Press Release Criterion Press Release: Holiday (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[roxy1927]

Clearly it's a personal thing because Philadelphia is such a beloved film. But after Hepburn meets with Stewart and Hussey I find it pretty tough going. Holiday sails from beginning to end.
Also I find the whole we've got to bring Kate down a peg or two for the mass audience condescending and a bit embarrassing but obviously they all knew what they were doing. The glamorous glossy MGM look and starry cast doesn't hurt.
You're right though that it never gets revived except for the Danner revival decades ago. For such a beloved film which had been a smash hit Broadway play people don't seem to want to see it on stage. Unlike say comedies like You Can't Take it With You, The Man Who Came to Dinner and The Front Page.

 

[bujaki]

I didn't see the Danner revival, but Danner IS a Goddess. I can even forgive her Gwyneth.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Clearly it's a personal thing because Philadelphia is such a beloved film. But after Hepburn meets with Stewart and Hussey I find it pretty tough going. Holiday sails from beginning to end.
Also I find the whole we've got to bring Kate down a peg or two for the mass audience condescending and a bit embarrassing but obviously they all knew what they were doing. The glamorous glossy MGM look and starry cast doesn't hurt.
You're right though that it never gets revived except for the Danner revival decades ago. For such a beloved film which had been a smash hit Broadway play people don't seem to want to see it on stage. Unlike say comedies like You Can't Take it With You, The Man Who Came to Dinner and The Front Page.

It certainly is a personal preference. I watched "The Philadelphia Story" several times as a kid and it became one of my favorite classic films of all-time. I only watched "Holiday" a few times during that same time period. The latter film bored me to death. I had that same feeling for a good 45-50 years before I started to come around on "Holiday" over the last five years or so. I still don't regard it as highly as "The Philadelphia Story", but it doesn't bore me any longer and I do see it's film qualities more today than I did 50 years ago.

 

[Will Krupp]

Clearly it's a personal thing because Philadelphia is such a beloved film.

I think it all comes down to the personal, but it certainly doesn't make not liking it any less valid. There are plenty of people who don't love PHILADELPHIA STORY and plenty of "beloved" films that I can't bear (BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S? Blech)

Is there any hobby that's more personal than loving the movies?

Also I find the whole we've got to bring Kate down a peg or two for the mass audience condescending and a bit embarrassing

No doubt. That's the most common criticism I see leveled against it and it's a valid one. It was a product of a specific time and specific set of situations. Hepburn, knowing full well what she was doing, got the last laugh though in a monument to self awareness.

You're right though that it never gets revived except for the Danner revival decades ago. For such a beloved film which had been a smash hit Broadway play people don't seem to want to see it on stage. Unlike say comedies like You Can't Take it With You, The Man Who Came to Dinner and The Front Page.

It's like FUNNY GIRL. Without Streisand, it's a chore.

The others are all character plays that are eternal (though I did see a recent revival of the FRONT PAGE and, my God, the seams are really starting to show, lol.)

 

[roxy1927]

Yeah Philadelphia was for me a what's the fuss about movie. And then Holiday which I had barely heard of was a wow where have you been all my life revelation. Thank you Frank Rowley wherever you may be.

 

[Will Krupp]

I didn't see the Danner revival, but Danner IS a Goddess. I can even forgive her Gwyneth.

AGREED!

Strangely, that revival wasn't Blythe's FIRST time playing "Hepburn." She had been in a TV show of ADAM'S RIB (reuniting her with Ken Howard) in the early 70's which was my first TV heartbreak (along with PLANET OF THE APES) when it got cancelled

I was six. I loved it and can still remember the theme song to this day, lol.

 

[roxy1927]

Reuniting her with Ken Howard! Certainly one of my happiest memories of movie going when I was young was seeing Blythe on the Music Hall screen in 1776. Not a large role but in Radio City she was incandescent.

 

[bujaki]

I know we are deviating from Holiday, but I must say that Blythe (so close to Bliss) is incandescent on screen and on stage. I had the good fortune to see her on stage when she (and I) was young; and later in life when she was a woman in her 60s (I was a tad younger), and she had lost none of her radiance. And that voice...
Definitely a Goddess.
BTW, I love Laura Linney as well, and I also saw her on stage. She's another talented lady!

