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Christmas in Connecticut
34 Plays25 days ago
Emma & Katie discuss the 1945 classic Christmas in Connecticut! Yes, we know it's no longer Christmas, but that's how it works sometimes. See you Next year!
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Transcript
Opening Remarks and Household Chaos
00:00:01
Speaker
I took no notes. Oh, no. Well, I watched this movie
00:00:34
Speaker
I want to tidy up because somehow because I live with a boy um the house is a mess and um not exclusive to living with a boy the house being a mess I have to say
00:00:49
Speaker
Well, living with this boy, and it drives me crazy. And so I at least want to put dirty dishes in the kitchen and I don't know, make a space for us to eat. That sounds nice. And if it's a Saturday night, I want to grab myself a glass of wine to sit on the couch and watch his
Dining Habits and Etiquette
00:01:07
Speaker
movie. All that fun stuff. Anyways, he calls it faffing. And when I proceed to faff. It's really British. Yeah.
00:01:15
Speaker
He gets so mad. He goes, Emma, I just want to eat the food and I can't eat. And I was like, you can eat without me. And he was like, no, that's rude.
00:01:26
Speaker
He's just like, can you just like sit down and eat? And then you can do all your stuff. And I was like, okay. Okay. So like. ah You got gotta get like ready to enjoy it. like Exactly. yeah Yeah. I have to like.
00:01:41
Speaker
curate my my my area and like then I have to like get the food ready. Usually by the time I'm like ready to eat, Caitlin's done. Especially if there's like a salad or something, like I have to like mix everything up and get it ready. Oh, in the same way. Yeah. Yeah. yeah I look over and Caitlin's finished. Yeah.
00:02:00
Speaker
Yeah. See, Charlie doesn't do that. He waits. And I think that it's partially because he is a polite young man. i And also partially because he knows that it annoys him, that I doing this annoy him and he annoys me by like, just going on and on about the faffing. And so he thinks it's funny. Sure.
00:02:25
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know. Anyways. You didn't get your notebook.
Fictional Scenarios and Podcast Introduction
00:02:28
Speaker
I didn't get my notebook. That's a long winded way of me saying I did not get my notebook. But it is very fresh in my brain. And ah and yeah, so you guessed it, guys. This is the podcast where Emma and Katie yeah ah have a fabulous writing job. But oh, no.
00:02:48
Speaker
People want to come to their house because they're like Martha Stewart and experience Christmas through with their family include those two people being a total fucking stranger and ah Their boss so they have to convince This guy who was wanted to marry them that they don't love To marry them because they this guy has a farm in Connecticut and That's right, guys. This is Go Get Your Girl. I know. It's the podcast where Emma and Katie give them the old Magoo. Give them the old Magoo where we gaslight our boss and a total fucking stranger that we're good at Christmas. um I'm Katie. And I'm Emma.
00:03:38
Speaker
And this is go get your girl. This is go get your girl. We're doing great. This is great. We haven't recorded in a minute because Emma got sick. Life happened. Things things get complicated. And jar this is the this is the closest episode to record that will come out ever that we've done.
00:03:58
Speaker
yeah in like like a year's worth of episodes. This is the first time we've recorded in the same week it's gonna come out. So Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas friends. it Happy holidays. When this episode comes out, but it is fine. What is it? The 22nd? It's a 22nd.
00:04:16
Speaker
Yeah, because this is the 22nd, and after this, I'm editing and putting out, because I've already started editing, the Merry Gentlemen. So we're really, we're getting into the wire here. Yeah, yeah, we lost our buffer. That's okay. We got to bring it back up. We got to build it back. Yeah, things happen. And
Film Discussion: 'Christmas in Connecticut'
00:04:36
Speaker
today we watched Christmas in Connecticut from 1945, a classic starring um my girl Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan and some other people. Yes. Directed by Peter Godfrey who directed a bunch of movies that no one's heard of and written by Lionel Houser and Adele Comandini and Eileen Hamilton who have also written a bunch of movies that no one's ever heard of and looks like like I watch a lot of movies from the 30s and 40s and like these are yeah
00:05:14
Speaker
some deep cuts. they're Not a lot of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Uh, all I heard in that sentence was that Adele and Hamilton wrote this movie. That's right. Yeah. Adele Comandini and Eileen Hamilton. No, Adele and Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton and Adele, the pop singer. ah Okay. wrote this Fair enough. Um,
00:05:37
Speaker
And yeah, it is 1945. It's right at the end of World War II. This movie was made, I'm sure, like before ah the end of the war, um because he is talking about going back, even though I think the movie came out probably after the war was over. um And we open on a soldier, which is a weird thing for a Christmas rom-com to open on.
00:06:04
Speaker
um in a lifeboat with this other man, and they are they've been in a lifeboat for a long time, and they're and he's starving. So that's the whole deal. 14 days. whole deal is that he's hungry. Yep, and he has dreams about it, and he's hungry for a lot of things, mostly food. Yeah. He ends up in a military hospital where he's not allowed to eat um anything except for milk. They're giving him milk with a raw egg in it, which- I was so confused.
00:06:32
Speaker
does not, I mean, that is that that's the 40s, I guess that doesn't seem super healthy. But I think the idea is that, you know, he was starving for so long that he if he eats like a big meal, it'll mess up his I don't know. Because he can't have solid foods because like his body can't like can't process it. But like, I feel like his body shouldn't be able to process a bowl of milk with a raw egg in the middle. We didn't used to be lactose intolerant in this country. And now we are.
