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)VOD (1)
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)
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