’Tis the Season for Bittersweet Romance in Holiday Affair

The title of 1949 Christmas romantic comedy Holiday Affair promises a much more scandalous story than director Don Hartman’s gentle, empathetic film delivers. It’s neither a grand, sweeping tale about the meaning of Christmas nor a chaotic screwball comedy, which may be one reason why it’s rarely included in lists of essential holiday classics. But its low-key appeal lies in an effective mix of melancholy and warmth, which is a more accurate representation of the season than in other high-concept films.

It premiered 75 years ago this week, but Holiday Affair is in some ways more progressive than the retrograde Christmas romances that currently clog the streaming pipeline. It presents a simple love triangle, but the competition between brash aspiring boat builder Steve Mason (Robert Mitchum) and dependable lawyer Carl Davis (Wendell Corey) for the affections of widow Connie Ennis (Janet Leigh) includes a looming additional obstacle: Connie’s late husband, who was killed in World War II and whose portrait is displayed prominently at her bedside.

From the moment that comparison shopper Connie meets department store clerk Steve, it’s obvious that they’ll end up together. She’s wading through the holiday rush of children in the toy department to get Steve to sell her an expensive train set (more than $1,000 in 2024 dollars), and he immediately clocks her as a fake customer. Mitchum often played shady characters and hard-boiled antiheroes, and he brings just enough of that edge to his performance to make Steve seem like a charming rogue, someone who instantly catches Connie’s eye.

She puts that out of her mind, though, because she has such a loyal man at home. Carl is devoted and diligent, but he isn’t portrayed as a pushover or a loser, and he’s even allowed to help Connie with the dishes without becoming a punchline. “You’re a very pleasant man” is the most ardent compliment she can pay him even while they’re ostensibly happy together, so there’s no question that their union won’t last. But there’s also no question that some other woman will be lucky to end up with Carl on the rebound.

Connie and Steve don’t need an elaborate meet-cute, but they do get into some mild shenanigans before fully making a connection. When she comes back to the store to return the train set, he takes pity on her and decides not to report her to the store detective for corporate espionage, which results in him losing his job instead.

The movie never shames Connie for being a working single mother, and neither Steve nor Carl are ever condescending about her dedication to her job. Even though Steve is the one who’s now unemployed, he tags along with Connie on her next excursion, helping her carry packages before getting lost in the holiday shopping shuffle.

At that point he becomes a bit like the prototypical stalker-ish rom-com leading man. He goes to great lengths to track down Connie’s address so he can return her items, but he clearly has more on his mind than just ensuring that she doesn’t get in trouble at work. He asserts his position as a potential match for Connie while going toe to toe with Carl in awkward small talk (both saying “That’s right,” over and over) and bonding with Connie’s young son Timmy (Gordon Gebert), then overdramatically states that he’ll leave her alone forever, since she’s already committed to Carl.

First, though, he comes up behind her and forcibly grabs her for a kiss that she hasn’t consented to, although she melts into his embrace, as expected. Steve is no brute, but that kiss provides another contrast between him and Carl: Carl has been patiently waiting for two years for Connie to agree to marry him, while Steve marches in and takes what he wants. A less graceful movie would then allow Steve to run roughshod over Carl, whom Connie would easily toss aside, but Holiday Affair keeps Carl around, as a further example of healthy masculinity for both Timmy and the audience.

As Steve later observes, his real competition isn’t Carl as much as it’s Timmy’s late father, whose memory is kept alive via Christmas visits from his parents and Connie’s insistence on keeping Timmy as the spitting image of the man he never really knew. Connie’s in-laws refer to each other as “Mother” and “Father” and have the kind of bland, reliable relationship that Carl offers. Numbed by years of grief, though, what she needs is someone bold and vibrant like Steve.

Yet Steve is reliable, too, and that’s the key to Holiday Affair. It’s easy to imagine Connie settling down with Carl, but it’s also easy to imagine her settling down with Steve. Both men are eager to be father figures for Timmy, both respect and adore Connie, and both understand and honor the memory of the husband she lost, even as they prod her to move on. Christmas is a time of remembrance and hope, a sweet and wistful notion that makes Holiday Affair more enduring than flashier, emptier holiday romances.

“Holiday Affair” is available for digital rental or purchase.

Josh Bell is a freelance writer and movie/TV critic based in Las Vegas. He's the former film editor of 'Las Vegas Weekly' and has written about movies and pop culture for Syfy Wire, Polygon, CBR, Film Racket, Uproxx and more. With comedian Jason Harris, he co-hosts the podcast Awesome Movie Year.

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