If you can accept the premise that a prosecuting attorney would take a shoplifter home for Christmas because he doesn't want her to spend the holidays in jail--and then allows himself to fall deeply in love with her within a short space of time--well, this is the romantic comedy-drama for you.
MITCHELL LEISEN (who had a way with romantic comedies in the '30s and '40s) lets BARBARA STANWYCK and FRED MacMURRAY shine in this tender romance whereby Stanwyck is welcomed into his family in Indiana over the holidays--and gets the royal treatment from BEULAH BONDI (MacMurray's mother) and ELIZABETH PATTERSON (his old maid aunt). Tending to farmhouse chores is STERLING HOLLOWAY, who has an effective moment when he sings a sweet ballad while Stanwyck plays the piano.
It has a cozy ambiance for all of the holiday scenes but there's always a dark undersurface to the story that is kept pretty much under wraps most of the time. But the film gets off to a faulty start with an overdone and overlong courtroom speech by a defense lawyer that is cringeworthy in the way it goes on and on.
Stanwyck is attractively photographed and looks as though she's having a fine time in a typical Stanwyck role and MacMurray more than fills the bill as the lawyer who lets himself fall for a woman he has to prosecute after the holidays are over.
It's typical '40s style corn, but Leisen's direction and the Preston Sturges script gives it plenty of warmth and appeal.
MITCHELL LEISEN (who had a way with romantic comedies in the '30s and '40s) lets BARBARA STANWYCK and FRED MacMURRAY shine in this tender romance whereby Stanwyck is welcomed into his family in Indiana over the holidays--and gets the royal treatment from BEULAH BONDI (MacMurray's mother) and ELIZABETH PATTERSON (his old maid aunt). Tending to farmhouse chores is STERLING HOLLOWAY, who has an effective moment when he sings a sweet ballad while Stanwyck plays the piano.
It has a cozy ambiance for all of the holiday scenes but there's always a dark undersurface to the story that is kept pretty much under wraps most of the time. But the film gets off to a faulty start with an overdone and overlong courtroom speech by a defense lawyer that is cringeworthy in the way it goes on and on.
Stanwyck is attractively photographed and looks as though she's having a fine time in a typical Stanwyck role and MacMurray more than fills the bill as the lawyer who lets himself fall for a woman he has to prosecute after the holidays are over.
It's typical '40s style corn, but Leisen's direction and the Preston Sturges script gives it plenty of warmth and appeal.