Product: Holiday (1938)
Rating: 4.0
Stars sparkle in pedestrian story
Grant and Hepburn sparkle in this "screwball comedy" which is definitely worth seeing but which does not reach the heights the same two would scale in "The Philadelphia Story." Grant is a successfgul young broker who has made his own fortune through charm and hard work but who yearns to get away and discover who he really is. On a skiing trip, he meets Julia, a fabulously wealthy heiress. The two persuade each other they are in love -- but of course it is the elder sister played by Hepburn who is Grant's real match.Julia's family inhabit a mansion worthy of J.P Morgan. The family is headed by a tyrannical old banker. The son is a drunk. Mother is dead. One wouldn't think this movie was made in 1938. The Great Depression is nowhere mentioned; neither is the swiftly gathering storm in Europe (except in one comment made by a guest at Grant's engagement party.)The dialogue, from a stage play, is a bit wordy and old-fashioned. oddly, the best moment in this movie comes in a piece of physical comedy when Hepburn climbs on Grant's shoulders and does a graceful dive, ending in the two of them somersaulting across the floor.Well it all ends as it should and they sail off to France (which will soon be occupied by the Nazis). It's all harmless fun and escapism. Very good but not great.