Released in 1940 by Paramount Pictures, the Hollywood movie “Christmas in July,” featured Dick Powell and Ellen Drew in the leading roles. The film was classified as a “screwball comedy,” which was a popular sub-genre during the Depression era.
Movies in this category were noted for their “lunacy, craziness, eccentricity and ridiculousness, combining farce, slapstick and witty dialogue. They typically were light-hearted and frothy.” The film “Christmas in July,” written and directed by Preston Sturges, touches all those bases, according to film critic Emily Kubincanek.
“There’s a sincerity to ‘Christmas in July’ that is hard to do with screwball comedy, but Sturges pulls it off beautifully,” she said. “It has everything that audiences love, it’s farcical, witty, down to earth, full of fast-paced comedy…and funny.”
Set in New York City, Dick Powell plays the part of lowly office worker Jimmy MacDonald, who hopes to “get rich quick” by winning a radio contest sponsored by Maxford House Coffee to select a slogan for the flagship brew. The grand prize is a whopping $25,000 (valued at $594,678 in 2026 dollars).
MacDonald’s entry is: “If you can’t sleep at night, it’s not the coffee, it’s the bunk!” (Only he is amused by the pun-filled nature of his slogan.)
The coffee company’s judging panel, however, is deadlocked and postpones a decision.
As a joke, three of MacDonald’s co-workers place a fake telegram on MacDonald’s desk informing him that he has won. His boss is so impressed that he promotes him on-the-spot to advertising executive, with his own office, a private secretary and a raise.
When MacDonald arrives to collect his prize at Maxford Coffee Company headquarters, Dr. Maxford presents him with the big check, having assumed that his committee had finally reached its decision.
Jimmy
MacDonald and his sweetheart Betty Casey (Ellen Drew) race off to Shindel’s
Department Store for an early Christmas shopping spree. She exclaimed: “It’s
like Christmas in July!” Chaos results as the truth unfolds.
The
film did well at the box office. Hollywood Reporter noted that the film has an
“effervescence to it, a freshness that makes it very pleasant entertainment.” Box
Office Digest called it “corking entertainment.”
The American public warmed to the notion of “Christmas in July.”
In 1942, during World War II, church groups began to gather holiday gifts to send to missions around the world in time for Christmas. They called it “Christmas in July.”
The U.S. Post Office organized similar drives during the World War II years to gather and mail gifts to U.S. military troops deployed overseas.
CJ Lotz Diego, a deputy editor at Gun and Garden magazine, based in Charleston, S.C., reported on the “Christmas in July Festival,” which has become a tradition in West Jefferson, N.C.
“The annual event began in 1987 to draw attention to Ashe County’s Christmas tree farming industry, featuring the perfectly shaped, famous Fraser firs.
It has
become one of the best, old-fashioned summer festivals in the South, drawing
thousands to historic downtown West Jefferson each July,” Lotz Diego wrote.
“This
year’s free-admission festival is July 3 and 4 and will feature the very best
in traditional mountain music, handmade arts and crafts and a variety of
delicious festival foods. Children’s activities, roving performers, fun
competitions and a farmers’ market are also part of the festivities.”
Journalist
Katherine Owen of Birmingham, Ala., a frequent contributor to Southern Living
magazine, reminds us that “what really makes ‘Christmas in July’ a beloved
summertime escape, are the Hallmark TV Channel’s snowy movie marathons.”
Ah,
yes…but I find it a tad unsettling that Hallmark’s “Christmas in July”
programming is jumping the gun to begin on June 26.
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