News for today's 2018

'TIS THE SEASON...

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kingdom-biz.net/uploads/Fireplaceanimated.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://www.kingdom-biz.net/uploads/Fireplaceanimated.gif" width="400" /> </a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful...which means it's a perfect time to snuggle down into a favorite chair, remote in hand, and decide: DVR or DVD?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">With Christmas just a week away I've picked a few long-time holiday favorites to watch along with one or two that have come into my life more recently...</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCBtLp90JyyMnHCuFOv1cwj54GBSrtfiBFOH-n2iutRJkgRxw1egWViTfrVy-GbJZ9h7DHRSPQNkhYBR5piMH_1rFaYp98BVa5_6ghKevg0xW5Q3U8ZGvMjLQBIDL1iYxpsziUzwBRHI6v/s1600/remember.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCBtLp90JyyMnHCuFOv1cwj54GBSrtfiBFOH-n2iutRJkgRxw1egWViTfrVy-GbJZ9h7DHRSPQNkhYBR5piMH_1rFaYp98BVa5_6ghKevg0xW5Q3U8ZGvMjLQBIDL1iYxpsziUzwBRHI6v/s320/remember.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Remember the Night</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Remember the Night  </i>(1940), directed by Mitchell Leisen from a Preston Sturges' screenplay, debuted on Turner Classic Movies a few seasons ago, which is where I first encountered it. A jewel! Fred MacMurray stars as an Assistant D.A. who falls for thief Barbara Stanwyck during the holidays. With Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson and Sterling Holloway, music by Frederick Hollander (known for his work with Marlene Dietrich). <i>Remember the Night</i> is a compelling tale delivered by a very sharp script and a superb cast, qualities that should establish it as an enduring holiday classic.  </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><a href="http://jimlanescinedrome.blogspot.com/2011/11/remembering-night.html" style="color: #990000;">Click here</a> for more on <i>Remember the Night</i> from <i>Jim Lane's Cinedrome</i>.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br />I've already watched <i>Meet Me in St. Louis</i> (1944) once this season. It is Vincente Minnelli's simply magical confection of 100% pure fine-spun Americana. Set in turn-of-the-century St. Louis, the film follows "a year in the life" of the Smith family. Margaret O'Brien famously portrays precocious (annoying?) tyke "Tootie" Smith to the hilt, but it is Judy Garland as Esther Smith who glows as the film's centerpiece. And there are the songs, now classics, she introduced in the film..."The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." I'll probably watch <i>Meet Me in St. Louis </i>one time more before the holidays are over.<br /><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqMwBMNVHzPByrSFaYa39v322mdfzdnykTlSQDkv8jfwUd-4-AaPz9vLjONsBcPvINdvSj7P9EkalYqz6pOinTfUknZMtrRghxCTMN8SZswqeHWO793Je1xEXPtWVmkqWD6SYWalFT4aF/s1600/Connecticut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqMwBMNVHzPByrSFaYa39v322mdfzdnykTlSQDkv8jfwUd-4-AaPz9vLjONsBcPvINdvSj7P9EkalYqz6pOinTfUknZMtrRghxCTMN8SZswqeHWO793Je1xEXPtWVmkqWD6SYWalFT4aF/s320/Connecticut.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Christmas in Connecticut</i></td></tr></tbody></table><i>Christmas in Connecticut</i> (1945) has been on my "every year" list for a while now.  I can't resist this home front romp about a career woman (Barbara Stanwyck) with zero homemaking skills who falls for a Navy vet (Dennis Morgan) who dreams of home cooked meals and every domestic delight.  Last year I blogged about the movie and the year in which it was released, 1945. It was the year World War II ended, the year American troops were finally home for Christmas. <a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-in-connecticut-1945one.html" style="color: #990000;">Click here</a> for my 2010 reflection on <i>Christmas in Connecticut</i>.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>The Shop Around the Corner </i>(1940), is my favorite film of director Ernst Lubitsch and contains one of James Stewart's finest performances along with the best of Margaret Sullavan, Frank Morgan and Felix Bressart. I posted on <i>Shop</i>, a must-see film,<i> </i>just a week or so ago...<a href="http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/2011/12/shop-around-corner-1940-lubitsch.html" style="color: #990000;">click here</a>, if you missed it. <i>And </i>if you've missed the film so far this year, it airs in just about an hour (Dec. 18, 10am Eastern/7am Pacific) on Turner Classic Movies.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEy0fhbeluelof4uNZlb0NELJMLDg_TNFj3as_xaLbtNTzcdqPVdpiVEMjfWgmA7wMgZvYVJNAhtTnmjDgooPqeQHSLK7misSfZxgNOyYsbN2p6gn_aAwsnXYxD8lw05jx7eHbVoMamqXT/s1600/Cary+as+Dudley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEy0fhbeluelof4uNZlb0NELJMLDg_TNFj3as_xaLbtNTzcdqPVdpiVEMjfWgmA7wMgZvYVJNAhtTnmjDgooPqeQHSLK7misSfZxgNOyYsbN2p6gn_aAwsnXYxD8lw05jx7eHbVoMamqXT/s320/Cary+as+Dudley.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Bishop's Wife</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In<i> The Bishop's Wife</i> (1947) Cary Grant stars as an angel...typecasting at its finest, I'd say! I first saw <i>The Bishop's Wife</i> in the 1980s and, when I discovered it, was surprised I hadn't heard of it before. Now it surfaces every year, everywhere, a seasonal standard (and it will air once more on TCM  this year - late on Christmas Eve). The fine cast includes David Niven, Loretta Young, Monty Woolley, Gladys Cooper, James Gleason, Sara Haden and Elsa Lanchester. The film's yuletide sentiment is reflected throughout and nicely encapsulated in the Bishop's final sermon, "Let us ask ourselves what we would wish for most, and then let each put in his share. Loving kindness, warm hearts and the stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shining gifts that make peace on earth." </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">...Because she does it so well, here's Peggy Lee singing a holiday standard that expresses my wishes for each of you (click to listen)...</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8n1yapgYn8o" width="420"></iframe></div>

