What is one of the greatest Christmas movies that’s not actually about Christmas? No, not Die Hard, but that’s in the top five. No! Not Gremlins! Gremlins is super about Christmas! The Mogwi was a present for Pete’s sake!
Nope, I’m talking about one of the early non-Christmas Christmas films The Man Who Came to Dinner, a tale of wit and grumpy celebrity. Monty Woolley plays Sheridan Whiteside, a radio personality and writer known for his intellect and biting remarks. Bette Davis is cast in one of her few comedic roles as his secretary Maggie Cutler, one of the only human beings who can put up with him because she gives back all the insults he gives. Sherry (as his close friends call him) is having dinner with a prominent family in a small town as a favor to a friend when he slips on ice and damages his hip. Stuck at the home of what he considers his inferiors, wheelchair-bound Sherry starts to turn the wealthy household upside down. Meanwhile, Maggie starts to live her own life for the first time by dating local newspaper man Bert Jefferson (Richard Travis). The cast also includes Grant Mitchell and Billie Burke as the rich homeowners stuck with Whiteside’s winning personality, Mary Wickes as a frazzled nurse, Ann Sheridan as a diva movie star named Loraine who Maggie despises, Reginald Gardiner as a charming member of the Hollywood set named Beverly (yes, he is a man named Beverly), and Jimmy Durante as Banjo - a Goucho Marx parody.
There is so much I could gush about this film - how Sherry’s friends include Chruchill and Eleanor Roosevelt, the penguins and octopus he receives for Christmas, the murderers and Japanese businessmen he invites to this house that is not his, and the many fantastic insults he gives. The writing in this is brilliant in order to match with the main character’s inspiration - Alexander Woollcott. Look him up. He’s a very interesting historical personality and writer. However, this is a blog about writing so let’s talk about writing.
Since Whiteside is a famous wordsmith, one of the very first things that happens is his doctor presents him with a stack of papers as thick as a cinder block and asks him to read through it. This is, of course, the doctor’s memoirs which Sherry pretends to be interested in so the doctor will do as he asks. The bigger writer who presents himself to Sherry is Bert. He is willing to enter a battle of wits in order to get the interview he needs for his paper. Mostly this comes down to Sherry tricking him out of money here and there. When Bert starts dating Maggie, he lets her read a play he’s been working on. He, himself, does not bring the play to Sherry’s attention, but Maggie does as the same time as announcing that she’s quitting in order to peruse a life with Bert.
The play is described as being quite good, however, Sherry is terrified of change and does not want Maggie to quit. Therefore, he uses this good work of writing in order to destroy all of her hopes. Yep, this is a comedy. I won’t give the whole thing away and notice that I’m not using any quotes from the film this time because you should really experience it for yourself. I will say that Hollywood caricatures who come in and out of the story provide ample shenanigans to fix everything. The point I am trying to make is that Bert’s play is of a standard that Sherry is able to use it in order to create absolute chaos.
And isn’t that the true spirit of the holiday season - chaos.
