Review of A Day Off (1968) by Nate D — 19 May 2008

This isn't as deliriously paced or as quirky as other screwball comedies, but it's still completely delightful. Because it is immediately obvious that Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn will fall for one another eventually, the joy in watching "Holiday" comes from the circuitous route taken to get to the inevitable.

Lew Ayres' character, Hepburn's younger brother, cuts through the frothy fun to add a genuine note of darkness and despair. The-ghost-of-Grant-yet-to-pass, Ayres' financial trader with an artistic soul, slipping into apathy and alcoholism because he's been trammelled by materialism, represents Grant's dreamer as compromised by his practical fiancée and prospective father-in-law.

The whole cast is marvellous, but I especially like Henry Daniell and Binnie Barnes as Hepburn's catty cousins. Hepburn is at her loveliest here, less cynical than usual. "I've got all the faith in the world in Johnny.

..If he wants to dream for a while, he can dream for a while. And if he wants to come back and sell peanuts, oh, how I'll believe in those peanuts!".