Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
We return to Barbara Stanwyck for what’s become my personal favorite movie to watch during the holidays. Christmas in Connecticut isn’t just a great Christmas movie, but for 1945 it’s amazingly progressive in its depiction of femininity.
Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a successful food writer with a magazine column that details how to make the perfect meal. It also shares insights into her life with her husband, child, and farmhouse in Connecticut. But when Elizabeth’s editor asks her to host a soldier home from the war at the farm for the holidays her facade crumbles. See, Elizabeth doesn’t have a farmhouse, or a husband, or a child. She can’t even cook! Elizabeth is left to scramble the things she’s written about only to fall in love with the soldier, Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan), in the process.
What makes Christmas in Connecticut so unique is Elizabeth Lane herself. She’s a woman who’s faked the quintessential housewife position and succeeded off it. In having to play the part for real, hilarity ensues as Elizabeth realizes she’s not exactly built for motherhood, nor is the long-suffering fiancé she’s had really the man for her.
Instead, Elizabeth finds out what she wants in life by pretending to be a depiction of womanhood that’s perceived as what every woman wants. And it’s funny as can be. Watching Stanwyck handle babies, poorly, is fabulous.
Rent on Amazon, YouTube, Google Play, and Vudu.