Holiday (1938)

I honestly had no idea at all that this 1938 Holiday was a remake of the 1930 Holiday, written by Philip Barry and Horace Jackson and directed by Edward H. Griffith. But it's the same movie, just 8 years later. It even has Edward Everett Horton in the same role he played in the original! The script is a little better this time, and I think it resonates more with contemporary politics. And this one, of course, has Cary Grant, who is much much much funnier than Robert Ames. In fact, the whole movie is funnier than the 1930 version, especially Lew Ayres, who plays the brother of the family. He's delightful! But... the 1930 version has Mary Astor where the 1938 version has Doris Nolan (who?), and the original has that brilliant performance by Ann Harding. Katherine Hepburn is fine in that role in 1938, but it is impossible to do what Ann Harding does in the original. Anyway, this is fun. But it doesn't have Ann Harding and I missed her the entire time.

I watched this classic on the Criterion Channel as part of their series of Cary Grant's comedy turns.