00:07:01
Speaker
but a bowl of milk, they like put it in a soup bowl. Oh yeah, it's in a soup bowl. It's warm, I imagine. it hot? I was like, is it warm? What's going on with this soup?
00:07:12
Speaker
So the lying and and tricking starts immediately as aja he he has ah the the friend that he was in the life boat with is eating regular food. And he asks, how did you how did you get to eat regular food? And the man turns to him and says, you got to give him the old Magoo, which in the past week that we've watched this movie, um giving him the old Magoo here.
00:07:41
Speaker
left and right, every which way you can. um Yes. We looked up the old Magoo, and that is not a phrase. That is from this movie. um i mean I thought that it was like a sex thing. Nope. Google AI helpfully says, given the old Magoo is to trick a woman into thinking you'll marry her, so she'll make you dinner.
00:08:07
Speaker
Thanks, Google AI. Jesus fucking Christ. Absolutely worthless. and What a time. the The old Magoo, as he describes it, is letting one of the nurses think that you're going to marry her so she will sneak you real food. And that is that's what he tries to do. So he lets he believes this nurse, who he doesn't know the name of,
00:08:32
Speaker
think that he loves her and wants to marry her. And then, but unfortunately she gets a little too ambitious. Yeah. Yeah. She, she like is just like, Oh, well, you know, the obviously this poor man, cause she's like talking to him and they're bonding. And he's like, I've never really had a real home because I was an artist before the war. I don't, I'm imagining like he did painting. But like as a child, like I imagine Maybe I don't, ah maybe his family was, he comes from a family of artists and they just moved around a lot. That's nice. Like we can imagine he's Gypsy Rose Lee. Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. yeah yeah So he had an egg roll um instead of a meal. Exactly.
00:09:20
Speaker
um So yeah, sorry about that. Deep cut musical theater. ah um
00:09:32
Speaker
So that he, so she saved this child's life. And the child belonged, was the granddaughter of Sydney Greenstreet. Notable movie gangster who plays in his like, he's, I guess he's kind of a villain in this movie, but he's, this is definitely like the cuddliest character he's ever played. Like, he's just a boss who wants the best for his company.
00:09:58
Speaker
Yeah, but he leaves his family on Christmas also. Because he can't eat good food. This movie is all about being hungry, Katie. We could go so deep into the thesis of how Christmas in Connecticut is about hunger. It is. It absolutely is. So, Sydney Green Street, who is in the movie Casablanca, as well as um Mr. Hunky Donkey himself, we got two Casablanca vets in this movie.
00:10:27
Speaker
i love it SZ Sock Hall. Yeah, SZ Sock Hall is his name. He's in lots of stuff. He's in Oh, yeah. He's in a not the shop around the corner, but the Judy Garland Van Johnson. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. um In the wonderful summertime. Yeah. He's a Hungarian actor. And this movie is his Hungarian this is played for laughs mostly, which Yeah, I guess is it racist? It's, you know, culturally insensitive to own it. And they never really they don't. It's never really pointed out that it's Hungarian. It's just pointed out because like, at first I was like, is he German? Is he Russian? Is he Polish? Well, he talks about goulash a lot. Yeah. But like,
00:11:13
Speaker
2024 American over here. yeah yeah I don't know what goulash is. You don't know what goulash is? I mean, at first I was like, that's German, right? Oh, yeah. I don't know. Maybe it's weird. My grandmother made goulash all the time and she's not Hungarian. um But yeah, I don't know. Must have been the thing. Like that and like stew and like pot roast were like really big in like the 40s and the 50s.
00:11:38
Speaker
Oh, for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because they are like big stew. Big hearty, cheaper meals. Yeah, exactly. And they will be popular again in the next year. In the next depression, yes, yes. He's also in Ball of Fire with Barbara Stanwyck, which is a super fun movie with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck about a bunch of scientists learning about a woman.
Deception and Domestic Life in the Film
00:12:02
Speaker
I think I mentioned it on the show before actually. I feel like you have. He steals the show. Yeah, Preston Sturgis wrote this movie. Preston Sturgis, famous screwball comedy, O tour. This was the last movie he wrote but did not direct because he didn't like the way the decisions the director made with his script. So he started directing his movies after this.
00:12:23
Speaker
and he made Sullivan's Travels and Ball of Fire and um many great ah screwball comedies that we'll probably get to eventually. yeah um So yes, Sydney Green Street, the publisher of a bunch of different magazines ah is approached by this nurse and the nurse wants, has an idea for her fiance, as she describes him,
00:12:49
Speaker
um that he needs, he's a he's a war hero, a soldier on the on the front in World War II, and he needs a nice Christmas meal to teach him what Christmas is what really about, I guess. He needs to spend Christmas at a home so that he knows the value of a home so that he will come back and marry her, essentially. right Because he's like, he needs to know home. He has no home.
00:13:16
Speaker
No, he hungry for home. His home is paint. Home is paint. So, Cindy Green Street is like, oh, I have the perfect person. um This Betty Crocker, Martha Stewart yeah kind of woman who writes these, it's like, it's you get a pi you get a section of it as she's as she's ah as ah she's reading it in the hospital to him.
