There’s some more gratifying 1940s holiday magic with 1949’s Holiday Affair, a seemingly forgotten gem starring the fantastic pairing of a young Janet Leigh and supercool Robert Mitchum who is so laid-back he may as well be horizontal. This one’s an interesting look at the world of the ‘comparison shopper’. In 1940s New York, Leigh’s department store employee Connie is tasked with covertly visiting rival stores and getting the scoop on their best-selling items, though she’s not great at subtlety. Mitchum’s astute toy department worker Steve has her pegged when she tries to return an expensive toy train set during the holidays, an act that sets the plot in motion.
Steve’s an easy-going guy, so when he reveals to Connie that he knows what she’s up to, he agrees not to tell, realising she’s just a struggling mother and a war widow to boot. For his troubles, he gets the sack from his own job and an odd little love affair begins. Free-spirited Steve is the sort of guy who takes girls on lunch dates to the frosty park, where he explains he’s friends with the seals in the zoo and that he happily drifts from town to town, from job to job, like a hobo, not too concerned with putting down roots. Connie is instantly attracted to this beguiling weirdo, as is her young son Timmy (Gordon Gerbert), but there are complications in the shape of decent but dull Carl (Wendell Corey), who hangs around her as though they’re an item but who she sees as just a platonic pal. Yes, we get that Connie would surely be better off with plain, dependable Carl than with some unpredictable hobo drifter, but it’s Christmas, baby.
This is all fairly predictable but enjoyable due to supremely cute turns from both Leigh and Gerbert, with Mitchum simmering handsomely throughout. I get the impression that aloof Steve might not be too arsed if Connie picked Carl over him, yet he charms the pants off her anyway through sheer, manly force of presence. I keep thinking ‘the balls on this guy’, when he does stuff like sneak up behind her while she’s doing the dishes and forcibly kiss her. I’m not sure how this sort of thing would go down these days in these #MeToo times but Connie is clearly loving it, so what can I say?
Everything, of course, culminates at Christmas, leading to a rather enjoyable New Year’s Eve ending on a speeding locomotive party train that offers some pleasing symmetry with the film’s intelligent toy train set opening. It’s a film as about as laid-back and blithe as Mitchum and ideal viewing for a day where I’ve been kept very busy, off seeing my brother and my adorable one year-old niece to drop off Christmas presents. The end of this quest is speeding towards me like that train and by God, I’m looking forward to it.
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