Gems: December 2013

12.25.2013

Christmas in Connecticut

.... and I wish you a merry Christmas whether you're in Connecticut, Wyoming... or any other state or country in the world. Or other planet! I'm currently working my way through The X-Files.

Christmas in Connecticut (1947) starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan and Sydney Greenstreet.

wikipedia / imdb / buy / netflix

Jefferson Jones is a World War II veteran. He's stuck in a hospital for the holidays....

..... and he has to eat things like this. He's not thrilled.

He'd much rather be enjoying something prepared by Elizabeth Lane - America's most famous food writer and homemaker.

One of the nurses is in love with him and has some scheme where she thinks if he spends the holidays in someone's home (particularly, Elizabeth Lane's beautiful one) he'll start to want a home (and wife) of his own and propose to her. Grade A plan.

So she calls up the publisher and arranges it. The publisher is down because he thinks it will help them gain publicity and a wider circulation. So Jefferson the foodie veteran will go to Elizabeth Lane's house in Connecticut for Christmas. The only problem is....

.... Elizabeth Lane lives in an apartment in New York. She's not a homemaker. She's not married. She doesn't have a baby and - worst of all - she doesn't even know how to cook. It's all a ploy. Unfortunately her publisher isn't in on the trick (just her editor).

And so begins one of those deception-centered romantic comedies. You know.... like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: one of the main characters is pretending to be someone that they aren't, which is all well and good until they fall in love with someone who believes the lie.

This is Elizabeth's friend Felix.

He owns a restaurant and provides her with all the recipes for her column. She doesn't seem to provide him with any sort of remuneration for this. Which is a pretty shit move. Not only is she a liar, she's a cheap one.

Here is the house her editor (and sort-of boyfriend) rents in order to fool Jefferson and her publisher (who also comes along). Complete with sleigh. And dog.

It's pretty much love at first sight.

Her faux bambino.

He really wanted to wash the baby. Because me missed bathing his nephews and nieces or some other rather strange reason. If a prospective boyfriend was so pumped to wash my pretend child I'd probably be a little put off, but to each their own.