Directed by:
Preston SturgesCinematography:
Victor MilnerCast:
Dick Powell, Ellen Drew, Raymond Walburn, William Demarest, Ernest Truex, Franklin Pangborn, Rod Cameron, Adrian Morris, Harry Rosenthal, Ferike Boros (more)Plots(1)
In Preston Sturges' second film, CHRISTMAS IN JULY, a practical joke propels a hard-working New York couple into a financial and ideological fiasco that challenges the concepts of talent, destiny, and the value of validation. The simple yet soon-to-be-complicated plot sees two lovers sitting on the roof on a hot New York City night, arguing about money. The beautiful girl, Betty (Ellen Drew), attempts to sell her grumpy and hardscrabble fiancé Jimmy (Dick Powell) on the merits of a one-room apartment, when all the while he is desperately attempting to hear the radio, which promises to announce the $25,000 winner of a slogan contest for a local coffee company. The next day when a trio of prankster coworkers forge a telegraph telling him that he has won, Jimmy and Betty are swept into a changed world, one in which long-suffering struggles are validated and self-doubts are dispelled. Jimmy finds himself respected by his boss, placated by his peers, and the landscape of New York City is transformed from an obstacle course to a land of opportunity, only to be thrust back into bleak reality when the hoax is revealed. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Dick Powell
USA
Best movies:
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
The Tall Target (1951)
Ellen Drew
USA
Best movies:
If I Were King (1938)
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
Raymond Walburn
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
State of the Union (1948)
William Demarest
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
The Mountain (1956)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
Ernest Truex
USA
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
It's a Wonderful World (1939)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Franklin Pangborn
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Carefree (1938)
Stage Door (1937)
Rod Cameron
Canada
Best movies:
North West Mounted Police (1940)
Christmas in July (1940)
Commandos Strike at Dawn (1942)
Adrian Morris
USA
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
If I Were King (1938)
Harry Rosenthal
USA
Best movies:
Birth of the Blues (1941)
The Big Clock (1948)
The Lady Eve (1941)
Ferike Boros
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
The Talk of the Town (1942)
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
Black Fury (1935)
Preston Sturges
USA
Best movies:
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Christmas in July (1940)
Paris Holiday (1958)
Robert Warwick
USA
Best movies:
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
The Power and the Glory (1933)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
Frank Mills
USA
Best movies:
Miracle of Fatima (1952)
Limelight (1952)
Fury (1936)
Al Bridge
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Lucille Ward
USA
Best movies:
It Started with Eve (1941)
After the Thin Man (1936)
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Sam Ash
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Jimmy Conlin
USA
Best movies:
Edison, the Man (1940)
Captains Courageous (1937)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Harry Hayden
Canada
Best movies:
Fury (1936)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Arthur Hoyt
USA
Best movies:
Fury (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Larry Steers
USA
Best movies:
The Gold Rush (1925)
Love Crazy (1941)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)