00:13:43
Speaker
um It's just like every food, recipe every every recipe online you look up. There's like this long ass story about her, her dumb life in her Connecticut farmhouse with her perfect husband and her perfect baby. yeah And they have cows and and all sorts of- And they can't find a rocking chair. Right. It's Cottagecore Dream ah in 1945, but it's all fake. She lives in New York.
00:14:10
Speaker
She's not married, she doesn't have a kid, she doesn't he can't even cook. The recipes are from her chef friend, who is clearly gay. yes Felix, played by SZ Sakol. And he's the fucking best thing in this movie. He absolutely is. um He is just flitting around the screen at all times, pulling strings,
00:14:38
Speaker
ah ruining people's lives. yeah He's the best. Being just guff, just guffawing at the fact that she cannot like flip a pancake. So um he writes the recipes that go in her articles um and she makes up the stories about her her perfect life in Connecticut.
00:15:01
Speaker
Her publisher doesn't know this, which seems insane. ah have Yep, her editor does know um and he is in love with her and is always trying to get her to marry him. And he sucks. And yeah she doesn't care about him at all. But the publisher approaches them about it and she comes up um with an idea.
00:15:27
Speaker
He owns a farm out in Connecticut, her editor. Wait, he he's her editor? Yeah, right. I thought that the other guy was her editor and he's just some random, he's just her boyfriend that she goes to dinner with and he's constantly like, I love you, I love you, I love you. And she's just like, yeah, that's great, whatever. Because he's an architect. Because he spends 75% of the movie talking about his goddamn architecture. Yeah, you're right, you're right, you're right. I'm so sorry. And he sucks. No, that's okay. Charlie made the same mistake and I was like, guys, I'm pretty positive that that other dude
00:16:01
Speaker
It's been two weeks since I've watched it. um The like oily haired guy with the mustache is an architect. Yes. Her on again off again boyfriend who she doesn't want to marry yeah is um owns a farm in Connecticut.
00:16:20
Speaker
And so she agrees to make, because there's a third man, there's the editor there. Yes, the editor is there and the editor doesn't know it's all fake. And he's not there in Connecticut. Yeah. No, he refuses to go to the country. He stays in New York. Yes.
00:16:32
Speaker
So um so he they come up with this plan so that she will agree to marry him. ah They will do a quickie wedding yeah at the house in Connecticut before they get there. So the the the publisher, um originally the plan was to go to his house on Long Island, but then they decide we can come to to my house, the the fake house in Connecticut. The publisher decides I'm going to abandon my wife and children on Christmas Eve and go myself to this farm and we're gonna bring the the the war hero, um Jeff is his name, yeah to Connecticut to have this Christmas meal. And now Barbara Stanwyck has to pretend to know how to cook, to know to have owned to this farm, to have a baby. To have a baby.
00:17:25
Speaker
to be married to this this um boring architect man who won't shut up about architecture. He won't shut up about architecture. My favorite thing is when she like finally concedes and she's like, I've got no other option. I have to
Exploring Societal Norms and Character Dynamics
00:17:40
Speaker
marry my boyfriend who I do not care about. And she she tells him that. She's like, here's the thing, dude. I don't love you. I'm never going to love you. I don't think that's possible. So I want to get married just so that I can have my career. And he's like, yeah, sure, why not?
00:17:54
Speaker
Yeah. um He and she is like the, you know, screwball archetype. I mean, I guess the archetype is still there in in in romances. She's the, you know, hard city woman, right? Like, yeah she doesn't, she doesn't know about like, domestic things. She doesn't know about children or or cooking or anything. And she just fakes all of it. Which to me, like, I mean, in order to write those things I had met, you would have to like, do some research and learn how to do that's true but nothing prepares you to hold a stranger's baby and pretend it's like yours not the baby no but like cooking and like farm like that you you should have to do some research right she doesn't know how to lead a cow exactly uh there is a cow in this movie which you know
00:18:45
Speaker
Love a cow. She doesn't remember the cow's name. Even though she named the cow. Oh God, I wrote it down. I forgot what the cow's name is. It's something intense. Yeah. um Oh well. It's been too long. um so And then ah Felix pretends to be her uncle and is gonna cook the food there. Yes. um Because he's up for anything and he hates the architect, man. Oh, he hates him so much.
00:19:12
Speaker
goes through all of the this stuff to try to prevent them from getting married. Because again, they're not going to pretend to be married. They're just going to get actually married. That's the plan. That was the plan. And like, there's a whole 1945 and it would be it would be scandalous to pretend to be married. Yeah. And they have to like really drive that point home even in this movie be by like, at one point, um the judge is supposed to come over and marry them at like on Christmas Eve and so the architect's like, everybody go to bed, everybody go to bed, it's time to go to bed, bye. And um him and Barbara Stanwyck go up to the room and his housekeeper, who's Irish, seems like a bit of a stereotype. all right ah She like sees them going into a room and knows they're unmarried and she's like, she quits on the spot because they're unmarried. And they're like, no, no, no, we're gonna go get married right now, don't worry.
00:20:07
Speaker
Don't worry, it's fine. That's the important thing, yeah. Right. Jesus Christ. I know. Silly. And it's funny, because like again, like this is just Hays Code shit. like yeah they There plenty of movies before this that have much less rigid, um kind of. ah Traditional values. Traditional values in it than this. yeah And it's just, yeah. It's it's artificial even in 1945.
