SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Melanie Bouvet The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

classicsoncall For the longest time I thought I'd already seen this picture, but reading the cast list when it appeared on a cable channel listing, I realized that wasn't so. I must have been thinking "Holiday Inn", having a similar style setting and taking place in Connecticut. Both also have a story that defies credibility, though this one has more humorous elements to make it a fun, breezy offering.Veteran actors step out of their usual film personas to create interesting characters here. Barbara Stanwyck usually goes for the strong willed woman type while Sydney Greenstreet often portrays a more somber character. I don't know how many times it might have happened, but this is the second time Greenstreet happened to be called a 'fat man' in a picture. He had the same distinction as Signor Ferrari in "Casablanca", a movie in which S.Z Sakall also appeared doing a humorous bit similar to the one he performs here as Felix Bassenak.You know, I think the screen writers missed an opportunity when they brought in the second baby to confound the guests at the Sloan residence. Wouldn't it have been neat if Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) had to change the baby one more time and discovered that he had a spare part? Why didn't they think of that? Well as holiday films go, this one skirts the idea by virtue of taking place around Christmas time, but the tree is in place with the presents underneath, and even offers up "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" as one of the musical offerings. If you decide to tune in, don't get mixed up like me and confuse it with other holiday flicks that show up around the same time of year. Especially when the opening scene begins the story on a German submarine!

mike48128 Like "It Happened on 5th Avenue", I never saw this movie until TCM showed it at Christmas time! Nobody else shows black & white movies! Like 5th Ave, it revolves around an ex-serviceman and love at first sight. A "Betty Crocker-Martha Stewart" type magazine columnist writes about her lovely country home and down-home recipes. She is a complete fraud as she lives in a NYC apartment and gets all her cooking tips from her Hungarian restaurant owner "Felix", very well played by character actor S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakal. So, Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) gets caught in a lie and has to fabricate the whole thing, right down to the country ranch, husband and baby. All fake. She's single, childless, and lives in the city. Along comes a Navy hero who gets invited to her "home for the holidays". She can't even boil water, so "Felix" tries to teach her to cook, complete with flapjacks stuck on the ceiling! As mentioned, she falls in love with the Navy guy and the movie becomes even better. The sub-plots include her overpowering magazine boss (Sidney Greenstreet), a friend who she almost mistakenly marries, and a borrowed baby who changes sexes and hair colors! It's a "screwball" comedy. Great fun for all and highly recommended! The film runs a bit rough on both TCM and the DVD. Horizontal "wobble" and minor film damage for the first 20 minutes. It must have been hard to restore! There is also a 1992 TV remake with Dyan Cannon out there, but the original is far better.

writers_reign Let's hear it for serendipity: In a shop specializing in Region 1 dvds I stumbled across one of those pantechnicon boxed sets, this one featuring four Christmas-themed movies. The selling point in my case was The Shop Around The Corner, which I have seen several times on TV but never owned and the set also boasted three other titles that were either new to me (It Happened on Fifth Avenue) or titles of which I'd heard of but hadn't seen, like this one. Okay the leading man was something of an acting joke, wooden as both Punch and Judy combined, but Barbara Stanwych seldom lets you down and if she was having an off-day here (she wasn't) Sydney Greenstreet, S. Z. Zackall, Regineld Gardiner and Una O'Connor were running interference and there was no way they could all be lousy at the same time. The premise was that Stanwyck plays a character based loosely upon Gladys Taber who, for several decades wrote a column in Family Circle in which she did little more than chat in a homely way - and/or dispensed 'Butternut Wisdom' about her farm in Connecticut, lacing the text with recipes, gardening tips etc. The twist in the film is that Stanwyck writes her column from Manhattan, couldn't boil water without burning it, would require an illustrated recipe to make toast and relies on the expertise of restaurateur Zackall to provide the cooking tips/recipes. She's doing all right if anybody asks you until the owner of the magazine, Greenstreet, decides not only to spend Christmas on the fictitious Stanwyck farm but also to bring war hero Morgan to supply the human interest angle. Luckily Regineld Gardiner, who has been pursuing Stanwyck unsuccessfully for years, just happens to have a farm in Connecticut which he is prepared to 'lend' Stanwyck should she agree to marry him, and naturally there is room also for Zackall to do the cooking. Now, of course, it's just a matter of waiting to see how long Stanwyck can keep the balls in the air, or how many near-misses she can survive. There's a lot of charm at work here and it's sobering to think that in 1945 this could have easily got lost in the shuffle at a time when they were churning out stuff like this at the rate of half a dozen a year whilst today it beckons like an oasis in a desert of mediocrity. Highly recommended.

vincentlynch-moonoi I found this movie disappointing. Which surprised me, because I like most of the actors and they do a decent job here. So what's the problem? Well, it all just seems too contrived.Barbara Stanwyck is fine as the female lead, although I don't see this as one of her outstanding performances (and there were many). Dennis Morgan is pleasant, as he always was; I typically enjoy him in a film. Nice to see Sydney Greenstreet taking one of his lighter roles. Reginald Gardiner, not always one of my favorites, is fine here as the husband to be (?). S.Z. Sakall plays S.Z. Sakall (he was no actor...always played the same role...but was adorable). And, Una O'Connor was as delightful, as always. So, the problem is not the actors.The problem is the script. Sort of a screwball Christmas story...but not quite. Disappointing in terms of romance. It had its funny moments, but not that many moments strung together. The only thing that really comes together in the story are the contrived circumstances.I'm not saying it's a bad movie. It's okay. Pretty average. But as much as I love a good Christmas movie, this just didn't light my Christmas tree. Okay to watch...once.