The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful...which means it's a perfect time to snuggle down into a favorite chai...

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)...one special holiday season...

<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVRKeYqxZs7QPbP6FsXTeWLm9Yje23zyoKb_Dvc41ImNNghN5zySgy-fDqeDcopdWvNbyn0QrTg0RiprIL7-F1jfGbxaWfFW1O1DU5q0egT-sruoZz3NGog8ikYXFjB08w_AZHHYTSU21/s1600/ct+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="275" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVRKeYqxZs7QPbP6FsXTeWLm9Yje23zyoKb_Dvc41ImNNghN5zySgy-fDqeDcopdWvNbyn0QrTg0RiprIL7-F1jfGbxaWfFW1O1DU5q0egT-sruoZz3NGog8ikYXFjB08w_AZHHYTSU21/s320/ct+tree.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Christmas in Connecticut</i> (1945), a jewel of a holiday romantic comedy, was released at a  time unlike any other in America...scant months after VE Day, just days before VJ Day - and by December 1945, World War II was finally over and many veterans were home in time for Christmas.</span><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A <i>Time Magazine</i> article of December 24, 1945 observed, “For most Americans, on the first Christmas without war since 1938, these two facts transcended all others: peace…had come back to earth; millions of U.S. fighting men, now a peaceful army of longed-for occupation, were streaming back to their homes…”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A reviewer of the recent book <u>Christmas 1945</u> observed the contrast between 1945 and the previous Christmas, “In 1944, the Allies thought they had the war nearly won when the last days of turmoil broke out in a wooded, mountainous region of Germany. The Battle of the Bulge was to be the last major conflict in a war winding down…If Christmas 1944 was a frightening reminder that the war was not really over yet, Christmas 1945 was a collective prayer, a nationwide sigh of relief.“</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLBeISJuHm3yJfQajtlF2r2ad4oRhI3kHRjI9JHdvPYK2l4FfRAfonkclf6B1rl6IIIAF9CKtQHfefDUKz2Ng-wR3ILly8QZ3_-yVUn0eU8L0X7VLlDh71eJm74yrlIA7e5SRwhR72ams/s1600/ct+scene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLBeISJuHm3yJfQajtlF2r2ad4oRhI3kHRjI9JHdvPYK2l4FfRAfonkclf6B1rl6IIIAF9CKtQHfefDUKz2Ng-wR3ILly8QZ3_-yVUn0eU8L0X7VLlDh71eJm74yrlIA7e5SRwhR72ams/s320/ct+scene.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With <i>Christmas in Connecticut</i>, director Peter Godfrey spins an appealing home front fantasy. Barbara Stanwyck stars as New York sophisticate Elizabeth Lane, popular writer for a women's magazine. Lane's forte is home and hearth and her articles wax euphoric about her house in Connecticut, her husband, her baby and the joys of homemaking...with loads of household hints and recipes. But none of it is true. Not married nor a mother, Lane can’t cook, doesn’t clean – and has no interest in any of it! However, almost no one, including her publisher, knows this.