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Post by kijii on Dec 26, 2017 1:35:45 GMT
petrolino--
I love this movie!!!!
It should be seen more often as one of Sturges's best movies.
"It's in the bean" isn't that one of Dick Powell's coffee slogans?
Or was it............ "It's not the bunk, it's the bean"
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 23, 2018 0:29:54 GMT
The cryptic comedy 'Christmas In July' tells the tale of office worker and former street tough Jimmy MacDonald (Dick Powell) who wins a contest to come up with an advertising slogan that carries a reward of $25,000 to be paid by bank cheque. Having received an official telegram and personal confirmation from corporate bigwig Doctor Maxford (Raymond Walburn), Jimmy takes his girlfriend Betty Casey (Ellen Drew) on a high street shopping expedition and buys gifts for his local community using credit. "'Christmas in July' takes place in the gloomy shadow of the American Dream. It supposes that happiness may in fact determined by wealth and material possession, showing off the many great benefits of having wealth. Jimmy is basically the same person before and after his fortune, with the same ideas and attitudes, but the way others (even his best gal) perceive him is drastically different. Unlike many other harsh looks at the wealthy, money and notoriety don’t corrupt Jimmy. He doesn’t become greedy or self-centered, willing to spend his fortune on everyone else but himself. Ultimately, money solves Jimmy’s problems of being unnoticed and unable to provide for his loved ones without any ill effects. Being wealthy seems pretty great, actually! As a comedy, the film is ahead of its time, much more like contemporary films where most of the jokes consist of people being mean to each other. 'Christmas in July' perfects the now staple structure of an innocent, simple protagonist surrounded by the mean-spirited world. One prominent character, Dr. Maxford, owner of the important coffee company, is always snide and sarcastic, no matter the situation. He’s also the funniest character in the film, with a constant stream of put-down zingers. With this structure, Sturges also provides a perfect use of dramatic irony, a device often used in classic literature and theater, but had not yet been as prominent in film. Much of the film’s comedy and tragedy come from this irony, tweaking all of its apparent themes and sensibilities slightly askew."
- Aaron Pinkston, Battleship Pretension
Father Christmas & Preston Sturges
'Christmas In July' is one of the most joyful celebrations of language in film I've seen, a film bursting at the seams with ideas and filled with extraordinary wordplay. It's taken me three viewings to feel like I've finally caught up with the dialogue but I can be a bit slow on the uptake. It's audaciously photographed by camera pioneer Victor Milner; I love the overhead shots during conversations between Jimmy and his neighbours in the Irish tenement building he lives in and the rapid shot constructions outside the building when the police eventually intervene to prevent mob justice. Writer-director Preston Sturges delights in the rhythms and textures of words and there's no better performer than Dick Powell to carry a story full of patterned dialogues. Sturges references 'Brewster's Millions' (1902), a novel penned by George Barr McCutcheon of Tippecanoe County, Indiana that was adapted into a play and has been filmed several times. 'If you don't sleep at night, it isn't the coffee, it's the bunk.'
'Roses In December' - Dick Powell
According to Hollywood legend, Sturges stock company player William Demarest of St. Paul, Minnesota discovered Ellen Drew of Kansas City, Missouri working at an ice cream parlour. Powell and Drew make a wonderful couple in 'Christmas In July' and they'd reunite for Robert Rossen's bitter crime programmer 'Johnny O'Clock' (1947). If you wish to know whether a black cat is truly lucky or not, I'd suggest you watch 'Christmas In July', but just remember, "It doesn't matter honey, you can't lose anything you never had."Yep, as was often his want, the great Preston Sturges was cryptic supreme. It has screwball frivolity on the surface but underneath there be satire and cheeky winks at wealth and all its devilish off-shoots.
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Post by wmcclain on Dec 23, 2018 0:31:15 GMT
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Post by teleadm on Dec 24, 2018 17:14:18 GMT
I have this movie on DVD but has never got around to see it, never been in the right mood so to say.
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