Christmas in July (1940)
Country: US
Technical: bw 67m
Director: Preston Sturges
Cast: Dick Powell, Ellen Drew, Raymond Walburn, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn
Synopsis:
Living in a poor tenement and occupying a lowly position on the staff of a coffee company, a young and happily engaged worker stakes all his hopes on winning competitions to provide slogans (and publicity) for other brands. When mischievous co-workers fake a telegram informing him of his jackpot success with, 'Trouble sleeping nights? It's not the coffee, it's the bunk', he is suddenly given promotion and the run of the local department store.
Review:
As elsewhere, Sturges devises a cruelly phoney fairytale situation for his character to see how he runs with it, only to pull the rug from under his feet and see how everyone else responds. Fortunately his hero here spends most of his cheque buying presents for everyone on his street, so his ultimate happiness is assured. The satire on the insecurity of company marketing execs and the callousness of their CEOs is well targeted and ever-relevant, consistent with the director's community values and caustic view of the American Dream. A brisk and innovative comedy, unusual in having its lovers matched from the start and ending with a smart shot of a black cat peaking a glimpse at us before the end title rises like a lift from below.
Country: US
Technical: bw 67m
Director: Preston Sturges
Cast: Dick Powell, Ellen Drew, Raymond Walburn, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn
Synopsis:
Living in a poor tenement and occupying a lowly position on the staff of a coffee company, a young and happily engaged worker stakes all his hopes on winning competitions to provide slogans (and publicity) for other brands. When mischievous co-workers fake a telegram informing him of his jackpot success with, 'Trouble sleeping nights? It's not the coffee, it's the bunk', he is suddenly given promotion and the run of the local department store.
Review:
As elsewhere, Sturges devises a cruelly phoney fairytale situation for his character to see how he runs with it, only to pull the rug from under his feet and see how everyone else responds. Fortunately his hero here spends most of his cheque buying presents for everyone on his street, so his ultimate happiness is assured. The satire on the insecurity of company marketing execs and the callousness of their CEOs is well targeted and ever-relevant, consistent with the director's community values and caustic view of the American Dream. A brisk and innovative comedy, unusual in having its lovers matched from the start and ending with a smart shot of a black cat peaking a glimpse at us before the end title rises like a lift from below.
Country: US
Technical: bw 67m
Director: Preston Sturges
Cast: Dick Powell, Ellen Drew, Raymond Walburn, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn
Synopsis:
Living in a poor tenement and occupying a lowly position on the staff of a coffee company, a young and happily engaged worker stakes all his hopes on winning competitions to provide slogans (and publicity) for other brands. When mischievous co-workers fake a telegram informing him of his jackpot success with, 'Trouble sleeping nights? It's not the coffee, it's the bunk', he is suddenly given promotion and the run of the local department store.
Review:
As elsewhere, Sturges devises a cruelly phoney fairytale situation for his character to see how he runs with it, only to pull the rug from under his feet and see how everyone else responds. Fortunately his hero here spends most of his cheque buying presents for everyone on his street, so his ultimate happiness is assured. The satire on the insecurity of company marketing execs and the callousness of their CEOs is well targeted and ever-relevant, consistent with the director's community values and caustic view of the American Dream. A brisk and innovative comedy, unusual in having its lovers matched from the start and ending with a smart shot of a black cat peaking a glimpse at us before the end title rises like a lift from below.