Holiday Affair

It's a dumb story, but Robert Mitchum is doing a lot of heavy lifting with his amazing emoting. Janet Leigh looks great. Wendell Corey does well as a competing love interest who we all knew was going to lose out. My biggest issue with this movie is that the son is absolutely insufferable and creates all the conflicts with the kid tropes, though his final arc redeems him. Fav scene: I was wondering how they were going to resolve the love triangle, but Corey's concession speech truly nails it.

I was almost going to say there is chemistry between Leigh and Mitchum, but it really boils down to Mitchum himself being charming and appealing. Janet Leigh's war widow character shows a lack of autonomy and has to have it explained to her what she really wants by the men in her life. Also, too much pukeworthy cuteness from her towheaded son.

Sticking Mitchum as one of the love interests in this charming Christmas film feels weird. I grew up with films and TV shows of this era being on, so I never understood why a kid would be so excited by the most basic toys. Didn't they know you could just ask for a video game? I felt bad for Carl, as for a lack of a better word, gets cucked.

Delightful portrayal of the dilemmas of 'what women want'.

The characters and relationships make no sense. Nonetheless it’s a charmer, if nothing else due to the charisma of the cast.

The wrong guy won, but looking past that, Holiday Affair (1949) is a pleasant Christmas courtship. Definitely good vibe stuff.

Not super memorable but a pleasant watch.

An utterly charming Christmas film, with delightful performances from Leigh and Mitchum (playing possibly the nicest, sweetest character in his filmography), and an amusing scene-stealing turn from Corey as Leigh's wounded suitor. Great fun.

watched: 2015, 2020, 2021

A great Christmas movie. Pretty weird to see Mitchum playing somebody so nice, but I thought it was really fun to watch. Plus, Gordon Gebert gives a surprisingly good little kid performance.

Christmas with Mitchum!