Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

There are two significant reasons why Christmas in Connecticut is one of my favorite holiday films, as well as being one of my favorite films, period. The first reason is that, while it’s a Christmas movie and it definitely evokes the holiday spirit, it doesn’t veer into overly-sentimental territory (I don't know about you, but when a film does that, my first instinct is to gag). This is largely thanks to the fact that Christmas is really just a plot device to bring the characters together so that the fun can begin. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the best Christmas movies are the ones that don’t rely on Christmas for their appeal and can be watched all year ‘round. The second reason is that this movie has one of the best film heroines you will ever find.

The story follows a classic rom-com formula: heroine tells an innocent lie that turns into something bigger; heroine meets hero, who believes the lie, but she can't tell him the truth for one reason or another; misunderstandings are cleared up in the final act, and everyone lives happily ever after. Not an original storyline, true, but, as always, it's all about execution, and Christmas in Connecticut has enough charm and wit to make the old story seem fresh and original. Another thing it has going for it is one of the best heroines in the history of film.

Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) is a modern, independent woman. To the world, the column she writes about her Connecticut farm, growing family, and culinary prowess is gospel truth, but to her it's just fiction. The truth is that she lives in a small apartment in the city, and she can't cook to save her life: she gets all her recipes from her good friend Felix (S.Z. Sakall). She has no problem deceiving the public: for her, this is just the way she makes her living.

Problems arises, however, when the magazine’s publisher, Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet) – who is unaware of her deception and a stickler for the truth, to boot – decides that she should play host to him and war hero Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) over the Christmas holiday. Now Elizabeth needs a farm, a husband and a baby – and fast!

Silliness ensues of course, especially when Elizabeth starts falling for Jeff, who spends all but the final ten minutes of the movie thinking that she’s married. I’m always amazed by just how twisted the humor and romance are every time I watch this movie. On one hand, I’m seeing it from her perspective: she’s single, her heart is unattached – why shouldn’t she flirt with the handsome naval officer? But on the other hand, I’m seeing it from his perspective: this woman is married with a baby but she openly flirts with him and encourages his growing affection. It’s enough to confuse even me.

As for Elizabeth, she’s one of my favorite heroines ever because, at all times, she holds her destiny in her own hands. Sure, she’s lying, but she could tell the truth at any time, and when she finally does, she doesn’t shrink away from the consequences – she embraces them without hesitation. She’s got four men twisted around her little finger, and she knows it. She actually enjoys her little ruse while it lasts, but the minute it stops being harmless and she realizes how hard she’s fallen for Jeff, she puts a stop to it. Unlike the more common kind of “heroine” that I hate with a passion, Elizabeth doesn’t need her hero to rescue her from marriage to her boorish fiancé (Reginald Gardiner): she can do it herself, thank you very much!

I love the way this character is written, and I adore the way Stanwyck portrays her: sure, she’s not perfect, but she’s got brains to spare, and she’s not about to sit back and wait for anyone else to make the first move. It’s satisfying to see a heroine who is so completely free of misguided logic and so completely in control of her own life. Score one for feminism!

Made in an era when women and most movie heroines were still learning to value themselves with or without a man, Christmas in Connecticut is a breath of fresh air because it shows us a woman who doesn’t rely on a man to guide her or to clean up her mess. Sure there’s a love story in there – and I love it – but for me, this movie is all about Elizabeth’s decision to live the way she wants to and never settle for second best. It's only after she's taken responsibility for her deception and become a woman who values herself that Elizabeth is ready and able to start a real relationship with Jeff.

This is what I love about Barbara Stanwyck: she can take a potentially selfish, unrelatable character like Elizabeth Lane and make her into a woman that I not only root for but admire wholeheartedly. There’s no doubt that Elizabeth’s appeal owes something to screenwriters Lionel Houser and Adele Comandini, but it’s Stanwyck who makes her so great. And this isn’t the only time she’s made such a tricky character admirable: remember Ball of Fire, which was made just a few years earlier? Stanwyck, who embodied what it meant to be a woman with power and confidence, was a true woman’s actress if there ever was one.

Christmas in Connecticut’s message about an independent woman is still relevant today, too. You might hear that being a self-sufficient woman is the norm these days, but there will always be women who measure their self-worth by whether or not they have a man. If you try to tell me you don’t know any women like that, someone’s lying and you’re falling for it. The sad thing is, most of these women don’t even know what they’re doing to themselves, and it’s a mindset that can only bring trouble in the future, when they realize that simply having a man is not the magic solution to everything.

There are a lot of movie heroines who have fallen prey to this way of thinking. Like a woman in the real world, she’ll fool herself and you into thinking that she doesn’t need a man to consider herself valuable, but the minute she finds a man and loses him, you realize just how wrapped up she was in that him, to the point that now she no longer cares what happens to her or who she marries. I’m looking at you, Penny Carrol of Swing Time (1936).

Although the end of Swing Time is funny, it always burns me up inside that Penny becomes a doormat in the final act of the film and needs to be “rescued” from her marriage by Lucky. I’m not blaming Ginger Rogers for this – there’s no way an actress can make this plot device a good thing. No, the fault is all on the screenwriters Howard Lindsay and Allan Scott. Way to take away a woman’s agency, guys. Also, points for perpetuating the idea that a woman’s whole happiness depends on having a man. Eat dirt.

All this brings me back to Elizabeth Lane. She has the chance to settle, which she almost takes, but when she meets Jeff, she’s reminded that there are better men out there and that she deserves to be happy. I love that even when she thinks that Jeff is already engaged, and therefore out of her reach, she still breaks it off with her fiancé and prepares to strike out on her own. She may have initially changed her mind because she found a better man, but she was prepared to stick with her decision because she’d realized that settling is never the right choice.

Looking back at all I’ve written, I’m more than a little surprised that a seemingly simple Christmas comedy has gotten over a thousand words out of me. The truth is, I’ve never considered Christmas in Connecticut so critically before. For me, it’s always been a comedy that makes me laugh, and nothing more, but it makes sense that, after giving it serious thought, I’ve found there’s more to it than meets the eye. I’ve always said that the best comedies are the ones that can touch your heart or make you think when you didn’t expect to, so it’s no wonder Christmas in Connecticut was one of my favorites even before I really thought about its message.

Christmas in Connecticut is not a serious film, though, so don’t shy away from it. If you’re in the mood for a sparkling comedy with excellent characters and dialogue: this is the movie. If you want a film to ease you into the Christmas season without hitting you over the head with saccharine sentiment: this is the movie. And if you want to see a capable heroine in place of a shrinking violet: Elizabeth Lane is the heroine, and Christmas in Connecticut is the movie.

This review is part of Sally’s 12 Days of Christmas blogathan. She’ll be posting the full list of reviews on Christmas Eve, so head over to her blog, Flying Down to Hollywood.