This one ended up being a close tie, so I'm going to go for both of them. First is Christmas in Connecticut (1945), starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan and Sydney Greenstreet. A Martha Stewart-like columnist has been spinning tales of domestic bliss in Connecticut (complete with baby), but really lives in a tiny apartment in Manhattan -- and while she can write about cooking, she can't actually cook. When her boss, Rupert Murdoch Sydney Greenstreet, decides she should host a sailor for Christmas, she has to scramble to make fiction seem fact or lose her job. It's fluff and the male/female rolls are definitely of the period, but an enjoyable way to while away 102 minutes.



The other film is The Bishop's Wife (1947), staring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven. On the surface, this is very conventional: A bishop (David Niven) under stress asks God to send him assistance and God obliges with an angel in the form of Cary Grant to give him the help he needs, which isn't necessarily what he's asked for. In truth, it pushes the Production Code in a number of ways.



One of the tenets of the Code was that religion and its ministers should not be mocked. This is why Mr. Collins is not a minister in the MGM version of Pride and Prejudice. David Niven's episcopal bishop is not so lucky. He is frequently teased, dismissed, his faith tested and his goal of building a new cathedral to the glory of God questioned. But he isn't a cardboard figure; he loves his wife and daughter, is clearly still in love with his wife, even if he forgets sometimes, and is willing to stand up and fight for what he believes in. He's lost his way, but can learn and change.

Cary Grant is Dudley the Angel, and this is no pious creature. There is something powerful and a little dark lurking under the surface, and Dudley is subject to temptation, most specifically where the bishop's wife is concerned. Dudley resists, but more because Loretta Young says no than him deciding making a pass at a married woman is a bad idea.

It is a film about how faith in what we hold dear is a powerful thing -- but we need to decide what is important and hold it close, and to keep our hearts open.

Below the cut, the trailer for Christmas in Connecticut and the ending of The Bishop's Wife, which very much sums up the spirit of Christmas for me.






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