00:20:35
Speaker
I have a theory, I have a theory, and I would love for them to remake this. And my theory- Well, they did. I would love for them to remake it well. Yeah. I feel, so obviously Uncle Felix is gay. Right. We all know that. I feel like the architect might be in love with her editor or asexual. And that's why he does not care about any of that romance stuff. Cause he's just sort of like, yeah, I guess, okay, whatever. He likes architecture. He's in love with architecture. Like that's his vibe. That's his sexual preferences, architecture. Sure. Yeah. Good for him. Good for him. Wish that I could get some architecture.
00:21:27
Speaker
What? I don't know. I was trying to make a dick joke because of skyscrapers. Oh, okay. I thought that was a sexually frustrated joke. No, that was the first thing I think of when your sexual preferences architecture is, well, obviously because of all the skyscrapers are dicks. Right, right, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's true. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
00:21:52
Speaker
ah
00:21:56
Speaker
So they get to the bringing up baby house. Yep. Is that really the bringing up baby house? Yep. Yeah. It's the same one. And that's Katie's Fun Facts. Katie's Fun Facts. I mean, I recognized it immediately. Like the first time I saw that, I mean, I didn't see this movie as a kid. I saw this movie for the first time probably like five or six years ago, just because Caitlin and I tried to watch a bunch of Christmas movies every December. And this was one that we hadn't seen. And as soon as they get there, I'm like, that's the bringing up baby house.
00:22:24
Speaker
It's very, I mean, it's very iconic and it's a real house, which is unusual for um ah for movies in this in this era. I mean, you can tell because like real they have some of these angles where you can see the ceiling and stuff. Yeah, that's a real interior. um I'm sure, I think that the bedrooms and the the kitchen and stuff are sets maybe, but yeah but that big living room stairwell thing, that's ah that's a house, yeah. Yeah. And like the outside of it is definitely a set, but like,
00:22:54
Speaker
Yeah, and I don't think the, yeah no, the exterior is not real. yeah Yeah. Um, maybe I should, I should have looked this up beforehand. It could have gotten information about where, where it is and everything, but it is definitely the, uh, the same house. Um, I mean, it could, it's it could be, on it's probably on a backlot in California somewhere and it's a ah house. But it's a house made for, yeah. It's a, but it's an interior. Yeah. Still have. Um,
00:23:16
Speaker
and So they get there ah to this architect's giant house and it just so happens that there's a baby. um that those The local women who are all working in like munitions factories because of the war, um the the Irish maid and who, I don't remember her name. Fiona or Fay or something, I don't know. Yeah, something Irish.
00:23:43
Speaker
ah She watches the babies while the women are at work. So luckily they have an infant at the at the house. yeah So she gets there, the judge gets there, the judge is about ready to marry them, but oh no, we we don't have time to get married because here comes the ah the people and the first begins. They're two hours early. Yeah. They overestimated how long it takes to get from New York City to Connecticut.
00:24:13
Speaker
ah Well, it's Christmas Eve, so, you know, traffic was light, I guess. They overestimated. It takes no time at all, my friends.
00:24:25
Speaker
I mean, and you're having a Christmas in Connecticut this year, right? Exactly. I'm having an interesting Connecticut. You're not going anywhere? No, and I'm not, you know, pretending that I'm married with a child. I am far as we know actually married. I have cat children, um but these human babies in my life who are now 10 are my niece and nephew and they will be here. It's very exciting. Oh, Charlie's family's coming to Connecticut. Yeah. Did I not tell you my sister-in-law and her niece and nephew? No, we've spoken in like two weeks, Emma. I know. I'm sorry. I had no boys. I was dying. It's not your fault.
00:25:02
Speaker
I know. um And yeah, my niece and nephew are coming with my sister-in-law and we did like the big shop yesterday and it like I had a thought this morning. I was like, who decided that Thanksgiving and Christmas should be this close to together because this is insane. Cause I don't know why they decided Thanksgiving was in November. um I guess like fall like meal time. Like, I mean, what was the plan?
00:25:28
Speaker
I don't know, but I feel like it should be in October. Did, like, well, it is in Canada. I mean, did the Pilgrims land in November? I guess they probably did, right? They didn't land, but Thanksgiving is about the first harvest meal. Harvest meal is in the fall. Yeah. So the Mayflower landed in New England on November 11th, 1620. So it was November. That's poor timing.
00:25:59
Speaker
Well, they weren't good at a lot of stuff, the pilgrims, obviously. They didn't know how to feed themselves. They really didn't. I mean, they came. The only thing they were good at was killing innocent people and giving them smallpox. Yeah, giving them diseases.
00:26:11
Speaker
um
00:26:14
Speaker
Because, like, da fuck. Why are you going to arrive right when everything's dying? Because this was before global warming. I think it was a rough sea voyage. I think they probably intended to arrive earlier. like And again, like the um they ah the they wanted it they the people in England wanted to kill them, remember? like Because they were ah terrible religious ah nutbacks.
00:26:41
Speaker
So they were just like, yeah, get out of here. You terrible religious nutbags. Go start your own country. Back to Christmas again, not again. So yeah, so my niece and nephew are coming over um with my sister-in-law and it's gonna be very fun and it's gonna be a lot of fun excitement. and My niece is my, as I've mentioned many times, my best friend and my biggest fan. Her name is Rosalie. She's fabulous. I got us ah stocking stuffers, which are glitter freckles for her, her mom and myself.
