Product: Holiday (1938)
Rating: 5.0
A blessed holiday indeed!
Some films you watch and wonder why nobody is talking about them. You wonder, `why in the world isn't this considered one of the classic MUST SEE FILMS of its generation?' and then you do some research and find out that even upon its release it was considered a dud. It made no money and cemented its star (Hepburn, in this case) as box-office poison and was practically ignored by critics and awards bodies alike. `Holiday' is one of those films. It is a delightful romantic comedy with the right amount of poignancy and drama and a beautifully controlled story of true love that blossoms in the most unexpected of situations, and it stars a slew of actors putting in some of their BEST work ever.The story of `Holiday' is simple enough. Johnny Case, a relaxed free spirit, meets a socialite named Julia while on vacation. They fall madly in love and wish to be married quickly. As that day gets closer though, they find out things about each other that put a giant roadblock in the way of their happiness. Frankly, Julia comes from money and expects Johnny to make a lot of it. Johnny wants to make just enough to disappear and `find himself' without the restraint of material possessions. Johnny seems to be a better fit for Julia's sister, Linda; a free spirit herself who is almost ashamed of the materialistic views of her father and her sister, who she thought she knew more than she obviously did.You can only guess what is going to happen.Hepburn is delightful. I mean, she nails the spark, the spunk, the tenacity of Linda and delivers her `mouthfuls' of dialog with heaps of charisma. How she was regarded poison is beyond me! Grant is also amazing here. He has such youthful charm and really taps into all areas of Johnny, from the charismatic charmer to the earnest ideologist. He gets it. Doris Nolan is fantastic as Julia, blunt and opinionated and obviously rooted in her cause. Henry Kolker is pitch perfect as the stern father, and Lew Ayres STEALS THE WHOLE SHOW as the mysteriously sophisticated brother, Ned. Edward Everett Horton and jean Dixon are also fantastic here.Oscars all around; seriously!Anyways, this film is rich with sublime merits and deserves to be regarded as true cinema at its finest. I urge you to seek this out. Hepburn and Grant were quite the pair, and they nail this. It's beautiful inside and out!