On This Day...Holiday (1938)

Holiday was Cary Grant's 31st film and was released in 1938.  The third of four movies pairing Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. The other three are Sylvia Scarlett (1935), Bringing Up Baby (1938), and The Philadelphia Story (1940). George Cukor directed all of the films except Bringing Up Baby, which was directed by Howard Hawks.

For more pictures and information see my original post in 2020.

Summary:

Free-thinking Johnny Case (Cary Grant) finds himself betrothed to a millionaire's daughter. When her family, with the exception of black-sheep Linda (Katharine Hepburn) and drunken Ned (Lew Ayres), want Johnny to settle down to big business, he rebels, wishing instead to spend the early years of his life on "holiday."

 With the help of his friends Nick (Edward Everett Horton) and Susan Potter (Jean Dixon), he makes up his mind as to which is the better course, and the better mate.

Cast:

 Katharine Hepburn ... Linda Seton
 Cary Grant ... Johnny Case
 Doris Nolan ... Julia Seton
 Lew Ayres ... Ned Seton
 Edward Everett Horton ... Nick Potter
 Henry Kolker ... Edward Seton
 Binnie Barnes ... Laura Cram
 Jean Dixon ... Susan Potter
 Henry Daniell ... Seton Cram

Did You Know?

Edward Everett Horton repeats the role of Nick Potter, which he also played in the previous version of the film, Holiday (1930).

In the original play, Nick and Susan Potter are wealthy socialites. Due to the depression, the plot was altered so that Johnny, who represented "the common man," would have more ordinary, down to earth friends

Cary Grant performed his own tumbling stunts. Before becoming an actor, he was part of an acrobatic troupe in vaudeville.

Scenes were filmed in Bishop, California to depict Lake Placid, New York that were intended to be the beginning of the picture. The idea was to "open up" the stage play by utilizing exteriors. However, when George Cukor saw the footage, he cut it. Only a few stills, used for theater lobby cards, survive.

(see below: Lobby Cards)

In the poster art and some surviving stills, Hepburn wears a light-colored straw hat with her final costume in the film. This hat never appears in the film and must have been used only for photos before the film's release before being replaced with the wide-brimmed dark felt hat that is actually in the film.
(see below :Lobby Cards)

Quotes:

Johnny Case: [Seeing stuffed giraffe] Oh, did she love that too?
Linda Seton: [Hugging the toy] Now don't you a word about Leopold. He's very sensitive.
Johnny Case: Yours.
Linda Seton: Looks like me.
[turning its head in profile]

Johnny Case: When I find myself in a position like this, I ask myself, what would General Motors do? And then I do the opposite!

Johnny Case: I don't call what I've been doing living.
Linda Seton: And what do you recommend for yourself, doctor?
Johnny Case: A holiday.
Linda Seton: For how long?
Johnny Case: As long as I need.
Linda Seton: You mean just to play?
Johnny Case: No. I've been working since I was 10. I want to find out why I'm working. It can't just be to pay bills and pile up more money. Even if you do, the government's going to take most of it.
Linda Seton: But what is the answer?
Johnny Case: I don't know. That's what I intend to find out. The world's changing out there. There are a lot of new, exciting ideas running around. Some may be right and some may be cockeyed but they're affecting all our lives. I want to know how I stand, where I fit in the picture, what it's all gonna mean to me. I can't find that out sitting behind some desk in an office, so as soon as I get enough money together, I'm going to knock off for a while.

Lobby Cards:

Directed by George Cukor.

Distributed by Columbia pictures.

Running time: 94 minutes.

Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio 36.