An iconoclastic young man (Cary Grant) who's engaged to a snooty heiress (Doris Nolan) discovers he's really in love with his fianc''e's down-to-earth sister (Katharine Hepburn) in director George Cukor's stylish comedy...
"Holiday" is the delightful pinnacle of the underrated director George Cukor, who throughout the 30s and 40s made a series of smart, sophisticated, complex comedies with undercurrents of sexual and social experimentation. This film celebrates, as so many of Cukor's films do, the adventurous spirit of the iconoclast, here embodied by Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, Cukor's favorite onscreen couple. At the beginning of the film, the working-class Grant is engaged to Hepburn's sister (Doris Nolan), and thus stands to marry into their rich family and lifestyle. But of the family's children, only Nolan accepts their wealth and privilege; Hepburn feels constrained by the society pomp and emptiness that goes along with their status and social class. From the moment Grant first meets Hepburn, it becomes obvious that she is a much better match for his iconoclastic free spirit than the dry, dour Nolan, who fell in love with Grant for his good humor and fun-loving spirit, but winds up looking down on him for the more outre expressions of his bon-vivant persona. He is an aspiring entrepeneur who wants to earn enough money to be free and travel the world with no constraints, but Nolan and her father want him to settle down into a life of business. The film is, consequently, about compromise and the importance of remaining true to oneself, and Cukor beautifully captures the developing rapport between Grant and Hepburn. The film's climax is a deeply moving and amusing New Year's Eve party in which Grant, Hepburn, and the other free spirits gradually retreat from the dull society ball to form their own intimate gathering in an upstairs room, complete with acrobatic feats, a puppet show, and a generous spirit of fun and warmth. This spirit infuses the film as a whole, making it Cukor's most impassioned outcry for the importance of individuality.
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