Customer Reviews

Holiday

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There was a big controversy earlier this year with "The Cary Grant Box Set" which is a great collection in its own right. Many people were upset that it included the first release of "Holiday" which was new to DVD (unlike the other films in the collection), but no stand alone disc was being offered. Well, good news. If all you wanted was "Holiday" and you held out, here it comes ten months later.

Now, I've always had a soft spot for "Holiday." It hasn't achieved quite the classic status as a couple of other Hepburn and Grant pairings--"The Philadelphia Story" and "Bringing Up Baby"--but I actually think that works to its advantage. I might get into trouble for this, but I somewhat prefer this to the more antic "Bringing Up Baby" (Don't shoot me, I know it's a great film too).

Cary Grant plays a carefree soul that becomes engaged to a millionaire's spoiled, socialite daughter. He is expected to take life more seriously and responsibly--but that's not necessarily in his master plan. Grant, as always, is charming--the quips and physicality that were his trademark are used to good effect here. Katherine Hepburn, as the girl's sister, is obviously a better match for him! Hepburn uses her rapid fire delivery and plays smart and wry better than anyone else in her era. Of course, Grant and Hepburn have great chemistry and it's a joy to see these two masters banter. There's plenty of slapstick, but part of "Holiday"'s charm is that it balances this with real romance. It's funny and sweet.

Any fan of Grant, Hepburn, director George Cukor, classics and/or screwball comedy needs to check this film out. It'll make you smile. KGHarris, 10/06.

Katharine Hepburn made three films in a row with Cary Grant when she brought her career back after being branded "Box Office Poison." The pair had first made "Sylvia Scarlett" together in 1936, the infamous film where Hepburn's character pretended to be a boy. In 1938 they made the classic screwball comedy "Bringing Up Baby" with director Howard Hawks and in 1940 Hepburn returned to stardom and Jimmy Stewart won an Oscar for "The Philadelphia Story." The latter had been a play specifically written for Hepburn by Philip Barry. In between these two classic films, #97 and #51 respectively on AFI's Top 100 Film of all-time, Hepburn and Grant did "Holiday," another film based on a Barry play. Hepburn had been the understudy for Hope Williams in the original 1928 Broadway production and it was the way she picked up a glass in her screen test of a scene from the play that inspired director George Cukor to cast the young actress in her debut film "A Bill of Divorcement." Now, five years later, he would direct her in the second movie version.

The story begins with us meeting Johnny Case (Grant), an engaging young man with some interesting ideas about life. At Lake Placid he met Julia Seton (Doris Nolan), fell in love, and proposed to her. Coming to New York City to meet her family, he arrives at a mansion and is shocked to learn that his beloved is one of THE Setons. Julia's father (Henry Kolker) is not sure what to think of his daughter's intended, but Julia's rather unconventional sister, Linda (Hepburn) thinks Johnny is wonderful. The problem is that Johnny's big plan is to make his fortune when he is young and then retire (i.e., go on a "holiday"), returning to work again when he gets older, which is heresy to old man Seton. He and Julia will try to teach Johnny the error of his ways, while Linda offers her support. Helping to balance the odds for Johnny are his friends, Nick (Edward Everett Horton) and Susan Potter (Jean Dixon), the chief members of his fan club. Linda tries to keep Johnny and Julia together, but it seems she is the only one in the Seton household who appreciates Johnny on his own terms.

"Holiday" had been filmed in 1930 by Edward H. Griffith with Ann Harding as Linda, Mary Astor as Julia, and Robert Ames as Johnny. Edward Everett Horton played Nick Potter in that version as well, although his wife was played by Hedda Hopper. The screenplay for the 1938 version was done by Donald Ogden Stewart and Sidney Buchman, and it was primarily Stewart who punched up the script version of Barry's revolt against the stuffed-shirts of the world with smart and literate dialogue (Stewart had played the Nick Potter role on Broadway). The result was that the production ended up with some nice ensemble work. Hepburn was under contract to RKO at the time, but bought herself out of her contract to do this film with Cukor at Columbia. Her performance was arguably the most simple and straightforward of any she had done in films up to that point, with all of the pretense and mannerisms stripped away, and the scene where she compares her angular face, with those famous cheekbones, to that of a toy giraffe, is one of the most endearing shots in her film career. Granted, "Holiday" is not going to end up on the AFI's list of Top 100 Films like "Bringing Up Baby" and "The Philadelphia Story," but it is still an enjoyable, solid little filme in which the two stars actually get to do some acrobatics.

