Cita en Nochebuena

Those who have seen "The Sons of Katie Elder" and the much more recent "Four Brothers" may sense some surface resemblance to this forgotten holiday movie. An eccentric old heiress (Ann Harding) in trouble needs her long-lost sons to come to her rescue by Christmas Eve before her nephew Philip (Reginald Denny) takes control of her fortune. In this case, her three sons were adopted as infants and left as soon as they could make their own way in order not to sponge off a kindly lady who gave them everything.

We first meet Michael (George Brent), a spendthrift playboy whose debt puts him at Philip's mercy. Mario (George Raft) is an escaped con now running a night club in South America who falls into the clutches of an escaped Nazi. Jonathan (Randolph Scott) is a rodeo cowboy barely scraping by out west who has a strange experience at a baby mill. While on the surface each is a specific stereotype, as soon as they learn of their adoptive mother's predicament - she savvily holds a press conference - all priorities fall in line. A certain nobility despite their failings is a reaction that bonds them as a real family.

Brent is bland as usual playing bland comedy with Joan Blondell clinging on to spice things up. As expected, a slimmed down Raft gets some romance, some fighting and some tragedy. Scott has to deal with that kind of "cowboy talk" that only exists in movies, where everything is a ranch metaphor, but he's charming. Harding (actually younger than all of her "sons") stretches to play double her age, and comes across just fine. Denny is variously a rat and a skunk, but he gets his. Wonderful and very busy character actor John Litel is the FBI agent after Raft. Back in '40, he played an unfortunate truck driver in Raft's "They Drive By Night" and years later was coincidentally in "The Sons of Katie Elder." "Christmas Eve" has no big emotional kick and little holiday sentimentality, but there is genuine family affection. It is not a special film, the story lines somehow both stereotypical and nonsensical. It can be stodgy and it's easy to see why it's little remembered. Clearly everyone in it was capable of better, yet there are satisfying moments.

Enjoyed seeing this film which has a Christmas theme and concerns three adopted men who have gone in different places in the world after being adopted by their Aunt Matilda Reed, (Ann Harding). George Raft, (Mario Torio) had a background of serving time in prison and escaping into a foreign county. The second adopted son is George Brent,(Michael Brooks) who is a con-artist and the third son is Randolph Scott, (Johnny) who is an alcoholic and is a sort of burned out cowboy from the West. Their Aunt Matilda wants to locate these adopted sons and have them at her house on Christmas eve. The reason she wants to bring the family together is she is fearful her nephew is trying to cheat her out of her fortune, as she is very rich. This story goes into great detail about each of her sons which is very interesting with plenty of comedy, drama and even three babies get involved. Cute Film.

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE FILM. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONEST!

Matilda Reid (Ann Harding) is in danger of being declared senile at the urging of her nephew, Phillip (Reginald Denny). To keep him from controlling her estate, Matilda must find her three adopted sons, who left home long ago. One of them, Michael (George Brent), lives in New York, where he's incurred a $75,000 debt. Another, fugitive Mario (George Raft), is hiding in South America. The last, Jonathan (Randolph Scott), is a small-time cowboy. All three must come home to save Matilda's fortune.

Now this film is nice change of pace from "HALLMARK MOVIES". The cast brings the most out of a screenplay that is most confusing. I have to admit that I watch this in over 3 evenings so I will have to re- watch it again. The film is enjoyable. I will watch it again.

"Christmas Eve" had an original idea for a holiday film. It has some far out subplots that would need a great screenplay to make it work. But unfortunately, the screenplay is quite weak. So, instead of a solid plot, this film is four short stories loosely pieced together. Very rich Aunt Matilda (Ann Harding made up as an octogenarian) is about to lose control of her estate to a conniving nephew, Phillip Hastings (played by Reginald Denny). She asks Dr. Bunyan (played by Douglass Dumbrille) and Judge Alston (played by Clarence Kolb) to hold off on any decision about her eccentricity and ability to manage her affairs. She asks them to be sure to come to her house on Christmas Eve, where they will meet her three "sons."

The three were orphans whom she took in and raised. None of them would sponge off her, so they set out on their own after school. There's no effort to have these guys any younger, so they all look to be their actual ages – around 45. Aunt Matilda hasn't heard from a single one of them for years, but now she knows they'll come to her rescue if they know she needs their help. From there, the movie segues into sub-plots with each of the three "sons." In between each one, we go back to Aunt Matilda and her private eye's report on the previous son.

The first is Michael (played by George Brent), with his girlfriend, Ann Nelson (played by Joan Blondell). The next is Mario Torio (played by George Raft), and the last is Johnny (played by Randolph Scott). Some other supporting cast contribute – Virginia Field plays Claire, Dennis Hoey plays Williams the butler, Dolores Moran plays Jean Bradford, John Litel plays an FBI agent, and Joe Sawyer plays Gimlet, a private detective.

The three sons' subplots are a little wacky in themselves. They involve dodging the FBI, a sweetheart who was a darling of a top Nazi and who ran off with his millions, and an undercover social welfare agent trying to unearth a black market for adoption of kidnapped babies.

About the only reason to watch this film is to see the large cast of one- time big name actors along with many other longtime supporting actors. There isn't much of a Christmas theme beyond the notion that everything is supposed to come together on Christmas Eve. As it turns out, Aunt Matilda was a shrewd old cookie who knew more than anyone suspected. But, it's hard to imagine why none of her three adopted sons wouldn't at least have sent her a Christmas card or note once in a while over so many years.

There's nothing special about this film, and none of the performers shine. It's certainly not something to recommend for the holidays.

This film is absolutely charming. It is fun, keeps you in a bit of suspense and the acting is wonderful. The story is really three in one. Three adopted son's must come home before midnight on Christmas Eve in order to save their mother's home. George Raft is spectacular as the gangster/misfit son and Ann Harding does a great job as the aged mother although that is one roll that may have been played better by someone who was actually elderly. Harding was only in her forties and at times her performance was a bit flawed. Randolph Scott is perfect in his cowpoke roll and Brent is perfect as the playboy. Add in Joan Blondell and Virginia Field and the cast is really complete. The chemistry and sparks between Scott and Field's is so cute. Blondell does what she does best as the blond bombshell. The cast overall is superb and you have the joy of watching three stories unfold. This movie is wonderful to watch any time of the year but especially at Christmas. The true meaning of Christmas is shared in that family is more important than self.