00:27:11
Speaker
And I'm really fucking excited to do that. um We're also gonna watch the Aeros tour and do all this stuff. It's gonna be a great time. The Christmas tradition now, the Aeros tour of Disney. Right, the Aeros tour, obviously. I mean, I watched it on the 4th of July.
00:27:27
Speaker
I watched it last Christmas. Last Christmas, we were- Did you really? Well, it was like the day, it was like, it was actually I think it might've been this day, because my friend Chandler got married on the 22nd, I think? Yeah, because I remember you were in North Carolina. In North Carolina, yeah. We were at Chandler and Georgie's house and we watched the artist tour, yeah.
00:27:48
Speaker
So yeah, so everybody comes and they're like, okay, well, we gotta, we gotta just, we gotta get this judge hidden so that people don't know that we're just now getting married. Spoiler alert, they never get the opportunity to get married. I mean, and Felix throws some wrenches into that plan. Like he's yeah doing his best to prevent that wedding from happening.
00:28:10
Speaker
He's really, you know, doing his darndest to watch out for his girl, Barbara Stanford. Yeah, it's really sweet. Yeah, he really, he really loves her and she doesn't seem to have a family. um And no, because she's a working woman. Well, I know what I'm saying, like her parents and stuff. Yeah. As soon as you're a working woman in the 40s, you have no family, no parents, no siblings, clearly nothing. Clearly. You're alone.
00:28:37
Speaker
um Except for Uncle Felix. So yeah, he he takes care of her. um They are gonna get married, they they come in. So the first thing, um so Jeff comes in and there's this instant chemistry between them. yeah fairly Fairly sexy for 1945 standards, honestly. And there's a couple sex jokes in here, I will say. Yeah, there are, yeah. Very, very pleased to see them.
00:29:03
Speaker
Yeah, it's a little steamy. ah Basically, like the second sheet they see each other, they're kind of like, well, hello, you know? Exactly. And Julie's back. Yeah. unless ah And she's like, and she's the baby starts um crying, right? So she has to go check on the baby. And he's like, oh, I love babies. Let me put that baby in the bath.
00:29:25
Speaker
Yeah, he's like, can I can I come watch you bathe your baby? And she's like, I'm sorry, what? And he's like, Yeah, I'd love to watch you bathe your baby. And you're supposed to lead to believe this is this is fine. But then luckily, he's there because she has no idea how to bathe this baby. And he starts, yeah, and he starts taking the lead.
00:29:48
Speaker
And she's like, you seem like you've done this before, sir. And he's like, I have. I bathe my little sisters all the time because I'm not a working woman in New York City. So I have a family. Yeah. um it's And then she, of course, can't tell that it's very obviously a baby girl immediately. Kind of said the baby's name is Robert. And then they start to bathe them. The baby's name is Robert? You sure? Roberta. It's Roberta.
00:30:17
Speaker
He is the the least incredulous person I've ever met. like yeah She's so bad at lying and pretending to be this person, and he does not catch on for a very long time. Yep. And part of it's probably because he was lost at sea for 15 days, and he doesn't know how to people. Maybe he's hideous. He has lifeboat madness. We can describe all of that. He has lifeboat madness. Yeah.
00:30:44
Speaker
that and I think also he just really wants to believe that this fantasy of the American family is real. Yeah, yeah, I think so. um Yeah, that's what's been sold to him at least. So he bathes ah the baby um and does the diaper because she can't do any of these things. And I guess yeah, maybe she she must have been an only child or something because I'd imagine as ah as a woman growing up in like the 20s, you would you would definitely have to like change your your your baby uh, siblings diapers and stuff, right? Like, oh, of course. Here's my theory.
00:31:19
Speaker
She was a child in the 20s. Her parents died in the Depression. And then she had to raise herself. And so all she's known is how to fend for herself as a single lady in New York City. She went from age 10 when her parents died to age 25, which I'm assuming she is in this movie. I don't know. And she and immediately and has a career and is a career lady because That's all the life she knows. In 1945, she was 38.
00:31:57
Speaker
Oh, okay. might be Way to go, Barbara Stanwyck. She's absolutely gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. Love Barbara Stanwyck. She can do anything. She's great in all genres and movies. There's another Christmas Barbara Stanwyck classic called Remember the Night, which is ah extremely sad um if you've seen it. It's a beautiful movie. We watched it just a couple weeks ago as well. Wow, nice. With her and Fred McMurray. But it's ah it's not a, account I mean, it's got some comedic elements, but it's it's ultimately kind of a bummer. So not something we'll do on this podcast. Now that's for um after after school watching. What?
00:32:46
Speaker
you know, at my, um my ah extracurricular activities.
00:32:54
Speaker
Like, it's not for the podcast. It's not homework. Oh, oh, okay. I got you. I'm so sorry. Sorry, was my my rowdy son distracting you? Yes, yes, he was. He's being very sweet. He's being very good. He's just letting you hold him like a baby pretty much. Yeah. Anyways, so Christmas in Connecticut. Yeah.
00:33:16
Speaker
Okay, so she is really bad at pretending that she is this wife and mother, but Jeff is just buying it.