Holiday is the antithesis of Bringing Up Baby. Both movies have Grant and Hepburn. Both are comedies. Both are artistic works of geniuses. Holiday was made less than a year after Bringing Up Baby. Yet, they are as different as day and night, with Holiday being night. Bringing Up Baby is a bright romp, cheerful and energetic. Holiday is pleasant; the comedy results from witty dialogue rather than screwball physical comedy; the subtle acting is brilliant. It seems to be a darker comedy about human nature. The characters seem to have matured, from the flighty Susan Vance and the confused David Huxley, to a mature Linda Seton and a confident Johnny Case. The plot, too, is subtle, human, and down-to-earth. To summarize it is to be unfaithful to the movie. Holiday is my favorite movie. Not only that. Holiday is a story told to me by two dear friends.

Not as zany as Bringing Up Baby, or as ultimately offensive as The Philadelphia Story (which started the disappointing trend of humilitaing Hepburn's independence, eccentricity and intelligence by her usually uninteresting, conservative and 'down-to-earth' 'a woman must be a woman' leading men). Holiday allows Hepburn to be herself and celebrates her independence instead of making it a laughing matter. Her leading man, (Hepburn's finest co-star, Cary Grant), falls in love with her for herself, she is not 'reformed' or pulled down to earth as she inevitably was in her Spencer Tracy movies, where one was always made to feel that she was funny, but ultimately not a woman until tracy put her in her place, at his feet.

Lew Ayres, Henry Daniell and Edward Everett Horton give fine supporting performances. This movie really is a must-see. Hepburn and Grant have an infectious, sometimes unabashedly sexual, chemistry. Its Hepburn playing herself (or the image one has come to identify with her). She is also less eager to irritate and steal scenes. She lets the script do its job. She also never looked better (except in Woman of the Year, and The Lion in Winter).

Watch it!

This movie is one of Kate's best! It is absolutly marvelous! Every time I watch it I find some new element or something that I didn't catch the other times I have viewed it. This film is wonderful and I know that any fan will enjoy it immensely. I have seen probably a dozen times and can't get enough out of it. I can't wait until it comes to DVD! Of course, Cary Grant is spectacular as well... he always is. I can't tell you how many times I've used quotes or found myself thinking of some of the crazy situations in this movie. Anyone who has not seen this charming, funny, fabulous film needs to see it! It is truly one of the best films I have seen.

George Cukor's 'Holiday' is a sublime comedy starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. A story of the philosphical and material differences of the wealthy and the working class with a personal commentary that keeps the story alive and still pertinent today. Two sisters fall for the same man and share in the bittersweet experiences of romance and true love which inevitably lead to the eruption of family issues. Lew Ayres is unforgettable as the brother stuck in the middle of it all. Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, post 'Bringing Up Baby,' really turn their professional romance up when they begin to explore more serious issues in this stylistic New York romance. The giddiness and familiarity of the previous "Bringing Up Baby" and the latter "Philadelphia Story" is poignant and heartfelt, but alive with humor and, clearly, as studied by Hepburn and Grant. The plot is too subtle to give away, because the interactions of Philip Barry's characters are so dynamic in their dialogue that you cannot miss a scene, but after all, the actors truly bring to life the pain and suffering that inevitably occur when love rears it's ugly head. This is the type of comedy-drama Robin Williams' wishes he could do standing on his head. A clear five-star winner that I would watch any day.

Wish I had had the chance to have seen HOLIDAY at one of those huge and majestic cinematic palaces of yesteryear. As soon as I saw it for the first time about 23 years ago on the small screen it fast became my favorite movie of all time. Absolutely underrated, this gem is a joy to see time and again. You'll fall in love with Hepburn and be captivated by the dialogue. Every scene will have you glued to your seat and you'll soon fall under its spell. The theme is timeless and the movie rises above any romantic comedy of then or now. Pure Magic . . . . not to be missed!

Outstanding performances and script with Hepburn, Grant. Lew Ayres is superb as desperate, drunken, younger brother, and Edward Everett Horton is a hoot as Grant's buddy. Can't figure out why this is not recognized as a solid classic. (Really slams the upper class--that could be the reason.)

