This is one of the all-time greatest of Christmas movies, and also one of the most overlooked. It involves a wealthy widow who lives in Manhattan during the late 1940's, which is when the film was made. Aunt Matilda Reid's nephew is seeking to have her judged incompetent in order to become the sole trustee of her wealth. Her three wayward adopted sons have been gone for years, with not a word from any of them. One is a bankrupt playboy (George Brent), the other a rodeo rider (Randolph Scott), and the third son (George Raft), is a very mysterious man involved with hunting Nazi war criminals in South America.
Aunt Matilda has drawn just one concession from the lawyers
and judge who are administering her case; if her sons show up before midnight
on Christmas Eve, she wins. If not, she becomes the ward of her greedy nephew.
The film received tepid reviews in 1947 when it was released
in late October. It was eventually re-released as "Sinner's Holiday",
in an effort to attract a wider audience. I first ran across this gem in 1961,
or so, while watching WOR-TV, Channel 9, in New York City. All the good old
movies were on that channel.
As a matter of fact, "It's A Wonderful Life", with
Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, got it's second life from that station. That film
was originally released in 1942, at a time when we were not winning the war.
The film flopped. And then, around 1960, WOR-TV was looking for something to
throw on the air Christmas Eve that wouldn't cost them anything. So they turned
to "It's A Wonderful Life", a film whose copyright had just run out,
enabling them to air the film for nothing. The switchboards lit up and another
classic Christmas film was "discovered."
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