Product Details

• Actors: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey, Gordon Gebert, Griff Barnett
• Directors: Don Hartman
• Writers: Isobel Lennart, John D. Weaver
• Producers: Don Hartman
• Format: Black & White, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Turner Home Ent
• VHS Release Date: September 28, 1999
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301415094
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,222 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #49 in	Video > Drama > Love & Romance > Love Triangle
  #61 in	Video > Kids & Family > Holidays & Festivals > Christmas

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
One of the lesser holiday movies, this 1949 comedy stars Janet Leigh as a war widow who can't afford to buy her son a toy train for Christmas. A veteran (Robert Mitchum) who happens to be standing by in a department store overhears her plight and offers to purchase the toy, thus setting into motion a series of funny complications. Wendell Corey plays Leigh's suspicious, condescending boyfriend, whose jealousy compounds Mitchum's problems, and Harry Morgan is very good as a night-court judge trying to make sense of everything that happens. The movie didn't do so well at the box office at the time of its release, but it has gained an affectionate fan base over the years. Don't expect Miracle on 34th Street, but as a spirited lark for Yuletide, this is a lot of fun. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Holiday Romance, June 9, 2001

By	Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I just discovered this gem from 1949 and am I glad. It has all the ingredients necessary to earn a place in my Christmas movies Hall of Fame: an adorable little boy who wants a train set his widowed mom can't afford; Janet Leigh as the WWII widow struggling to provide for her son; Wendell Corey as the kind and decent man who wants to marry her; and Robert Mitchum, as the drifter on his way to California who changes everything. It has charm without being schmaltzy, humor without being too cutesie, and an ending that has you standing up to cheer. Start stringing the popcorn and plan to watch this every Christmas season.

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent Christmas Fun, November 26, 2001

By	D. M. Farmbrough "Dave Farmbrough" (Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Holiday affair is never mentioned when the roster of Christmas cinema classics is read, which is unfortunate because it's actually a very good movie. It would be unfair to compare this with It's A Wonderful Life which came out three years earlier, or even Miracle on 34th Street (two years before). But the similarities in style and tone are there, this being a feel-good Christmas family movie made with intelligence. The studios must have realised they were on to a good thing.

Underneath the layer of seasonal schmaltz is a story with its roots in the then popular obsession with psychoanalysis. The jilted fiancé makes references to subconscious desires of Janet Leigh's character, and the whole story is based around a Freudian-Oedipus arrangement with the son taking the place of a dead father. But this is all (just) under the surface of the story of little boy who Santa Claus forgot, whose Christmas is made special by a selfless eccentric played by Mitchum. Mitchum is an actor who could be accepted in almost any character - his face gives so little away that he is often described as 'laconic', but it's clear that here he is a good guy who is so honest he even cuckolds poor old Wendell Corey's character in front of him rather than be deceitful. Corey's character of `the other man' is so doomed from the start to be a poor runner up to Mitchum that it must have been a thankless role for him, but he tackles it well. Watch out too for future M*A*S*H* star Harry Morgan (credited as Henry Morgan) who steals one small scene as a bemused police lieutenant. If you want a change from Frank Capra or James Bond, try this with your turkey and Brussels sprouts.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Such a great movie, I'm reviewing it for the 2nd time!, December 24, 2000

By	Kim K. (Bayonne, New Jersey) - See all my reviews

I had the pleasure of watching this again last night. Invited my family over & we were all in the mood for a nice, holiday movie. I quickly pulled this off the shelf, knowing that they hadn't yet seen it, telling them they were in for a real treat. I tend to watch this every 2 years, so it was time. This movie is like a hidden gem, and though I am sure it received decent reviews when it was first released, there were probably more people who preferred It's A Wonderful Life & other more popular Christmas movies. Holiday Affair holds up well, despite the way things were at the time of the story(late 1940s). Guy meets girl, who is already practically engaged to another man, but that doesn't get in the way of his falling for her in a big way. One way to her heart is the way he quickly wins over her young son, by getting him the much desired set of trains he covets more than anything. Robert Mitchum shines in this film, & plays off both Janet Leigh & Wendell Corey quite well. When I previously reviewed this movie back in November of '98, I wrote it in such a hurry that I misspelled Ms. Leigh's surname, which I made a point to correct this time around. Yet again, I must highly recommend this terrific little movie, and it is an absolute must-have for those that like to collect Christmas themed movies. Definitely a movie to be enjoyed for many Christmases to come, & despite an attempt a few years back with a so-so remake, they just don't make 'em like this anymore. 'Nuff said!