Holiday (1938)

Nominated for 1 Academy Award:

Best Art Direction

 

It took me a second to realize I had actually seen the previous adaptation of the play, the 1930 film, back when I was doing my Best Actress series. Needless to say, this 1938 version is substantially better, probably because George Cukor was directing it, and we also have Kate & Cary. It’s actually their 3^rd film together, I’ve read.

Back when it opened, this was a box office flop, which is probably why it has just one, very modest, Oscar nomination to its name. But it has such a great reputation nowadays, and I knew for years I should expect something good. The story is not much, and it feels like we’ve seen variations of it before, what stood out were the directing and how good the actors are, two in particular. Katharine Hepburn delivers one of her finest performances, playing not just the smart humour of the character, but also her slightly fragile state of mind. She should’ve been nominated for Best Actress. And the other excellent performer, Lew Ayres, playing the often-drunk brother, should’ve been competing for Supporting Actor, he is charming and very convincing.

The screenplay’s a bit too… stagey or intellectual, but it’s a good film.

 

I give it: 8.5/10

IMDB LINK