If there is a Christmas movie made after roughly 1995, chances are it is one of those romantic comedies I have seen and discussed so often this Christmas season.  As I have also pointed out, this causes me to go searching for variety.  One untapped source for different cinematic themes for holiday material are classic movies.  When it comes to the Yuletide, the older the better for me.  I sometimes jokingly say that if a carol was recorded after 1970, it does not count.  These were my motivations for searching for something nostalgic.  The words “Christmas 1947” randomly leapt to the fore in my thoughts, and this brought me Christmas Eve (1947).  You would think others have had this title, but outside of one set to be released next year, I could not find any.  I am sure I will get to it then, but in the meantime, I am here to tell you about this . . . um, story?

It is difficult to call Christmas Eve a story when it is really three.  Still, it starts with one person, and that is the aged and wealthy Aunt Mathilda Reed (Ann Harding).  She is aunt to Phillip Hastings (Reginald Denny), a shady businessman who is trying to get her declared incapable of handling her estate.  He thinks he is the one best suited to handle her money because of the outrageous way in which she is spending it.  So far, this sounds like the set-up for a kind of thriller, though not very Christmas-y.  It is also early on that the film goes completely off the rails.  One day, Phillip brings to Aunt Mathilda’s home a psychiatrist, Dr. Doremus (Carl Harbord), and Judge Alston (Clarence Kolb), the last of these to adjudicate the mental health findings.  Why is she suspected of being insane?  Put simply, she is accused of being too charitable, giving out large sums of money to help those less fortunate.  She defends her generosity by talking about being a mother, something Phillip is quick to downplay, saying her adopted sons barely know her.  Nonetheless, Aunt Mathilda prevails in getting everyone to agree to return on the title day and see her children come to her in her hour of need.  To help signal to them, the newspapers run stories about her troubles.  The initial one to hear about this is New York playboy Michael Brooks (George Brent).  He is engaged to Harriet Rhodes (Molly Lamont), but the first to greet him is his ex-girlfriend, Ann Nelson (Joan Blondell).  Harriet gets to Michael’s hotel room with Ann present, and the latter shoos the former away with her charms.  This is only the beginning of his problems.  Phillip arrives to remind Michael of a number of bad checks, but it is good news to Ann, who is happy that Michael is broke like her.  What Michael is more concerned about is the nature of Phillip’s news, particularly how the cousin had paid for all the bounced notes.  Michael believes Phillip had done it to make the son look bad, thus chasing Michael out of town so he cannot be present to help Aunt Mathilda.  This suspicion is seemingly confirmed when Michael goes to Phillip’s office and gets a further $10,000 out of his cousin.  Ann thinks it a low move and departs, and we move on to son number two, Mario Torio (George Raft).  He is in South America, a place he fled to when he had been arrested for covering for Phillip’s questionable business practices.  While there, he had become involved with Claire (Virginia Field), a wealthy heiress.  He is about to learn more about her from Agent Joe Bland (John Litel) of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).  Agent Bland has tracked Mario to Argentina where the wayward son has opened a casino.  Further, Agent Bland gives two more bits of information: first, Claire’s fortune had come from her involvement with Gustav Reichman (Constantin Shayne), a Nazi who had become rich during World War II; secondly, Aunt Mathilda is looking for Mario.  Since Mario cannot yet be extradited, Agent Bland leaves.  Then, against his advisors’ wishes, Mario arranges to go back to the United States to help Aunt Mathilda.  Before going, he tries to find Claire, who disappeared when her name was mentioned by Agent Bland.  Instead, Mario is captured by Gustav’s goons, who attempt to beat the location of the Nazi riches out of the casino owner.  Mario’s death is prevented by Claire, who appears to say that she had left him for his own good.  Yet, before he is killed, he breaks free and kills Gustav, who murders Claire in the process.  Sordid, no?  It gets crazier.  The final son is the cowboy Jonathan “Johnny” (Randolph Scott), who Aunt Mathilda discovers by looking at film reels of rodeos.  He immediately travels to New York, but is distracted in the train station by Jean Bradford (Dolores Moran).  She charms him into accompanying her to a bogus adoption agency, telling him to pose as her husband so they can foster a child.  Anyone else might think this suspicious sounding, but Johnny is smitten with Jean and goes along with it.  Indeed, so eager is he to help that he brandishes his six-shooter at the orphanage “employee,” Dr. Bunyan (Douglass Dumbrille), who takes Johnny to fill out the necessary paperwork.  Before this can happen, Dr. Bunyan knocks Johnny on the head, rendering the cowboy unconscious.  As for Jean, it turns out she had been working to uncover an illicit adoption ring, and had been overpowered before she could complete her call to the police.  Upon awakening, Johnny decides to escape before the cops get there, but takes the three babies with him because he does not want to abandon them.  From here, to Phillip’s annoyance and Judge Alston’s surprise, Aunt Mathilda’s three sons begin arriving on the appointed day.  Phillip is exposed for being the real crook, and they all sit down to have a family meal with their new fiancées.

In case you are wondering why I said “new fiancées” at the end of my synopsis for Christmas Eve, that is because Ann forgives Michael when Aunt Mathilda does, leading to the announcement of the engagement; and Jean decides in the hour or so that she knows Johnny that he is husband material.  As for Mario, Agent Bland follows the son to Aunt Mathilda, but allows Mario to have his family time before going to Washington, DC.  It is that family time that is supposed to be what Christmas is about, at least according to all the traditions.  To be less of a curmudgeon, I will allow that this notion does have some connection to the birth of Jesus.  One of the things we celebrate during the holidays, particularly those of us who call ourselves Catholic, is the Holy Family.  You can see them in any Nativity scene, Mary and Joseph gathered around the reason for the season, the infant Messiah.  He is God’s gift to the world, and much of the Christian duty is about emulating that Him through our own generosity.  This brings me to arguably the most puzzling aspect of this film: the fact that Aunt Mathilda’s philanthropy would be considered a sign of insanity.  Then again, there are those among us that have been called crazy for performing some grand gesture of kindness.  It is something I have experienced from family and friend alike.  Part of why people react negatively to such behavior is jealousy.  They are not generous themselves, though perhaps they want to be.  Hence, when they see someone else doing good, it reminds them that they are not yet at that point in their lives.  God calls us to move past such excuses and to emulate Him, though we should also give grace to those who judge us harshly.  This is what Aunt Mathilda does, even if Faith is not a part of this odd tale.

I am not comfortable with calling Christmas Eve an “odd tale” given the title.  It is just that I could not get over some of the bizarre moments in the film.  As a historian, the fake adoption racket was something I have never come across in my studies, and it flummoxed me.  Further, I am not sure this one qualifies as a Christmas movie.  As such, it is completely skippable.