Romantic Tensions and Plot Unraveling
00:33:28
Speaker
There's a lot of like sexy moments on like Christmas Eve, which also, can we take a moment to talk about her Christmas Eve outfit? Oh my God, yes. Loved it. Loved it. There was a moment that I was like, is this my Christmas Eve look?
00:33:42
Speaker
How do I find a long dress with a jacket with shoulder pads? She just rocked it. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's the whole thing. Like she wants, she's she's doing this because she she needs a mink, right? Like that's her, yeah. Well, and she needs to survive because she's a single working woman in New York City. Yeah. She needs a job, Katie. I cannot read any of my notes.
00:34:10
Speaker
um
00:34:13
Speaker
So she's doing a really bad, oh, so Christmas Eve. And then of course, Jeff, they already have sexual chemistry. Jeff then proceeds to be even sexier by playing the piano and singing Christmas songs beautifully while she is trimming the tree. And it is just like, and she she's so engulfed in his singing that she drops and breaks an ornament. And he's just, he's real talented. He's he's a real talented boy.
00:34:41
Speaker
um And then they find out about the, is it the Christmas Eve dance or the Christmas Day dance? It's a Christmas Day dance. There's a Christmas Day barn dance that they that they decide to go to. Yes. And this is where ah they kind of, not i mean not consummate the relationship, but like this is when they like kind of realize that they're into each other, I guess. Yeah.
00:35:11
Speaker
Yeah, and she uses a lot of that like rom-com, you know, well, let's say hypothetically that I wasn't really married. Yeah, exactly. For hypothetical sake. Yeah, um and they um they they dance together and then they dance right out of the room onto the porch. It's very little women. um Love it. And get onto a sleigh.
00:35:35
Speaker
which just happens to be there with some horses ah and get all bundled up and the sla the horses just start going. So they steal this sleigh and have a romantic- By accident. By accident, exactly. And they have this romantic ride through the country um when, ah
00:35:59
Speaker
The cops come and get them. The cops come. The cops come and get them, pull them over and arrest them and throw them in jail for stealing a sleigh. And they're like, but the horses just started going. Yeah. It wasn't their fault. The the man, the publisher is going to bed when he sees the mother of the baby that they were watching come into, oh, this is the second baby. Yeah, yeah, because on baby Christmas day, there's a second baby who's like a year older and oh and a boy. And they're like, no one will notice. It'll be fine. Yeah. Um, everyone notices immediately. Um, Sydney Green Street is like, what, what the hell is happening here? yeah Oh, and that's another like little like B plot is the entire, so their rival paper,
00:36:53
Speaker
has a similar like Barton Stewart character who um is got married around the same time that Barbara Stanwyck got married and had a baby and now they're expecting the second baby. And um ah publisher guy is like, you know, ratings boosted this many numbers when the first baby came. They are predicting with the second baby.
00:37:16
Speaker
that numbers are gonna boost even more. So can you ah get that second bun in the oven, please? Like many rom-coms, this is centered on ah magazine sales. Yes. So it it the the tradition lasts a long time. Yep. From at least ah His Girl Friday in 1940, I think, two to maybe 10 years ago was the last magazine rom-com, I don't know.
00:37:46
Speaker
Um, so yes. And also they're trying to sneak the judge back in to marry them over and over again. That never happens. Um, partially because Felix is shooing them away. Felix is trying to teach her how to flip an omelet. Uh, and then ah Jeff insists that she do it in front of him and somehow yeah manages to pull it off um But now they're in jail the mother of the second child Comes in the middle of the night. Yeah comes and gets the baby and leaves the publishers can use this The publisher sees this and assumes the baby's been kidnapped. Yes, so he calls the cops Everybody gets involved um they
00:38:32
Speaker
Jeff and Barbara Stanwyck finally get back to the house after being in jail all night and are um confronted with this kidnapping plot. Yes. um This is finally when they have to come clean about everything, basically. Yeah.
00:38:51
Speaker
um And I mean, she also has to come clean to Jeff with like, by the way, I'm not really married. yeah That baby is not mine. I just really wanted to keep my job. but And so her boss immediately was like, you're fired. Yes, yes. Everybody's real mad about everything.
00:39:11
Speaker
yeah the ah And then what happens? I don't remember. Oh, he's like, you're fired. And she's like, God damn it. And then, um oh, and then the nurse comes back. And um because it's revealed that the oh right that Jeff has a fiance, quote unquote, which is the nurse. yeah um And so she's also a liar, which is important. Like, exactly. They both lie. um And so the nurse comes and so Barbara Stanwick is like, oh, his fiance.
00:39:46
Speaker
Oh, because she's like, I'm his fiance. And um then she gets fired. She gets upset. She runs away. Jeff gets upset. He goes somewhere else or does something and just the nurse goes, oh, it's so sad that I'm gonna have to break that poor boy's heart. And they're like, I'm sorry, what? Everybody else in the room is like, what? What are you talking about? She's like, I can't marry him. I'm already married.
00:40:09
Speaker
And they're like, wait, what? And she's like, yeah, after he left, I just married his best friend that he was stuck on a raft with, because why not? And they were like, oh, God, okay. And so... So many quickie weddings at Christmas in this movie. Right? Just what she did. I mean, sometimes, I guess in the 1940s, like you wanted to fuck, you would just get married, and then you're stuck with that person forever. You're stuck with that person forever, forever and ever.
