Holiday Affair Synopsis: Just before Christmas, department store clerk Steve Mason meets big spending customer Connie Ennis, who’s actually a comparison shopper sent by another store. Steve lets her go, which gets him fired. They spend the afternoon together, which doesn’t sit well with Connie’s steady suitor, Carl, when he finds out, but delights her young son Timmy, who quickly takes to Steve.
Connie Ennis (Janet Leigh) is a young widow working as a comparison shopper in New York City while raising her son, Timmy. During one of her shopping assignments, she meets Steve Mason (Robert Mitchum), a laid-back toy salesman who catches on to her ruse but lets her go instead of reporting her to his boss. This interaction leads to Steve’s firing, but also sparks an attraction between Steve and Connie. Unfortunately, Connie seems torn between Steve and Carl (Wendell Corey), a stable attorney who is eager to marry.
I enjoyed Holiday Affair! I had never seen it before now, and I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t even realize Janet Leigh played Connie until the end. The embarrassment comes from not recognizing her, only a few days after I had just watched her in Psycho: two very different movies, and two very different roles. But she gave a lovely performance as Connie, bringing sweetness and poise to the role. Her repertoire with her son Timmy (Gordon Gebert) is the heart of the film. They’re a small family struggling after the death of Connie’s husband, but they’ve got each other’s backs. Plus, Gebert as Timmy is ador-a-ble!
Robert Mitchum plays against type as Steve, a free-spirited, kind-hearted drifter. He brings confidence and easy charm to the part, grounding the film’s sentimentality with his presence. Together, Leigh and Mitchum share a pleasant kind of chemistry, so it’s easy to root for Steve over the stable but bland Carl.
Holiday Affair plays up the love triangle, but it feels more like a necessary plot device than a serious obstacle for Connie. There’s nothing wrong with Carl, but there’s nothing appealing about him either, beyond the fact that he seems to be financially stable. Yawn! Additionally, the film’s pacing is somewhat sluggish, and at times, it feels as though Holiday Affair struggles with deciding whether it wants to be a melodrama or a screwball comedy. It doesn’t commit to either. A few of the emotional beats also come across as contrived, but the actors are so likable that it’s easy enough to overlook them.
Ultimately, Holiday Affair is a likable enough romance. Janet Leigh is luminous, and Robert Mitchum is a calming presence, but it’s definitely more stocking stuffer than showpiece. Still… it’s worth unwrapping at least once!
Watched: 11/03/2025
Notable Song: Auld Lang Syne
