Synopsis
While recovering in a hospital, war hero Jefferson Jones grows familiar with the "Diary of a Housewife" column written by Elizabeth Lane. Jeff's nurse arranges with Elizabeth's publisher, Alexander Yardley, for Jeff to spend the holiday at Elizabeth's bucolic Connecticut farm with her husband and child. But the column is a sham, so Elizabeth and her editor, Dudley Beecham, in fear of losing their jobs, hasten to set up the single, childless and entirely nondomestic Elizabeth on a country farm.
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Cast
- Barbara StanwyckElizabeth Lane
- Dennis MorganJefferson Jones
- Sydney GreenstreetAlexander Yardley
- Reginald GardinerJohn Sloan
- S.Z. SakallFelix Bassenak
- Robert ShayneDudley Beecham
- Una O'ConnorNorah
- Frank JenksSinkewicz
- Joyce ComptonNurse Mary Lee
- Dick ElliottJudge Crothers
Recommendations
- 83
The A.V. Club
A thoroughly wacky 1945 screwball comedy that also doubles as a fascinatingly subversive commentary on conventional gender roles. It’s a bit of a hidden gem in the Christmas canon. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
A sometimes hilarious farce and a holiday favorite. - 75
Chicago Tribune
A successful lifestyle journalist, Elizabeth (Barbara Stanwyck) is lauded by her readers as the sweetest, most efficient homemaker in the countryside. Problem is, she is a chain-smoking urbanite in a city apartment. [05 Dec 2014, p.C2] - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Peter Godfrey paces the picture at a fast clip and the writing is laden with fun stuff. - 70
Orlando Sentinel
This may be a dated film, one in which publishing companies were run by czars instead of corporations and a woman's worth was defined by mink coats and men. But it is also a smart, clever, funny film with a wonderful cast and some nice screwball touches by director PETER GODFREY. [23 Dec 2001, p.15] - 50
Chicago Reader
Tinsel-thin seasonal folly (1945) about a newslady who has a GI hero over for Christmas dinner. Frolicsome in an artificially hearty sort of way, though it made its studio (Warners) a nice holiday bundle. - 40
The New York Times
Peter Godfrey, the director, has a good deal to learn about the art of telling a boudoir joke in the parlor and getting away with it.