00:40:33
Speaker
um And so then it is revealed that he no longer has a fiance and she no longer is married. And so then there is one last ditch effort. He goes in while she is packing her, oh, no, wait, before that happens. Uncle Felix crushes it and he saves the day. He goes to her boss, he goes, you know, I guess it's a good thing that you fired her because good housekeeping's been, you know, just gutted for,
00:41:03
Speaker
her to join their publication for ages. And that, of course, is immediately sets off her boss. And he's like, absolutely not. I will I will keep her I will double her salary. What can I do to keep her? Yeah. No good housekeeping. And Uncle fields is like, Yeah, I got this telegram right here. And they say they're gonna pay her lots of money. Doesn't show it to him. No evidence just to
00:41:28
Speaker
Um, so lying gets us into problems, but lying also solves all our problems. So it depends on who the liar is. Yes. Yes. You have to be good at it. Exactly. Um, and so, uh, then he, her boss goes in and he's like, here's the thing.
00:41:47
Speaker
What are you, talk you can't go to good housekeeping. And she's like, what are you, talk of course I can't go to good housekeeping. Immediately picks up on it. And um and he was like, oh, double your salary, just stay. And she's like, I believe you fired me. so and she's And he's like, no, I didn't fire you. Not anymore. I take it back. I take it all back. And then he leaves and then Jeff comes in and Jeff pretends does the same sort of situation, like he puts on this facade, even though like all the shit's gone away, of like, let's say, hypothetically, like, I, you weren't married. Yeah. Um, maybe I'd be really into you. And she's like, but you're engaged. And um I cannot remember remember how the reveal happens.
00:42:34
Speaker
but it's revealed that he is no longer engaged. And she's like, you're no longer engaged. I'm no longer married. I guess we can be together. Let's get married immediately today. Exactly. Let's get the judge and get married. We don't even need to go on a date. Let's just get married so we can be with us. We're not even gonna see if we have anything else in common. To which point, Charlie and I both throw our hands up and we're like, what?
00:43:01
Speaker
It's just how things worked, I guess. Although to be fair, i don't say i don't unlike a lot of movies from this period where the working woman is like, okay, well, I'm getting married. Well, I guess I'll quit my lucrative job and become a housewife. They don't do that in this. um She is going to get paid double. yeah But to be fair, I guess her job is housewife ah in this. it's She's a tradwife. Yeah, professional tradwife.
00:43:27
Speaker
Yeah, ah it's paid to write about her cottagecore fantasy. Yeah. But also, I also have a theory about this. I was thinking a lot about the characters backstories while watching this. Um, so obviously, we know homeboy's job before war was art. Well, yes, yes, his job was paint. Yes, was paint. Paint don't pay good.
00:43:53
Speaker
No, no, I can't imagine it does. Well, now she'll be the breadwinner, won't she? She'll be the breadwinner. And so like, he's like, obviously, I got to marry this chick, because then I can just continue to do paint. I don't have to go back to war. What ah what a life. Like,
Non-Traditional Roles and Comedy Elements
00:44:06
Speaker
what a life. Right. for And he's like, she'll just do all the working and all the stuff. And I'm cool. I'm cool with that. Because her her work and her stuff is housekeeping. Yeah. So I can just be an artist. And then we can get our own farm in Connecticut.
00:44:23
Speaker
And Uncle Felix will make food for us every day. Exactly. Uncle Felix will move in. We'll be great. Everything will be happy. Everything will be hunky-dunky. Exactly. Hunky-dunky. Hunky-dunky. He keeps saying in this movie, no, no, everything hunky-dunky.
00:44:39
Speaker
Anki, Anki. You make Irish, too? No. you It's goulash. It's goulash. You know what? And he sees paprika. He's like, oh, yes. An insane amount of paprika. An insane amount of paprika. He's like, now it's goulash. ah but she was like, oh, my my little Irish soul. Hoity toy, toy, toy, toy. I am goulash.
00:45:06
Speaker
Yeah, not used to spices. I am really glad that they didn't do that stereotypical sort of B-plot that they always do in these sorts of rom-coms with that the help, um which is they, I was worried they were gonna get Uncle Felix and Fiona Irish Lady together at the end. McGonagall. I was very worried that that was gonna be forced upon us, but it was not. yeah And I was very glad. yeah yeah I was like, just let just let them be. Let her be a housekeeper and let him be a gay restaurateur. Yeah. um Yeah. He has a restaurant in Manhattan, I believe. Yeah. so he's And it's pretty successful. Also, I do have to say he mentions at one point that um
00:45:54
Speaker
the like her boss, he's like, you can come to the the Cafe Felix anytime. um And no cover charge. And I was like, wait, did there used to be cover charges for restaurants? I think if a restaurant had like a floor show and stuff. Okay, that would make sense. But I didn't see any floor show. It just looked like a restaurant. Yeah, maybe I don't know. Well, that was that was like lunch, right?
00:46:18
Speaker
That's true. Maybe in the evening they had um ah they had What's Her Name from White Christmas Come Out and sing her little song. Rosemary Clooney. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's a restaurant with a floor show. You know, sisters, sisters, never had there ever been a sister. Listen, Sisters is a great song. It's so good. But they do it three times in that musical. It's very strange. More than White Christmas.
