How about spending Christmas in Connecticut?

In this job market, who hasn’t considered padding their resume? But resume padding can come back to haunt you as Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyk) discovers in the classic Christmas comedy of errors Christmas In Connecticut.

One moment Elizabeth Lane is at the top of her profession writing an enormously popular feature for the magazine Smart Housekeeping, the next she facing the prospect of unemployment all because her boss thinks she is a wonderful cook who has a husband, a farm, and a baby in Connecticut.  But Elizabeth Lane, America’s favorite homemaker, is really a single, New York career woman who can’t cook, doesn’t have a baby, and lives in a small apartment that doesn’t even have a window box. What she does have is a newly purchased mink coat, a true friend in her “Uncle” Felix (S.Z. Sakall), and a boring architect, would-be fiancé John Sloan (Reginald Gardiner) who keeps proposing despite her numerous rejections. But all that is about to change.

Who could have anticipated all the trouble and excitement that would enter Elizabeth’s orderly life when a nurse in a faraway naval hospital thinks that if her sailor hero fiancé could only spend Christmas with America’s favorite homemaker he will stop dragging his feet and set the date for their wedding? Unable to talk her overpowering boss, publishing giant Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet), out of sending her a sailor for Christmas, Elizabeth embarks on an elaborate, last-minute charade to protect her magazine editor and give this war hero his picture-perfect Christmas in Connecticut.

This charade, however, is not without cost. Elizabeth is finally persuaded to accept John Sloan and marry him on Christmas Eve at his farm in Connecticut. All that is needed to complete the illusion of domestic bliss is a borrowed baby, but when the handsome sailor, Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan), lands on Elizabeth’s Connecticut doorstep—suddenly the prospect of marrying the stable but dull John Sloan is the last thing on Elizabeth’s mind. How does a girl win the man of her dreams when he thinks she’s married to another man? To find out, I suggest you spend your Christmas in Connecticut.

Random Facts:

Christmas in Connecticut

· In 1944 when Christmas in Connecticut was filmed, Barbara Stanwyck was so successful that she was the highest-paid woman in the United States.

· Stanwyck was a four-time Academy Award nominee but she didn’t take home Oscar until 1982 when she was given an Honorary Award.

· Sydney Greenstreet, who plays the indomitable publisher Alexander Yardley in Christmas in Connecticut, also appears in the films Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon.

· Budapest-born actor S.Z. Sakall who plays Felix Bassenak in Christmas in Connecticut was also known as S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall.

· Christmas in Connecticut was remade for television in 1991 starring Dyan Cannon, Kris Kristofferson, and Tony Curtis, it was directed by Arnold Schwarzenagger.

· The movie set used to depict John Sloan’s country home in Christmas in Connecticut is the same set that was used in the 1938 comedy Bringing up Baby.

Christmas in Connecticut Party Plan

My fellow Starlet and I love this movie and have been known to watch it at all times of the year, but there are all sorts of fun ways you can tie this movie into your holiday party or as a special dinner-and-movie event.

· Flippin’ flapjacks. The menus Elizabeth Lane writes in her magazine feature are elaborate and gourmet, but it is flipping a single flapjack that nearly gets her caught. Take a page out of the movie and invite your friends over for a pancake and pajamas party before you watch Christmas in Connecticut. As host, you can provide the pancake batter, have your friends pitch in and bring their favorite toppings like strawberries, peaches, and whipped cream, then get cozy and watch Elizabeth Lane work her magic in the kitchen.

· Old fashioned Christmas. Christmas in Connecticut was released by Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. in 1945 when World War II was just concluding. Get your viewing party into the spirit of the time with music from the 1940s like Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. Research menus and recipes from that era—maybe even find out what one of Elizabeth Lane’s recipes would cost. Mix up some retro cocktails.

· “The things a girl will do for a mink coat!” Elizabeth Lane has promised herself a mink coat all her life and, feeling confident in the success of her feature, she buys herself one. Have your guests arrive for your viewing party wearing fur or faux fur coats just like Elizabeth Lane.

Pancake Recipe

Introduced to the market in 1931, by 1945 when Elizabeth Lane is flipping her first flapjack Bisquick was a staple in American homes. Uncle Felix, true gourmet that he is, might have turned his nose up at using a mix, but for novice and busy cooks Bisquick was a handy convenience food. In keeping with that spirit, here is the pancake recipe from Betty Crocker’s Bisquick Cookbook.

Ingredients

2 cups Original Bisquick

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1. Heat griddle or skillet; grease if necessary.
2. Stir all ingredients until blended. Pour batter by a little less than ¼ cupfuls onto hot griddle.
3. Cook until edges are dry. Turn; cook until golden brown.

5 servings (three 4-inch pancakes each)

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