The best films of Cary Grant: #17 "Holiday" (1938)

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“Holiday” is now considered a 1930s romantic comedy classic but was a box office failure helping chase Katharine Hepburn out of Hollywood with the label “box office poison.” Based on Philip Barry’s 1928 Broadway play, “Holiday” had been previously filmed in 1930 starring the forgotten Ann Harding who was a big star in her day. Columbia wanted wanted to reunite Grant with Irene Dunne following the success of their “The Awful Truth.” Famed director George Cukor insisted on his friend Hepburn who had understudied the part for two years on Broadway. Johnny Case (Grant) has worked hard from humble beginnings and decides to take time off from working to explore the world. He becomes engaged to wealthy socialite Julia whose father starts pressuring Johnny to join the family firm. Julia’s older free spirited sister Linda (Hepburn) falls for Johnny but keeps her feelings hidden out of sisterly loyalty. As in all romcoms, the happy ending is inevitable. Why audiences shunned “Holiday” is a mystery. The film is well made with a sharp script guided by Cukor who was a master of this kind of material. Grant and Hepburn had chemistry having made four pictures together. Hepburn excelled at snapping off witty dialogue. Grant is all charm as a regular guy oblivious to his magnetic appeal to women.