Holiday Affair (1949)

My Review

“Holiday Affair” is a romantic comedy film about a salesman at a big department store in New York City who gets involved with a woman who is working as a comparative shopper for a rival store during the Christmas season. The fun and games proceed from there. Producer-director Don Hartman (“It Had to be You” 1947) and screenwriter Isobel Lennart adapted this innocuous comedy from a 1948 novel “Christmas Gift” by John D. Weaver.

Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh are the stars of the show, carrying the picture with their pleasant personalities. This film allowed Mitchum a break from his usual “tough guy” roles in westerns, war pictures, and film noir, reportedly to rehabilitate his image after being arrested for possession of marijuana.

Co-stars include Wendell Corey, Esther Dale, Gordon Gebert, Griff Barnett, Henry O’Neill, Larry J. Blake, and Harry Morgan as the police lieutenant. Morgan would become a television star in “Dragnet” (1967-1970) and “MASH” (1975-1983). “Holiday Affair” did not perform well in theatrical release for RKO Radio Pictures.