Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Twilightfa Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

James Hitchcock In the opening scene a young man named Johnny Case announces to his friends Nick and Susan Potter that he has fallen in love with a girl named Julia and that they are engaged to be married, although he admits that knows very little about her or her family background. In Scene 2 Johnny visits Julia's home and is astounded to discover that the address she has given him is a luxurious mansion and that her family are obviously extremely wealthy.And then in Scene 3 we get to see Julia for the first time and we immediately realise (if we know something about the conventions of the Hollywood romantic comedy) exactly how the story is going to play out. The clue lies in those words in the opening credits, "starring Katharine Hepburn". And Hepburn does not play Julia. (She is played by a lesser-known actress called Doris Nolan).Big-name movie stars have always disliked playing losers in love, so the general rule in all romantic comedies involving a love triangle is "First name above the title gets the girl". Or, in this case, the boy. If a rom-com stars two actors of the magnitude of Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant we know that they are going to end up together. Nobody was ever going to make a film in which Kate loses her man to the milk-and-water Doris Nolan, so we just know that Johnny and Julia are going to split up for some reason so that he can get together with Hepburn's character, who is soon revealed to be Julia's sister, Linda. We just have to wait and see how this is going to be accomplished.The title "Holiday" has two meanings. It refers to the fact that the action takes place over the Christmas/New Year holiday season. On the other hand it also refers to Johnny's plans for his future. He is a self-made man from relatively humble origins who has done well in business and made a considerable amount of money for himself, although he is nowhere near as rich as Julia's family. He intends to take a "holiday" from work after his marriage so that he can decide what he really wants to do with his life (which may not involve making money). Julia's autocratic banker father Edward is impressed with Johnny's success, so much so that he is prepared to overlook Johnny's humble background, something which under normal circumstances would have ruled him out as Edward's son-in-law. He is not, however, impressed by Johnny's plan for a "holiday from work". To Edward nothing is more important than making money, and he already has plans to use Johnny's talents in the services of his banking business.More importantly, Julia is not impressed by Johnny's plans either, as she is a conformist who sees eye-to-eye with her father about most matters, especially the importance of money as the be-all and end-all of life. Linda, however, is portrayed as a free spirit and a rebel against her privileged background, a girl who instinctively sees Johnny as a kindred soul. No prizes for guessing who he ends up with.Although the film was generally well received by the critics when it came out in 1938, it did not do well at the box-office, probably because America was only just starting to emerge from the Great Depression, and in a period of widespread poverty and unemployment audiences found it difficult to understand or sympathise with a man who would voluntarily walk away from a job which would assure him wealth and security for life. The movie was a remake of one from 1930, and both were based upon a stage play from the pre-Depression boom era of the Roaring Twenties. (As, however, Johnny gives his date of birth as July 1908 and his age as 30, we can date the action of the film to December 1938 and January 1939).This was one of four films Hepburn and Grant made together, the others being "Sylvia Scarlett", "Bringing Up Baby" and "The Philadelphia Story". All of these, apart from "Bringing Up Baby", were directed by George Cukor. Hepburn and Grant were practised romantic comedy stars and do enough to make "Holiday" still worth watching nearly eighty years on, but it lacks the depth of "The Philadelphia Story" or the screwball zaniness of "Bringing Up Baby". (I have never seen "Sylvia Scarlett"). It relies too much on a predictable plot and well-worn clichés about how wealth does not lead to happiness and how money can't buy me love. And, yes, that was a cliché long before the Beatles pressed it into service as a song title. 6/10

SnoopyStyle Johnny Case (Cary Grant) is on cloud nine as he tells his friends the Potters that he's marrying Julia Seton (Doris Nolan). Only he doesn't know that she's the daughter in a wealthy family. She wants him incorporated into her money-making family. Her older black sheep sister Linda (Katharine Hepburn) loves his carefree attitude. Her loving mother passed away and her father is a hard man. Her brother Ned was a musician but her father puts him to work in a life that he hates.Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn have superior charisma and terrific chemistry together. That's all the film needs and all that any viewer needs to know. The characters are fast-talking fun with some slapstick thrown in. They learn to follow their dreams and their hearts rather than follow their family obligations. Grant is always a great every man and it's important that he's not a slacker. He is the new self-made man not encumbered by money while Hepburn is the liberated woman.

ALauff An excellent Hollywood chamber drama. Cary Grant plays an investor who dreams of saving enough money for early retirement, and then discovering his real purpose in the world. He's set to marry the daughter of a banking tycoon for whom the accumulation of wealth is everything. Almost completely set within the family's sprawling mansion, the film is essentially composed of two extended set-pieces consisting of Grant's efforts to gain the father's marriage blessing and the ensuing New Year's Eve celebration. Grant gradually learns that his fiancée is very similar to her father, but the other sister (Katharine Hepburn) finds in him a kindred spirit, and a drunkard brother (Lew Ayres) encourages their budding infatuation. There's quite a lot of pleasant humor, but also a palpable sense of deep-seated resentment and stifled dreams that play out against a well-defined family dynamic. Most beautiful are the scenes set within a rustically designed room—an escape from the father's unwavering stoicism—viewed by the estranged characters as a revivifying place where the real living happens, divorced as it is from crippling bourgeois expectations. Cukor's economical direction makes the most of the geography of several rooms and Donald Ogden Stewart's screenplay is particularly attuned to the broken relationship between the old-fashioned father and Hepburn's free-thinking dreamer, as incisively drawn here as in The Philadelphia Story. Highly recommended.

utgard14 Johnny Case (Cary Grant) falls in love with Julia Seton (Doris Nolan) while on holiday. Despite knowing little about each other, they become engaged. The free-spirited Johnny finds he doesn't have much in common with Julia's class-obsessed family, except for her 'black sheep' sister Linda (Katharine Hepburn). Gradually Linda begins to fall for Johnny as he struggles with the contrast between what he wants out of life and what Julia wants.This is a nice George Cukor romantic comedy but I'm not as in love with it as others. Grant and Hepburn are great. This is one of Hepburn's more likable roles. But there's something about the plot that leaves me a little cold on the romance front. Basically at the end of the picture I'm left with the feeling that Grant's character is a little quick to fall in love and any potential he might have for a successful relationship with Hepburn or anybody else is doubtful. I guess that's the cynic in me coming out but the film really didn't try to appeal to the romantic. Still, it's a good film with a great director, two amazing stars, and a fine supporting cast.