Friday, August 14, 2009

Another Food Writer Flick: Christmas In Connecticut

Julie & Julia isn't the only film about a food writer.

Christmas in Connecticut is a fictional film about a food columnist, Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck). Lane is incredibly popular with her readers as she writes about her husband, child, Connecticut home and hearth, were she cooks up elaborate home-style meals with recipes accompanying the article.


The only problem is it's all a lie, and when her editors boss Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet) gets a letter from a nurse who wants to send her sailor-fiance to get a home-style Christmas experience in Connecticut, everything begins spinning out of control, as only you'd expect in a 1945 Romantic-Comedy.


This is truly a delightful movie, while it's premise is certainly food-based, but really it's far more about maintaining the appearance of a lie then it is about the magic of food (think Mrs. Doubtfire more than Eat Drink, Man Woman).

My favorite scenes are the flap-jack scenes.

Yardly: "I'm hope I'm here in time to see you flip the flap jacks"
Elizabeth Lane: "I'm not in a flipping mood this morning Mr. Yardly, Nora will attend to breakfast. Nora, Mr. Yardly wants to watch you flap, I mean flip, the flap jacks."
Nora: "I don't flip them, I scoop them."
Yardly: "Won't you flip just one for me please?"
Nora: "I've Never flipped in me life, and I'm not going to start flippin' now for nobody."

The comic-antics of Uncle Felix (S.Z. Sacall) and Yardly (Greenstreet) are absolutely hilarious. I might just have to watch this again come Christmas time.

2 comments:

crackers and cheese said...

I think I saw the remake of this movie ages ago. I need to watch the original - thanks for the recommendation!

RC said...

@ crackers and cheese -- there was apparently a bad remake directed by Arnold Shawartzenager in 1992 --- apparently it was just hideous, including a major re-write were the woman was a tv chef or something like that -- it sounds like something to pass up for sure.