Product: Holiday (1938)
Rating: 5.0
1938 GEM
Based upon the famous 1928 play by Philip Barry, HOLIDAY is one of the wittiest and most sophisticated films of the thirties. Katharine Hepburn offers one her best performances, and she never looked more youthfully beautiful - she's freshly modern and she speaks her highly amusing lines with zest. Cary Grant plays Johnny Case, a charming,free-spirit with no social position; he and Linda (Kate) find they're kindred spirits in that they're unconventional (Linda Seton comes from wealth). Linda's weak alcoholic brother is played excellently by Lew Ayres and the stuffy Julia (their sister) is played by the now forgotten Doris Nolan. Director Cukor gets sterling performances from everyone and this delightful film has lost none of it's charm; it holds up very well. There was an earlier version made in 1930 starring Ann Harding and Mary Astor which is rarely seen; surprisingly, it's been hailed by critics as a "lost treasure" - though not quite on a par with this classic from 1938.