Despite Katharine Hepburn's much-discussed twenty-five year partnership with Spencer Tracy, onscreen and off, I still contend that her most compatible partner in movies was Cary Grant. Temperamentally, physically and comically, they were a perfect match in three classics when they were in their youthful prime - the lunatic 1938 screwball farce, "Bringing Up Baby"; the strange-bedfellow 1940 wedding comedy, "The Philadelphia Story"; and in between, this smart, forward-thinking 1938 drawing room satire. Mostly overlooked and shamefully not even on DVD yet, "Holiday" is another witty observation of the old-money rich by playwright Philip Barry, the creator of "The Philadelphia Story", again adapted to the screen by Donald Ogden Stewart, this time with Sidney Buchman.

The focal point is Johnny Case, an eccentric young man with a sharp business acumen that gains him a small fortune and attracts the attention of socialite Julia Seton. They fall in love and decide to marry before the story starts, and the plot is driven by the ongoing conflict between his obligation to Julia to conform and his need to take an extended holiday before going back to work. It must have been a daring concept during the Depression to think that people would choose not to work if they could, but it's one that resonates even more now. As Johnny, Grant is so charming and humorous that it seems inconceivable that his devil-may-care personality would face opposition, but it does first from Julia's obstreperous father and from Julia herself. Enter Linda, Julia's quick-witted, unconventional older sister, who is drawn to Johnny and slowly realizes he may very well be her soulmate. But Linda fights her urges because she loves her sister too much to jeopardize the relationship. At the same time, Johnny is a romantic and an idealist who recognizes similarities in Linda that he can't resist. Hepburn is perfectly cast as Linda with an arsenal of clever lines and her high-cheekboned beauty. She and Grant parry and thrust so fervently that it seems a foregone conclusion that their characters will find happiness together. But the journey there is not as predictable.

Credit needs to be given to Doris Nolan with the unenviable task of playing Julia, who gradually sours on Johnny's ideas to the point of emotionally blackmailing him to take her father's offer of a banking job. Until the hard edge of her character reveals itself at the end, Julia is actually hard to hate because one senses her disappointment as the plot evolves. Similarly, Henry Kolker initially plays the father with a predictable bluster, but he also becomes rather sympathetic in his desire to look out for his daughters, even if he looks like he has given up on Linda's foibles many times in the past. The other characters are serviceable if little else - the girls' weak-willed alcoholic brother Ned portrayed almost too authentically by Lew Ayres; and the common-folk Potters played with obligatory quirkiness by Jean Dixon and 1930's comedy staple, Edward Everett Horton. Meanwhile, Binnie Barnes and Henry Daniell have hilariously acerbic roles as the intolerably blue-nosed cousins. All of this is masterfully directed by George Cukor, who manages to convey deep-seeded emotions under the guise of casual scenes like an acrobatic trick, a puppet show or even an innocent peck at New Year's. By the way, the title of my review refers to Linda's exit line to her family: "Whatever he does is all right with me. If he wants to dream for a while, he can dream for a while, and if he wants to come back and sell peanuts, oh, how I'll believe in those peanuts!" I love that line. This one is most definitely worth seeking out.

This is truly an enchanting movie - and one of my absolute favorites! It features a witty script, hilarious moments and excellent performances from two Hollywood legends. Furthermore, unlike..say..The Philadelphia Story (which I also greatly enjoyed), this movie has a much sweeter and more genuine tone, even though it is not as slick and polished.

Essentially, Holiday is about a bright young man (Cary Grant) who rose from poverty into a career in finances (while still maintaining a lighthearted and normal attitude towards the accumulation of money) - and his encounter with a very rich family and its two daughters. When he meets the eldest daughter at a resort, he begins dating her, having no idea of her immense wealth. He faces many difficulties from her family, who is obsessed with money and finances. Finally, he is accepted among them because of his promising future...but he knows that he does not want to devote himself to business alone. Along the way, he also meets the magical younger sister (Katherine Hepburn) who is the rebel among the family, a self-proclaimed black sheep. To say anymore would be to give too much away...

Anyhow, Holiday features great performances from both stars. Cary Grant is funny, charming, and believable as Johnny Case - perhaps especially so because his real story was so similar to that of his character (Grant also was a self-made man who reached Hollywood after escaping from his lower class home in England and joining the circus). Katherine Hepburn is energetic and spunky as Linda, and she and Grant are perfect together.

All in all - this movie is wonderful and very enchanting. Cary Grant even shows off his acrobatic training and does a few flips in it...what more could you ask for in a movie?