Product: Holiday (1938)
Rating: 5.0
"Well, I feel like a goat being prepared for the sacrifice.'
For the life of me, how come not enough people know more about this movie, a movie that is smart and sophisticated and just damn funny? Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn have co-starred in other film ventures - SYLVIA SCARLETT, the quintessential screwball comedy BRINGING UP BABY, and THE PHILADELPHIA STORY - but, personally, I don't know that any of those other films got to me on an emotional level quite as deeply as did HOLIDAY. This 1938 picture rails humorously and subversively against the stodginess and conventions of he Establishment, but it never lets us forgot that it's also an amazingly moving romance.Mr. Seton, master of his domain: "There's a strange new spirit at work in the world today, a spirit of revolt. I don't understand it, and I don't like it." Mr. Seton is, of course, referring to Johnny Case.Johnny Case, a self-made low-class man of finance, has toiled away all his life, in fact from when he was ten years old. He harbors this dream of retiring at thirty to travel the world and experience life and then returning to work much later once he'd figured out just what it is he's working for. Johnny hasn't yet had a chance to confess this to his fiancee, a girl he proposed to after ten days of whirlwind courtship and a girl who didn't have the courtesy of telling him she belongs to one of the top sixty most prominent and most wealthy families in the country. Julie Seton - as played by Doris Nolan - must have come off as nicely grounded and unstuffy to win over Johnny so during the holiday in which they met. Julie's true colors don't show until much later, when it's almost too late.The New York Setons are presided by an exacting, domineering patriarch, one of them old intimidating gents whose iron will is so palpable it's managed to choke off the exuberance and spirits of his children. As we learn, only Julie has willingly adapted to the constraints imposed by Mr. Seton and the exacting pressures of the expected social obligations. The likable Ned Seton (Lew Ayres) deals with his life of sad compromise by drowning in drink, and yet there is a wistful clarity about him. He regrets the bed he sleeps in. He's not strong enough to stand up for himself. He may be the most tragic creature in the movie.More than anything else, Katherine Hepburn's luminous presence elevates the movie. She plays Julie's wounded, nonconforming older sister Linda. Hepburn's performance marvelously informs you on just how desperately trapped she feels by her stuffy lifestyle. In the carefree Johnny Case, Linda recognizes a kindred spirit, a fellow dreamer on his way to achieving that sense of freedom. at least, until his fiancee and her meddling father jeopardizes things. That key moments take place in the Seton nursery playroom can't be a coincidence; the symbology is implicit. When in the imposing Seton household Linda, Ned, and Johnny - and, later, Johnny's jolly (and liberal) professorial chums - are only ever comfortable in that playroom. Not too surprisingly, Julie when she enters the playroom regards it with disdain. She's accepted her plight, you see, and doesn't need to wallow in the retreat provided by childhood memories.It's been said that only a strong leading male could stand up to Hepburn's brilliance and ferociousness as an actress, and Cary Grant is one of those rare partners who can hold his own when sharing a scene with her. There's this unpredictable chemistry between them. They easily segue from snappy banter to physical comedy to giddy, softlit romantic moments. Peep that intimate New Year's Eve sequence as Grant and Hepburn linger by the window, and tell me you don't get palpitations. Compared to Hepburn, Doris Nolan fades in the background. It seems ridiculous now that, around that period, Katherine Hepburn had been hailed as "box office poison" by the Independent Theater Owners Association. Director George Cukor had to fight tooth and nail to get her as his female lead. Not that anyone had any doubts as to which actors were going to pair up by closing credits, but the death knell to Johnny and Julie's romantic interlude is officially rung when Julia tells Johnny: "There's no such thrill in the world as making money."Freedom from "the excitement of business" (another of Julie's exhortations) is embodied in a back flip-flop, and Cary Grant, with stage gymnastics under his belt, conducts several lively somersaults. He even teaches Hepburn a tumbling maneuver and their execution of it is one of the many delightful highlights. HOLIDAY isn't as screwball as people would make it out to be. There's some great wacky comedy here and some hugely entertaining lines, but there's also a bittersweet element and serious discussions about class consciousness and holding on to your true self and what it means to be in love and how very hard it is to break free of the mold. And then Cary Grant falls arse over face...