00:46:44
Speaker
Yeah, White Christmas two times, honestly a time and a half. And yeah and sisters straight all the way through twice. and No, no, all the way through three times. I mean, it's not a long song. Three times? No. Yeah. Yeah. Because they do it twice. They do it again when they get to Vermont. And then they do the voiceover bit with Bing Crosby and Danny Kay.
00:47:04
Speaker
Yeah. and It is the earworm song of white Christmas that you didn't they were all in on white Christmas. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they're all in on sisters on sisters. Weirdly, and ah it's so so funny. um My friend Luke, ah his favorite song from White Christmas is What Do You Do With a General? And he sings it all the time ah in the middle of summer. Yeah. Oh, bless. Charlie loves sisters, and he'll sing it constantly about Thomas and Roland, but he'll change it to brothers. Brothers, brothers. Never have I seen two happy brothers. That's nice.
00:47:43
Speaker
That's very sweet. Those are our cats. Anyway, yes, correct. Your rowdy boys. My rowdy boys. It's Christmas. um And that's Christmas in Connecticut. Christmas in Connecticut!
00:47:56
Speaker
We kind of stayed on topic and didn't have much to say about this. No, because like these screwball comedies are so like, plot forward that you could I mean, it's really the elevator pitch turned into a movie. So like, once you get through that, it's just talking about all the backstories that you come up with as you're watching it. Yeah, it's just goofy stuff then and notes that I wrote down that I can't read my own handwriting on. So Yeah, let's see if there's any fun facts.
00:48:26
Speaker
is it that see did it did-to-d did-ti-oo I got a bunch of quotations in here. Here's a fun one. ah Well, first of all, you're corrected is the house. It's the same house as Bring a Baby. um And ah this is an Emma's Fun Fact. Emma's Fun Fact.
00:48:52
Speaker
uh betty davis was originally cast as elizabeth in 19 oh that would have been way worse that would have been way worse that would have been way tense you have she has such let little sympathy you have such little sympathy for betty david right like well I mean, she's a great actress, but she's very intense. I will say that as soon as we got our first sex joke, I constantly was saying it, and then I texted my cousin who also lives in Connecticut, and she is meeting her boyfriend's parents in Ohio right now. And so I texted them, and I was like, we're watching Christmas in Connecticut, and guys, it is filthy.
00:49:36
Speaker
And there are several jokes. And Charlie was like, there was one and it was repeated twice. I was like, absolutely filthy. Wait, which which joke? It was um when the judge was like, I got to go home and trim my tree. And then I'm going to hang my stocking. Oh, that's right. Yes. Yes. Yes. And I was like, well, I'm going to go make love to my wife. Exactly. It was exactly that. I'm going to go home and make love to my wife. Yeah. It was great. I'm trying to think of like comedies that Bette Davis was in. like
00:50:11
Speaker
uh the man who came to dinner yeah but like she's always because she's got those big eyes everything that she does it doesn't matter she just has resting intense face yeah yeah yeah so like it just would have been a lot super intense yeah yeah i don't think it was her forte no no yeah um anyways well that was christmas and kinetica that's Christmas in Connecticut.
Episode Closing and Future Plans
00:50:37
Speaker
yeah um This will be airing on ah December 29. So enjoy that. Happy birthday, Madison. Happy birthday, Madison. But much like Christmas in Connecticut, ah it will be a little bit of it will be after Christmas. That's true. That's true. A lot of this movie takes place on December 26.
00:50:56
Speaker
Exactly. So this was the perfect movie to close out Christmas rom-com. And now we're into 2025. Heaven help us. Yeah, yeah God. it We shall see and it's my pick. I'm gonna see if your movie is streaming before I pick it because I want us to start off with like some feel good. Just yeah. Um, happiness need a bomb in these trying times. ah Exactly. Um, we're gonna go a little bit back in time.
00:51:33
Speaker
um both when the movie was filmed and also when it takes place. ah How do we feel about Shakespeare in Love?
00:51:46
Speaker
Mostly because I've been wanting to watch this movie and I always want to watch it with Charlie and I think it's hilarious. um And also it's ah just a great film. um Yeah. Technically a rom-com. We can do that. Yeah. It is technically a rom-com. Exactly. Sure. It's a little serious at times and a lot of like just a costume drama mostly, but it's funny. There's love. Yeah. There's stuff. Will this be the first movie that we've done that won Best Picture? Probably.
00:52:18
Speaker
Oh, no, it happened one night. it happened Oh, yeah, it happened one night. I was like, I feel like one of the oldies was yeah an Oscar winner. Yeah. But this is the first um modern. Modern. the My modern means straight up 25 years ago. Yeah. I remember these Oscars very well. But yeah, we will be going back talking about some Billy Shakespeare. All right.
00:52:45
Speaker
Yeah, buddy. You ready for outro? Yeah. All right. Thank you for listening to Go Get Your Girl. If you like us, tell your friends and please rate and review us on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. It helps out a lot and we would really appreciate it. Thanks to Andrew Milliken and Nyx Viboda for our theme music and Elena Henderson for her artwork.
00:53:08
Speaker
You can follow us on Instagram at Go Get Your Girl Pod, and we'll post there eventually one day, I promise. Yes. Or email us at GoGetYourGirlPod at Gmail. You can follow me on social media at Emily and Pizza. And me at Katie of the Lake. Until next time, we're just two girls. Standing in front of the internet. Asking it to love us. Good night. Good night.