Windell Corey; Rear Window) who is head-over-heels and committed to her (he has tolerated a two-year courtship without marriage because of this love). This is a love triangle melodrama set during the Holiday season, smartly written, wise and thankfully not dripping with syrupy corn. Trying to stay complacent due to the inability to shake off the loss of your spouse is strongly (and effectively) emphasized. I believe it maybe needs a few more years on Turner Classics before it will be fully recognized as a Holiday Classic.Mitchum is perfect in this role. He sizes Leigh up and tells her what she doesn't want to hear. He has the kind of words—he's no-nonsense, honest, perceptive, and been around the block and knows the world—that takes Leigh and shrugs her out of her complacency. This has those wonderfully awkward moments between Mitchum and Corey concerning Leigh—especially the supper scene on Christmas day when Mitchum asks her to marry him in front of her parents, her son, and Corey (!)—where tensions are apparent and unease is present. Leigh has all that anxiety and conflict expected when a woman must determine what's best for her and her son (the comfort of Corey who can provide an assured home in suburbia with the white picket fence or unpredictable Mitchum with no money and a dream in a boat company that could or could not pan out). Her son really adores Mitchum while he sort of does for Corey (there's the uncomfortable moment where Corey tries to discipline the kid for behaving nasty towards him while Leigh tells him not to, in front of Mitchum). Corey finally sees he's lost and uses a great bit of "lawyer-speak" to admit defeat to Leigh.Two key scenes that are a delight: Mitchum needs Corey's help when he's arrested for robbing salt-and-pepper shakers (he gives a supposed hobo a tie, the hobo robs a man and binds his arms with that tie (!), the hobo takes the victim's money and the salt-and-pepper shakers, and the hobo gets a little girl on roller skates with a balloon on her head to give Mitchum the shakers!), with cop Harry Morgan (he's a hoot!) proceeding over him, frustratingly trying to take what Leigh and Mitchum tells him seriously (she gave him a tie, a tie meant for Corey (!), while Mitchum was feeding the seals and a squirrel (!) in Central Park), and the final scene on board the train (and before when Leigh's son subtly implies by explaining he'd be gone someday and she'd be alone, and that he might go to California that she should go after Mitchum right before New Year's Day) when Leigh and son greet Mitchum as he is on his way to Balboa, California. There's a really neat use of a toy train that symbolizes the budding romance and how because of it a family is certain to be formed because of it, and how it works in concert visually with the train Mitchum, Leigh, and her son are on during New Year's is just fantastic. This has become a Christmas Eve standard viewing for me. I think it could work its spell on others as well if given a chance.

digger437 This movie is a must see every Christmas. It's charm is due in large part to actor Gordon Gebert, who plays Timmy Ennis. There are movies that are good, but you just hate the kids. For example Mitchum's son in River of No Return or the boy in Last Action Hero. Were they the producer's nephews? You just don't like them and it taints the movie. Gebert however is as lovable as Peter Billingsly (Ralphie) in Christmas Story.While Mitchum was terrific as always, I was also very impressed with Wendell Corey's performance and wry wit. His "Is that so?" scene with Mitchum was genius.The writing was excellent. If I had to find a flaw with this film, it would have to be the directors reluctance for retakes. There were scenes where Timmy did flub a line or two, but were left in.