Christmas in Connecticut

Christmas in Connecticut (1945) is not a perfect little comedy—a little of S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall’s cuteness goes a long way—but it gives Barbara Stanwyck a chance to flex her comedy muscles, and she’s a delight. It’s the story of a complete fraud, a woman named Elizabeth Lane who writes for a magazine called Smart Housekeeping and shares with her readers various recipes, tips on how to entertain and anecdotes about her life in rural Connecticut with her husband and newborn baby. Except for her name and employer, none of that is true. Lane gets her recipes from a nearby restaurateur (Sakall) and hacks out copy on her small typewriter in a dingy little flat in Manhattan. When she is called upon by her unknowing publisher (Sydney Greenstreet) to host a war hero (Dennis Morgan) on her farm for a lavish Christmas dinner, the movie, in best screwball fashion, becomes a mad scramble to create her on-page persona. Greenstreet, Una O’Connor and Reginald Gardiner provide ace support, but when Sakall says “Hunky dunky!” for the 40th time, one may feel compelled to throw one’s purse at the screen.