Posted on 12/24/2022 4:16:39 PM PST by Twotone
On the surface Holiday Affair (1949) is a standard Christmas-in-the-big-city movie – a less mawkish Miracle on 34th Street with touches of His Girl Friday, Holiday, Bachelor Mother and Remember the Night. Making the picture was anything but regular, from the legal troubles of the leading man to the sexual harassment of his co-star by the famously eccentric and lecherous owner of the studio.
Holiday Affair was the second film Robert Mitchum made after he was released from a stint at Wayside, a prison farm in Castaic, California where he was sentenced to forty-three days after being arrested for marijuana possession during a 1948 police raid on a Hollywood party. The raid was a setup – a police sting for which Mitchum and actress Lila Leeds hadn't been tipped off. It could have been the end of Mitchum's career except for Howard Hughes, the millionaire aviator and owner of RKO, the studio where Mitchum was under contract. He thought it would be great publicity, and immediately re-teamed Mitchum with Jane Greer, his co-star from Out of the Past (1947), in Don Siegel's The Big Steal, sending Mitchum directly to Siegel's set in Mexico upon his release from Wayside.
(Mitchum's conviction would be overturned in 1951, but the publicity killed Lila Leeds' career nearly dead; it had barely begun when she was caught up in the sting, and after serving sixty days in jail made just three more pictures, one of which was She Shoulda Said No! (1949), a quickie exploitation film in the vein of Reefer Madness. Her life is actually a fascinating story, and deserves its own movie.)
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Robert Mitchum, The King of Cool.
Anyone know how Mark is doing?
Steve Mcqueen?
King of cool? No. But like the guy’s work.
Miracle on 34th Street is not mawkish.
I just watched that tonight. Loved it, it made me smile!
[[The raid was a setup – a police sting for which Mitchum and actress Lila Leeds hadn’t been tipped off.]]
How is the police not tipping them off a ‘setup’?
[[It could have been the end of Mitchum’s career]]
Mitchum was hte hottest thing going- unlikely it owudl have endede his career- There were plenty of worse characters than he-
I know. I watched it again last night for the Umpteenth time. Always enjoy it .
Steyn did his weekly Club Q&A on Friday. His voice sounded good & he appeared to be in good humor. He’s still in France apparently, so they fear travel might be hard on him. So far, so good. It would be terrible to lose him.
Walter Williams passed in 2021 or 2022 besides Rush in 2019. Far from being a divisive force, Rush restrained peoples anger, and brought humor. As did Professor emeritus W.W. and Mark Steyn does today.
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