Holiday Affair (1949), It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947), Blossoms in the Dust (1941)

Three lesser known, vaguely Christmas entries that were all surprisingly good.

Holiday Affair

Would you buy Robert Mitchum as a toy salesman? Well neither would I, but you don't have to buy him as one for long in this little Christmas romantic comedy. Produced by RKO it feels as though the studio just wanted to include their biggest star in some kind of a Christmas offering so they hit on this. Janet Leigh is a war widow with the request precious son (Gordon Gebert). Leigh has a job as a 'comparison shopper' for a department store (mom works for department store and child has no father figure, and its Christmas, cribbed from Miracle on 34th Street perhaps?), which mean she goes around and buys products and returns them (why she doesn't just 'compar the prices' instead of making awkward purchases is beyond me). Anyway she ends up costing Mitchum his job, which he wasn't too attached too anyway as he's just saving up money to go to California and build boats. He does however become interested in Leigh (and her progeny) and engages in a surprisingly civil competition with her blandish, nice guy, Ralph Bellamyesq boyfriend Wendell Corey. No surprise who gets the girl (and son) but its genuinely pretty amusing; I love Corey and Mitchums prolonged awkward idol chatter upon first meeting at Leigh's Place.

Good

It Happened on 5th Avenue

Solid, lightly screwball period comedy that would likely be better known if not for having a no name cast. There all good though, especially Victor Moore whose Aloysius T. McKeever should have been a star making turn. McKeever isahobo of sorts, he'd be homeless if not for his habit of squatting in the mansions of traveling millionaires. His winter residence for the last three Christmas's has been the 5th Avenue home of the worlds second richest man, photography averse land developer Charles Ruggles, who winters at his other home in Virginia. Ruggles 18 year old daughter Gale Storm runs away from finishing school, goes to the 5th Avenue house and encounters McKeever and a displaced returned G.I. (Don DeFore) he's taken in after Ruggles company demolished his apartment building. Storm pretends to be a poor Midwestern girl hopping that DeFore will come to love her for who she is and not for her fathers money. Gradually more and more people end up squatting Ruggles mansion, including Ruggles himself who pretends to be a penniless man named 'Mike' in order to get to know DeFore at his daughters urging (father can't say no to daughter). Soon the Ex-Mrs. Ruggles (Ann Harding) comes to stay and a rekindling of lost love seems imminent. Meanwhile DeFore and some of his war buddies attempt to purchase an abandoned military base from the government in order to build affordable housing for returning service men and there family's. Of course there's a bidding war going on between the vets and Ruggles company, only at first neither knows that the others there computation,comedy of errors. At the end there are to be two marriages resulting from the collective trespassing and McKeever heads south to summer at Ruggles Virgina Residence. As good any comedy to come out of that era, this movies a surprise treat and worthy of your two hours.

Good

Blossoms in the Dust

Bio-pic of pioneering children's rights advocate Edna Gladney is a perfect vehicle for star Greer Garson, she's a brave, noble, crusading women of dignified bearing and tender heart, in short Mrs. Miniver. Gladney's story is a surprisingly long one, Edna is born in 1880's Wisconsin to a locally prominent family, her adopted sister commits suicide after her perspective in-laws through a fit about her 'illigetimat' statues. Edna marrys and moves to Texas to be with her husband ( of course Walter Pidgeon ) who owns a granary and experiments with hybrid wheat's. They have a baby, the baby dies young and Edna's unable to have more, she grows bitter, she rediscovers purpose in running an early daycare, the granary goes bust, the couple sell most of there belongings and move to Ft. Worth where Pidgeon takes low level job and continues to experiment with wheat's in his off hours. Edna founds a progressive orphanage/child placement service, the city cuts her funding, her husband patents a successful new breed of wheat and then dies. The wheat money allows Edna to expand her adoption services, and later she takes on a Texas law that brands children of unwed partners as illigament in government documents such as wedding licences and birth certificates. I was surprised to learn as well that for some time 'illigetamit' persons could not hold civil service jobs. So yeah, Edna Gladney's a near absurdly admirable women, and that's why Greer Garon's fit to play her.

Good