Christmas Holiday

Robert Siodmak: Christmas Holiday (US 1944) starring Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly.

025933 / 16 / US / 1944 / Siodmak, Robert / thriller
Christmas Holiday / Tuli ja tuhka / Att älska så... © Universal. D: Robert Siodmak. SC: Herman J. Mankiewicz - based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham (1939). DP: Elwood Bredell. M: Hans J. Salter. Theme song: ”Always” by Irving Berlin. CAST: Deanna Durbin (Jackie Lamont / Abigail Manette), Gene Kelly (Robert Manette), Dean Harens (Charles Mason), Gale Sondergaard (mother Manette). 93’. B&w Academy. MPAA Seal of Approval 10010. BBFC: Passed for Adult Audiences. An NFTVA print. Viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, Saturday 21 February 1998. **** A soft, melancholy thriller, a woman’s noir spiked with sharp dialogue courtesy of W. Somerset Maugham and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It’s full of strong musical selections including ”Kyrie eleison” at the midnight mass, ”Der Liebestod”, and ”Always”. There is an unerring moody flow in the images. ”You can let go now Abigail”. The clouds part on the night sky revealing the stars in the distance as Robert dies.