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Category:    Home > Reviews > Comedy > Screwball > Stageplay > George Cukor’s Holiday (1938)

George Cukor’s Holiday (1938)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Film: B-

 

 

When you ask about Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn in 1938, Howard Hawks’ classic Screwball Comedy Bringing Up Baby is the film most celebrated, but they also worked with the equally legendary George Cukor in his adaptation of the Philip Barry play Holiday.  Grant plays a successful financier who is about to get married to beautiful Julia (Doris Nolan) even after meeting her stuffy, rich family.  However, the family would like to change Johnny, but that does not seem likely in a way that is guaranteed to cause friction.

 

Enter Julia’s younger sister Linda (Hepburn) who wonders why someone as able-bodied and independent as Johnny would put up with her dysfunctional family, loaded with as much money as they are their own egos.  After meeting the family, Johnny starts to have second thoughts, though he still very much loves Julia.  When he meets Linda, a new wrinkle has been added to events and things are about to get a little wackier.

 

The great project of Screwball Comedy is subversion, especially when it comes to gender, intelligence and wealth.  While Bringing Up Baby covered all of that and much more, Holiday (especially coming from Cukor) is most concerned about romance and how money can get in the way.  This is by no means a mere romantic comedy and the Donald Ogden Stewart/Sidney Buchman screenplay adaptation is witty if a bit standard in spots.  However, the leads shine and show the same wacky chemistry and energy they did in Hawks’ classic, which is more than reason enough to see this film.  It is a must-see for any serious film fan.

 

The 1.33 X 1 black and white image looks good from a new high definition transfer from original vault materials.  The cinematography by Franz Planer is top-rate, coming from a long line of German film production, he escaped the Nazi’s takeover of everything and jumped into Hollywood with some impressive work, including this early entry.  He moved on to an installment of Boston Blackie and more at Columbia, then moving onto Max Ophuls’ Letter From An Unknown Woman (1948), Roman Holiday (1953), Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, the 70mm production King Of Kings and his (and Marilyn Monroe’s) unfinished last film: Something Got To Give.  He could handle color as well as he could black and white, with this being a highlight of his fine work.

 

The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is good for its age too, with dialogue and music sounding good for its age.  Extras include three trailers for other Sony DVD films, stills of deleted scenes and a nice (if too brief) featurette Cary At Columbia.  A commentary might have been a good idea, but this is better than just a basic DVD with nothing.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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