Christmas Eve

In a reworking of the plot of Beau Geste, imagine if you will the Geste brothers leaving the Foreign Legion and coming home to save their the lady who raised them as wards from the depredations of her blood nephew and you've got Christmas Eve. Ann Harding took in three orphans and they all went out on their own and haven't really kept in touch with Harding. They've all chosen three different roads of life and they haven't made a great success in any way.

Which leads us into three different stories as each foster son hears about what Harding is going through and her public call for help. The strongest of the stories is Raft's who is leading a Lucky Luciano like exile in South America where he owns a club, has his hands in the local rackets, but can't return to the USA. Of course he gets back as do the others, but the story is in the how.

George Brent is a part time playboy, part time conman who is ready to marry a bankroll in Molly Lamont to the chagrin of longtime girl friend Joan Blondell. The weakest story and silliest is Randolph Scott's who is a rodeo cowboy who while on the way home gets himself involved with Dolores Moran who is a reporter trying to break up a baby adoption racket run by Douglass Dumbrille.

Reginald Denny is the nephew and that's another weakness in the plot. He's actually shown at first to be sincerely concerned about his aunt and truth be told Harding's getting a bit dotty. In the end he's revealed rather suddenly to be not at all as he seems, but it comes from out of nowhere, a bad script weakness.

Despite glaring plot weaknesses, Christmas Eve does survive on its own special brand of charm and I've seen worse during the Holiday season.

Enjoyed seeing this film which has a Christmas theme and concerns three adopted men who have gone in different places in the world after being adopted by their Aunt Matilda Reed, (Ann Harding). George Raft, (Mario Torio) had a background of serving time in prison and escaping into a foreign county. The second adopted son is George Brent,(Michael Brooks) who is a con-artist and the third son is Randolph Scott, (Johnny) who is an alcoholic and is a sort of burned out cowboy from the West. Their Aunt Matilda wants to locate these adopted sons and have them at her house on Christmas eve. The reason she wants to bring the family together is she is fearful her nephew is trying to cheat her out of her fortune, as she is very rich. This story goes into great detail about each of her sons which is very interesting with plenty of comedy, drama and even three babies get involved. Cute Film.

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE FILM. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONEST!

Matilda Reid (Ann Harding) is in danger of being declared senile at the urging of her nephew, Phillip (Reginald Denny). To keep him from controlling her estate, Matilda must find her three adopted sons, who left home long ago. One of them, Michael (George Brent), lives in New York, where he's incurred a $75,000 debt. Another, fugitive Mario (George Raft), is hiding in South America. The last, Jonathan (Randolph Scott), is a small-time cowboy. All three must come home to save Matilda's fortune.

Now this film is nice change of pace from "HALLMARK MOVIES". The cast brings the most out of a screenplay that is most confusing. I have to admit that I watch this in over 3 evenings so I will have to re- watch it again. The film is enjoyable. I will watch it again.

"Christmas Eve" had an original idea for a holiday film. It has some far out subplots that would need a great screenplay to make it work. But unfortunately, the screenplay is quite weak. So, instead of a solid plot, this film is four short stories loosely pieced together. Very rich Aunt Matilda (Ann Harding made up as an octogenarian) is about to lose control of her estate to a conniving nephew, Phillip Hastings (played by Reginald Denny). She asks Dr. Bunyan (played by Douglass Dumbrille) and Judge Alston (played by Clarence Kolb) to hold off on any decision about her eccentricity and ability to manage her affairs. She asks them to be sure to come to her house on Christmas Eve, where they will meet her three "sons."

The three were orphans whom she took in and raised. None of them would sponge off her, so they set out on their own after school. There's no effort to have these guys any younger, so they all look to be their actual ages – around 45. Aunt Matilda hasn't heard from a single one of them for years, but now she knows they'll come to her rescue if they know she needs their help. From there, the movie segues into sub-plots with each of the three "sons." In between each one, we go back to Aunt Matilda and her private eye's report on the previous son.

The first is Michael (played by George Brent), with his girlfriend, Ann Nelson (played by Joan Blondell). The next is Mario Torio (played by George Raft), and the last is Johnny (played by Randolph Scott). Some other supporting cast contribute – Virginia Field plays Claire, Dennis Hoey plays Williams the butler, Dolores Moran plays Jean Bradford, John Litel plays an FBI agent, and Joe Sawyer plays Gimlet, a private detective.

The three sons' subplots are a little wacky in themselves. They involve dodging the FBI, a sweetheart who was a darling of a top Nazi and who ran off with his millions, and an undercover social welfare agent trying to unearth a black market for adoption of kidnapped babies.

About the only reason to watch this film is to see the large cast of one- time big name actors along with many other longtime supporting actors. There isn't much of a Christmas theme beyond the notion that everything is supposed to come together on Christmas Eve. As it turns out, Aunt Matilda was a shrewd old cookie who knew more than anyone suspected. But, it's hard to imagine why none of her three adopted sons wouldn't at least have sent her a Christmas card or note once in a while over so many years.

There's nothing special about this film, and none of the performers shine. It's certainly not something to recommend for the holidays.

Ann Harding plays an old spinster whose fortune is about to be taken over by her nephew (Reginald Denny) in "Christmas Eve," a 1947 film also starring George Raft, George Brent, Randolph Scott, and Joan Blondell.

Harding is Matilda Reed, a very wealthy old woman living in a New York mansion. Her nephew is about to have her committed and take over her fortune, but before the Judge can take action, Matilda begs him to stop by on Christmas Eve to meet her three sons, assuring him that they will stand by her.

These were three children she adopted as babies. Even though she has no idea where any of them are, she is certain they will be there as soon as she makes the fact that she needs help public.

The boys took off when they reached adulthood to make their own way and not take advantage of her.

We then see where they are now and what they're doing, which in a way is like three separate movies, particularly the Raft section, which is way out there. The first son is Michael (Brent), who is bouncing bad checks but engaged to a very wealthy woman. However, Blondell is in love with him and manages by her very presence to drive the fiancé away.

The next brother is Mario (Raft) living in Argentina, on the lam from a bad deal in Washington, D. C. He can't return to the states. His girlfriend has $10 million given to her to hold by her escaped Nazi boyfriend, and Mario finds himself in the middle of the situation trying to get his money back.

The third brother is Johnny (Scott), a rodeo rider drafted by a woman (Delores Moran, who wound up marrying the producer of this film) who needs a husband while she undertakes an investigation of a baby adoption racket.

An episodic film in the extreme which doesn't hold together despite a charming cast and some fun dialogue. It could have been a much sweeter and funnier film, but the script was weak.

"Christmas Eve" is far from horrible, has some good parts, but in the end is disappointing.