On July 27, 1945, Warner Bros. premiere of the Christmas romantic comedy in Connecticut at the Strand Theater in New York. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review, titled “‘Christmas In Connecticut’ Should Jingle BO Bells – Sure-Fire Comedy Abounds in Credits,” is below:
The widespread farce was played to a farce by Barbara Stanwyck, SZ Sakall, Sydney Greenstreet and Reginald Gardner. Play sternly to laugh, belly-type, it’s an audience winner from the way back to the balcony. What can you lose?
The premise for this light-hearted nonsense is a girl who writes a cozy column about her ranch in Connecticut, her husband and children, forced to deliver goods on the orders of their boss to entertain a hero. The Marines return for Christmas. She managed to choose a “husband” who has a farm. She brought along the cook, who passed on all her recipes, and the child, or rather the infant, was provided by mothers who worked in defense factories. All of this is complicated by the fact that the girl has a crush on the Marines and after that, it looks like he’s engaged. Well, keep your hat on, boys, things get fun and stylish.
Warners Corporation is going all out to make this a farce. Stanwyck had a good time hanging out as the girl. SZ Sakall has a field day as a chef. Sydney Greenstreet developed her way through the role of mainstream magazine publisher. Reginald Gardiner as fiancé and [100] architecture percent catch the wind.
Dennis Morgan is relieved and fascinating to be the only outspoken man on the show. Una O’Connor takes on the role of housekeeper, and Dick Elliott, Joyce Compton, Robert Shayne and Charles Arnt all contribute to the laughter.
Peter Godfrey beats the photo at a fast pace and the text is full of fun. Carl Guthrie’s photography is fine and the production has a lot of credit to Stanley Fleischer’s art direction, Casey Roberts’ set decorations, and Edith Head’s cape. Songs given by Jack Scholl and MK Jerome[s] Dennis Morgan a chance to sing. More than that, it doesn’t…at least in the picture. – Staff byline, first published July 17, 1945.
