Christmas in July (1940)

Jimmy (Dick Powell), convinced he has good ideas, submits a slogan in a contest and waits for the results. The judges can’t reach a decision, so Jimmy’s co-workers send him a prank telegram. The coffee company, thinking the telegram is real, pay him the $25,000. Comedic mayhem ensues.

Jimmy doesn’t deposit the check, but instead shows people so that they let him have stuff on faith. This is reminiscent of the Mark Twain story “The Million Pound Bank Note”. Here, however, Jimmy has no reason to believe he isn’t the authentic winner. And let’s consider for a moment how insane a $25,000 prize is. Adjusted for inflation, it would be over a half million dollars. That’s one hell of a contest. Preston Sturges only got $6000 for the script.

The company holding the contest was Maxford House Coffee who used the slogan “Grand to the Last Gulp”. Sounds familiar. It was a less litigious time. Old friend William Demarest returns, again with a silly name.

Not a Christmas movie but it has a Christmas title. I thought it an ironic way to kick off the holiday season. I may continue the irony. Christmas in July is another witty comedy from Preston Sturges. He only directed thirteen features and this is my sixth. I should see the rest. AMRU 3.5.