All anybody wants is for you to live in the present and not be afraid of the future. You know, maybe it could happen again if you quit pretending that something that’s dead is still alive.
We’ve all seen the broad strokes and archetypes of Holiday Affair about a thousand times. There’s the harried single mother, raising a kid on her own; there’s the stolid, if a bit boring, nice guy who wants to give her stability and security; and the charismatic outsider that is exciting and also threatening to the status quo. It’s the classic Hollywood love triangle. But what elevates this one to the cream of the crop is the excellent cast. There’s also a witty and really smart script, which is packed full of great dialogue and also great character work that gives the actors more than usual to work with in a movie of this type. But it’s the personal touches brought by those three lead actors. Robert Mitchum apparently did this movie in attempt to soften his image after he was brought up on drug charges, but he doesn’t really change a lot in terms of his usual acting style. Other actors would deliver some of this dialogue with pleading tones or compassion, but Mitchum just delivers these lines with a pragmatic, quiet firmness and even the sappiest lines here feel real and sincere because of it. Janet Leigh is the female lead and, while she’s a bit more obvious casting in her archetypal role than Mitchum is in his, she still brings a nervous edginess to her performance that a lot of other actresses of the period would have smoothed out. Leigh always had the ability to shade her performances with darkness, give just a little of an off-kilter feeling to what might otherwise be a stock role and she does that here. Third billed is a lesser known performer, Wendell Corey, who is probably remembered most for his supporting performance as Jimmy Stewart’s police officer buddy in Rear Window. He’s a kind of actor’s actor, the kind of guy who does a lot with a little and brings a real humanity to even small roles. Here he’s given a couple of really great scenes and he brings substance to the thankless role of the “boring boyfriend.” His final scene with Leigh is one of my favorites in the movie; the script lets us sit with him and get his perspective on things in a way that feels really right. Again, the basic plot of this movie isn’t going to blow your mind or really give you much in the way of surprises, but it’s an excellent script, adept at moments of both comedy and drama, and the three main performances make the material feel fresh and the archetypes feel real. It’s not a unique story with unique beats, but it’s a unique take and I really loved it. 4 stars.
tl;dr – familiar story benefits from sharp writing and three exceptionally good lead performances; both witty and dramatic with compelling characters. 4 stars.