#1009: CUKOR, George: Holiday (1938)

CUKOR, George (United States)
Holiday [1938]
Spine #1009
Blu-ray


Two years before stars Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant and director George Cukor would collaborate on The Philadelphia Story, they brought their timeless talents to this delectable slice of 1930s romantic-comedy perfection, the second film adaptation of a hit 1928 play by Philip Barry. Grant is at his charismatic best as the acrobatically inclined free spirit who, following a whirlwind engagement, literally tumbles into the lives of his fiancée's aristocratic family — setting up a clash of values with her staid father while firing the rebellious imagination of her brash, black-sheep sister (Hepburn). With a sparkling surface and an undercurrent of melancholy, Holiday is an enchanting ode to nonconformists and pie-in-the-sky dreamers everywhere, as well as a thoughtful reflection on what it truly means to live well.

95 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
1:37:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2020
Director/Writers


From the play by Philip Barry.
George Cukor was 39 when he directed Holiday.

Other Cukor films in the Collection:

#901: The Philadelphia Story (1940)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Ten-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Dana Stevens.

Commentary

None.

Film

Holiday (1930), a previous adaptation of Barry’s play, directed by Edward H. Griffith.

Conversation

Between filmmaker and distributor Michael Schlesinger and film critic Michael Sragow.

Audio excerpts

From an American Film Institute oral history with director Cukor, recorded in 1970 and ‘71.

Costume gallery

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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