On September 1, 1948, Robert Mitchum with actress Lila Lee and dancer Vickie Evans were let out of jail after a narcotics raid in Laurel Canyon, C.A. Mitchum was slapped with possession of marijuana. The legend goes that Howard Hughes, the head of RKO, offered Mitchum the role of Steve Mason in "Holiday Affair" to help him repair his public image beating out the like of Cary Grant, James Stewart, and even Montgomery Clift. The sweetly sanguine romantic comedy was not the typical role Mitchum would have taken, by this point better known for action and film noir films.
Despite the way Robert Mitchum got the role, he was a professional all the way through, but not without a few purposeful yet practical jokes on his co-stars, namely Janet Leigh ("Psycho"). "During a tense dinner scene, he and co-star Wendell Corey each slipped a hand onto her knee under the table. She started fidgeting in response, which turned out to be the perfect reaction for the scene. Later, when she and Mitchum shared their first kiss, he really kissed her, again getting just the right reaction for the scene." (Holiday Affair (1949) - Articles - TCM.com)
"Holiday Affair" is based on a short story by John D. Weaver. When a comparison shopper and widower Connie Ennis gets caught, then let go by store clerk and war veteran Steve Mason, there is immediate chemistry. But real life in form
Unfortunately the film lost 300,000 at the box office and was tepidly reviewed. In his book Popular Pictures of the 1940s, John Reid admitted Mitchum "handled the lightweight part with a professional flair of delightful nonchalance (while he wasn't buried under sticky dialogue of the sentimental kind) . " Now alongside "It Happened on Fifth Avenue" and "In the Good Old Summertime," Turner Classic Movies has taken "Holiday Affair" under its wing offering it new life to modern audiences.
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