Miss Linda Seton, on New Year's Eve, entertained a small group of very unimportant people

from Doctor Macro

Ok. Here we go. The last post for the New Year’s themed movies. There are, of course, more movies centered around New Year’s Eve, but we’re going to end with this one for now. Ready? Here we go…

from Doctor Macro

Holiday (1938)

Columbia

Directed by: George Cukor

Featuring: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Doris Nolan, Lew Ayres, Edward Everett Horton, Jean Dixon

Plot in a Nutshell:

from Doctor Macro

Johnny Case (Grant) is a young man with a bright future ahead of him. He’s just gotten engaged to a lovely girl he just met, Julia Seton (Nolan) and he’s about to make a lot of money on a deal that will enable him to pursue his dream: quit his job and take a long holiday to travel and find out what life is really all about. Unfortunately, the only people who believe in his dream are his two friends, Professor and Mrs. Potter (Horton and Dixon) and Julia’s sister Linda (Hepburn) and brother Ned (Ayres). As Linda struggles to persuade her sister to believe in her fiancé, she starts to realize that she has fallen in love with Johnny as well.

 from Doctor Macro

Trivia:

- Edward Everett Horton repeats the role of Nick Potter, which he also played in the previous version of the film, Holiday (1930). (IMDb)

- George Cukor considered Rita Hayworth for the role of Julia Seaton, given her dark hair and slight resemblance to Hepburn. However, she was judged too inexperienced and Doris Nolan took the part. (IMDb)

- In 1936, Columbia Pictures purchased a group of scripts, including the script for Holiday, from RKO for $80,000. Although the film was originally intended to reunite The Awful Truth co-stars Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, George Cukor decided to cast Hepburn instead, and Columbia borrowed her from RKO, where she had refused the lead role in Mother Carey's Chickens.^[5] Joan Bennett and Ginger Rogers were also initially considered to play Hepburn's role. (Wikipedia)

- A scene that was to come before what is now the first scene of the film was set in the snows of Lake Placid, although it was shot in Bishop, California. The idea was to "open up" the stage play by utilizing an exterior scene, but when director George Cukor saw the scene, he did not like it, and decided to cut it. A few still photographs, one of them on a lobby card that was distributed to theaters, are the only known remnants of this scene. (Wikipedia)

The working titles for the film were "Unconventional Linda" and "Vacation Bound". (Wikipedia)

Thoughts on the film:

from Doctor Macro

It took me years to watch this one. For some reason, the description of the plot on the box made me think it would be sad so I avoided it for a while. I’m so glad I finally watched it. I love this movie! It’s so wonderful! I love Johnny and Linda and the Potters. And Ned. I love Ned. He’s my favorite character in the movie. Obviously I like Johnny – who couldn’t? And of course I’m rooting for Linda all the way. And clearly I’m happy every time the Potters show up. But, Ned is my favorite. He’s the backbone of the family and he gets no credit for it. He’s the only person in the movie who really understands everyone around him. It’s sad that he has to drink to escape his misery, but I’m convinced that Linda and Johnny come back for him.

Favorite scenes/quotes:

from Doctor Macro

The meeting of the 5^th Avenue Anti-Stuffed Shirt and Acrobatics Club is definitely my favorite part of the movie. Although I like the very first scene with the Potters and Johnny and the scene where we first meet Linda, and then the scene where the Seton siblings all try to prepare Johnny for his introduction to their father. And then the last two scenes are really fantastic. Basically, the whole movie is wonderful.