Flickgrrl

Carrie--

For the life of me, I can't think of one film that included a New Year's Eve sequence. I think you came up with all of them! One quibble: "Bell, Book and Candle" is not set on New Year's Eve. At one point in the film, Kim Novak asks Jimmy Stewart what he thought of the Zodiac (the place where Jack Lemmon plays the bongos) and he replies, "It seemed more like Halloween than Christmas." I think that sequence is set on Christmas Eve. Remember, afterwards Novak, Lemmon and Elsa Lanchester return to Novak's shop to open their gifts.

Hate to argue with the guy who wrote the book on Jack Lemmon, but in my memory the film ends on New Year's Eve, with Lemmon turning out all the streetlamps in Greenwich Village. BB & C lovers, am I right or wrong? Where's Pyewacket when you need her?

Easily my favorite - and not simply because it's one of the few in which New Year's Eve plays a central role in the story - is "Holiday." The scenes featuring Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and Lew Ayres in the room that had once been the latter two characters' childhood playroom are - I can't think of another word - enchanted. They exactly catch that very odd, sometimes unsettling mix of conflicting emotions that December 31 can inspire: optimism, regret, nostalgia, exhileration. Ayres' heartbreaking inability to leave home and Grant's exuberant cartwheel in the final scene serve nicely as the two ends of the spectrum of possible responses to the coming New Year: curling up with a security blanket (or a bottle) versus sallying forth in a spirit of adventure.

"Holiday" is also the best example of what a great screen couple Grant and Hepburn were. I much prefer them to the more famous Tracy/Hepburn pairing, sharing Pauline Kael's view that the latter always conveyed the sense that Tracy needed to cut Hepburn down to size, whereas Grant clearly enjoyed and appreciated her precisely because she was what she was. (Come to think of it, in looking over the length of Grant's career, it's remarkable how well he matched up with so many actresses.)

Carrie--

When Kim "bewitches" Jimmy, it's definitely Christmas Eve. Jimmy was supposed to take Janice Rule to El Morroco, but went to the Zodiac instead, where it felt more like Halloween, as he puts it. Frankly, it's up in the air when the film ends. Could be New Year's Eve, but it seems much later as Kim has changed the theme of her shop and seems to be wearing a summer dress. But, you're right, the final scene has Lemmon and Lancaster walking through Greenwich Village (and they're still wearing winter clothes), with Pyewacket propped on a street lamp. Can anyone out there offer their insight? This is important. (Note to Carrie: I'll be up all night thinking about this! Honest.)

Carrie,

I am a big fan of The Hudsucker Proxy which begins, if memory serves, on New Year's Eve 1958 and is told in flashback.

Wwolfe: You're so right about "Holiday," esp. the scene in the "playroom" where Grant and Hepburn do somersaults and shock Henry Daniell. And you're so right about Grant, who was great with Hepburn (three times?), Irene Dunne (three times?), Roz Russell (only once, in "His Girl Friday," but what a once!), Myrna Loy (twice)), Grace Kelly (once?), Ingrid Bergman (twice?) and Deborah Kerr (three times?). Unlike most actors of his generation, Grant loved women who were as strong as he was, which is why women respond to him so warmly.

Joe: Maybe I'm wrong, but I always remember it being New Year's Eve. Don't lose any sleep over this!

"About a Boy" Hugh Grant finding love in the New Year

"Holiday Inn" Not just New Years, but other holidays as well featured in this musical with Bing Crosby and Fred Astire.

Re "Bell, Book & Candle," I think Joe is right. We just watched it on DVD and Kim Novak bewitches James Stewart on Christmas Eve. I don't know when the end of the film is supposed to take place. There's no mention of any holiday. Novak and Stewart come together, she says she's not a witch anymore, they kiss, The End.

I'm entirely with wwolfe -- with bells on! -- as far as "Holiday" is concerned.

One that hasn't been mentioned, though, which I like, is "Letter To Three Wives."

What I'm thinking about is the Linda Darnell/Paul Douglas sequence, where Darnell tells her mother that she's marrying Paul Douglas and Connie Gilchrist, after having said "If you want me I'll be over at the Callahans playing-", keels over at the word "BINGO!"

The moment in "Bell, Book and Candle" that you describe takes place Christmas Eve, not New Year's Eve. It is shortly after Novak and Lemmon open their Christmas presents with their aunt that she casts her spell on Stewart. I love that moment. I love the movie. Trust me. It takes place on Christmas Eve.

surprised no one mentioned the poseidon adventure, as it's new year's when the boat capsizes. also, new year's evil with roz kelly.

Thanks, BB&C lovers. I sit corrected,

Carrie

What about "The Fabulous Baker Boys"? Love that one - doesn't the trio play a NYE party with the infamous scene of Michelle Pfeiffer atop piano?

I may be the only person who actually enjoys this movie, but let's not forget FOUR ROOMS.

Then there's SHOW BOAT, which has a memorable New Year's Eve sequence near the end of the film, when Cap'n Andy Hawkes happens to wander into the ballroom where Magnolia Ravenall, his daughter, happens to be making her debut because Julie Laverne took a powder on purpose. Very touching.