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 its 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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