 

[Matt Hough]

I saw Blythe in the revival of Follies (the one that wasn't recorded), and while she was the best of the four leads, she just didn't have the deeply acidic sting of Alexis Smith (whom I also saw). Blythe also played with her hair too much in the role.

I think that's the only time I ever saw her on stage. LOVED her in Adam's Rib, and, of course, 1776 where I was first introduced to her.

 

[David Weicker]

I love both Holiday and The Philadelphia Story. I think TPS is a better movie, but my favorite is Holiday (,I think being born on New Year’s Eve May be a factor). One of my top movie quotes of all time is “for the love of Pete... it’s the witch and Dopey!”


As for comparison with the 1930 version - I’ve only seen the abysmal Youtube version. Harding is very good - different from Hepburn - not better or worse. However the chemistry between Grant/Hepburn far, far outshines Harding/Ames. Astor is much better than Nolan, but almost too strong a character. Ayres steals all his scenes over the Broadway original what’s-his-name. And EEH is, well EEH.

 

[roxy1927]

Did anybody have any kind of success in Philadelphia Story outside of Hepburn? Even Funny Girl which was mentioned above continued a long successful Broadway run after Streisand left with Mimi Hines and had a national tour with Barbara Cook. It was the movie that cemented her in the role. Remember she wasn't even a shoo in for the movie. Film exhibitors didn't want her and without signing the multi film contract with Stark there was the real possibility she wouldn't get it. She was loathe to sign it but it was the only thing that would assure her the role on film.
But then Hepburn as she admitted if she had not held the rights to TPS she would not have gotten it despite her enormous success on stage. Louis B had his pick of his movie stars to choose from and somebody like Shearer would have gotten it..

 

[bujaki]

I saw Blythe in the revival of Follies (the one that wasn't recorded), and while she was the best of the four leads, she just didn't have the deeply acidic sting of Alexis Smith (whom I also saw). Blythe also played with her hair too much in the role.

I think that's the only time I ever saw her on stage. LOVED her in Adam's Rib, and, of course, 1776 where I was first introduced to her.

I too saw both productions of Follies that you mention. Blythe also headlined the original production of Pinter's Betrayal, which co-starred Raul Julia and Roy Scheider, and which I also saw. Danner also starred in a BAM revival of The New York Idea. In this one she exhibited superb and sophisticated comic timing in a drawing room comedy from the first decade of the 20th century.

 

[Matt Hough]

I cracked open my Criterion edition of Holiday tonight to enjoy the bonuses and watch (for the first time) the 1930 version. Wow, I know several of you expressed preferences for this earlier version, but not me. Apart from Mary Astor, I don't think any of the performances are superior to those in the 1938 version, and the direction and pacing are so far superior as to be laughable. I doubt I'll ever watch the 1930 version again, but for those who prefer it, I'm glad it's here for you. I'll watch this new transfer of the 1938 version tomorrow.

 

[Matt Hough]

Well, I didn't get around to the 1938 version of Holiday in this package until tonight, but it was worth the wait. It's vastly superior to the iTunes streaming version I bought several months before Holiday was released on Blu-ray disc. All the damage has been repaired, and the image is crisper.

Oh, how I hope Criterion gets Bringing Up Baby!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I finally got around to watching my copy - what a different world it is now compared to January 2020 when I bought it!

Saw both versions, my first time with the 1930. For me, the 1938 is the winner, particularly on the strength of Grant and especially Ayers. The sisters might fare better in the 1930 version, but it’s not as if they’re performed terribly in 1938. There are times when Hepburn seems to be projecting to the balcony, but that’s not unheard of particularly for that era, and I’ve met people in real life like her character that just behave that way naturally, so it’s not that much of a stretch. The chemistry of Johnny and Julia in 1930 might be a little better - it’s always been an article of faith for me in the ‘38 that they’re having a whirlwind romance more than anything they do on the screen. It seems like we get a bit more Horton in ‘38 and that’s not a bad thing.

Both are welcome additions but I’m much more likely to revisit the ‘38.

 

[roxy1927]

I love talented actors in movies who play to the last row of the second balcony.
It's a lost art.