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But…very soon a Navy vet (Dennis Morgan) is headed her way thanks to his nurse/fiancée’s letter to Lane’s publisher (Sydney Greenstreet). The sailor, recently rescued after weeks adrift at sea on a raft where he endlessly dreamed of fine food (<a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pan-Seared-Rib-Eye-Steak-with-Bearnaise-em-Entrecote-Bearnaise-em-241756"><span style="color: #990000;">like this entree</span></a>), has visions of an Elizabeth Lane-style holiday. With the war still on, Lane's publisher is not about to disappoint a returning hero...so the vet's wish is granted. Lane’s masquerade goes off the rails and she ends up under a romantic spell, ready to give up her "bachelor girl" high life for the regular guy, a war veteran, who's stolen her heart… </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The farcical plot, an outstanding cast and a set replete with snowy New England sleigh-ride scenery create a heartwarming and reassuringly merry Christmas movie.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQg1sm_5UGjlM0zuHV9VBcOqcC51Jl9hBxeqGRkvuz8M6a2HdRcaDwNBoBc4gF-iyrIO5JtL6XBegfuR_yfhuddsC11jShZcENK3zpQRsdb86okxFIehhNK7sZSFYzTEWVpL2el0ia4Yle/s1600/ct+sakall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQg1sm_5UGjlM0zuHV9VBcOqcC51Jl9hBxeqGRkvuz8M6a2HdRcaDwNBoBc4gF-iyrIO5JtL6XBegfuR_yfhuddsC11jShZcENK3zpQRsdb86okxFIehhNK7sZSFYzTEWVpL2el0ia4Yle/s320/ct+sakall.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Barbara Stanwyck doesn't miss a beat as a high-flying careerist who discovers she’d like to come down to earth. Reginald Gardiner is smooth as her over-civilized long-time suitor; S.Z. Sakall is endearing as Felix the chef; Sydney Greenstreet is the bombastic publisher. Dennis Morgan is all-American as the Navy man, and sings "I'm Wishing That I May." Joyce Compton also stands out as the chirpy nurse/fiancée.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The popularity of <i>Christmas in Connecticut</i> seems to grow with each passing holiday…but that first year, the film's original Yuletide season, was singular...</span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Writer Bob Burdick, whose boyhood during WWII included “air raid drills, blackouts, rationing, and simply doing without...” recalled his father’s return from the war and remembered that though money was tight that year and his own gifts under the tree numbered just two, “before the day was over, I considered these gifts the best I’d ever received.” Looking back Burdick added, “no Christmas has been more memorable than the one of 1945.”</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80C_tYmYUeTyL4VOGg4VXdVVQ52gTc5kBMc5CrM6gjZh2gWJNG2VkjjUh5ZzvOScHuF2iHZr6D38lfvrDWmcYW5cQmetOdATJxsqknziYa6EN2ZDLZ48K3p-iJ2hPjFScrH4CJR6G07Tt/s1600/ct+love.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80C_tYmYUeTyL4VOGg4VXdVVQ52gTc5kBMc5CrM6gjZh2gWJNG2VkjjUh5ZzvOScHuF2iHZr6D38lfvrDWmcYW5cQmetOdATJxsqknziYa6EN2ZDLZ48K3p-iJ2hPjFScrH4CJR6G07Tt/s320/ct+love.png" width="320" /></a></div>

Barbara Stanwyck Christmas in Connecticut Dennis Morgan Joyce Compton Peter Godfrey Reginald Gardiner S.Z. Sakall Sidney Greenstreet The Lady Eve (author) World War II Christmas in Connecticut (1945)...one special holiday season...

Christmas in Connecticut (1945), a jewel of a holiday romantic comedy, was released at a time unlike any other in America...scant months a...

'TIS THE SEASON...

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)...one special holiday season...

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