Melvyn Douglas was a marvelous actor who somehow never quite made it to the top ranks on acting....but he was terrific in just about everything he did...even crap like "And So They Were Married". He gives it his best and is quite nice in the film but the terribly flawed and clichéd story is beyond anyone's ability to fix!
When the film begins, the audience soon realizes that Stephen (Douglas) and Edith (Mary Astor) will fall in love. Why? Because they hate each other and realistically they haven't a prayer of falling in love. But, as the movie is filled with clichés, they soon find themselves in love at the mountain resort they are both visiting with their respective children. Joel has brought his son to spend Christmas there, as he's a widower. And, Edith has brought her daughter and she recently got divorced. The romance is working just fine for a few days, as the resort is snowed in and the two kids are stuck in town. But once they arrive, the brats decide they don't like each other and if their parents marry, life will be awful...so even though they hate each other, they agree to work together to make their parents miserable. This is a sad excuse for a plot, as it's so selfish and nasty...and some of their behaviors (such destroying the Christmas tree and many of the presents of the other hotel guests) isn't funny...it's just cruel. This cruelness definitely was a bad decision in the film....and it's sad because although they are hateful, the two young actors playing the kids actually did a great job with what they were given. It could have been a bit like "The Parent Trap" but was sunk due to selfishness, too many clichés and a few characters who were more caricatures than real, believable people.
When the film begins, the audience soon realizes that Stephen (Douglas) and Edith (Mary Astor) will fall in love. Why? Because they hate each other and realistically they haven't a prayer of falling in love. But, as the movie is filled with clichés, they soon find themselves in love at the mountain resort they are both visiting with their respective children. Joel has brought his son to spend Christmas there, as he's a widower. And, Edith has brought her daughter and she recently got divorced. The romance is working just fine for a few days, as the resort is snowed in and the two kids are stuck in town. But once they arrive, the brats decide they don't like each other and if their parents marry, life will be awful...so even though they hate each other, they agree to work together to make their parents miserable. This is a sad excuse for a plot, as it's so selfish and nasty...and some of their behaviors (such destroying the Christmas tree and many of the presents of the other hotel guests) isn't funny...it's just cruel. This cruelness definitely was a bad decision in the film....and it's sad because although they are hateful, the two young actors playing the kids actually did a great job with what they were given. It could have been a bit like "The Parent Trap" but was sunk due to selfishness, too many clichés and a few characters who were more caricatures than real, believable people.