The Couch Critics
The Couch Critics is your laid-back guide to movies and TV shows that deserve your attention—or maybe don’t. Nathan, along with a rotating door of eclectic co-hosts, dives deep into storytelling, character development, and cinematic style with a sharp eye and a wry sense of humor. Whether it’s a blockbuster hit, a hidden gem, or a cult classic, Nathan’s relatable approach ensures every episode feels like a cozy chat with a friend who just happens to love film. Perfect for casual watchers and cinephiles alike, The Couch Critics bring thoughtful critique without the fluff. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let Nathan and friends guide you through the world of screen entertainment.
The Couch Critics
Behind the Sparkle of Christmas in Connecticut
A lie about the perfect home, a war hero craving a real Christmas, and a kitchen run by the world’s most lovable conspirator—Christmas in Connecticut still sparkles because it understands what we seek when life feels unsteady: warmth, laughter, and a place to belong. We sit down with returning guest Lucinda Sage Midgordon (Story Power, Classic Cinema with the Sage Sisters) to explore how a 1945 screwball romance became a timeless comfort watch—and why its themes of persona, honesty, and community land just as hard today.
We dig into the film’s origins and post‑war timing, showing how a summer release rode a wave of relief and shaped audience expectations for holiday movies. Barbara Stanwyck’s Elizabeth Lane is both satire and sympathy: a food columnist who can’t cook, selling an ideal she doesn’t live. Dennis Morgan’s gentle presence—and a few tender songs—turn cozy scenes into emotional anchors. Sydney Greenstreet sheds his tough‑guy image for a sly, comic publisher, while S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall steals the show as Uncle Felix, the quietly wise matchmaker who feeds everyone and fixes everything. Along the way, we trace real‑life inspirations, set reuses from Bringing Up Baby, and the clever mechanics that transform borrowed babies and borrowed houses into a blueprint for rom‑coms to come.
Is the romance fast? Absolutely. Does it feel earned? With sleigh rides, late‑night talks, and wartime urgency, surprisingly yes. We share candid takes, compare then‑and‑now storytelling, and offer final ratings: 4.5/5 (guest) and 4/5 (host). If you love classic Hollywood, holiday vibes, or the sweet spot where humor and heart meet, this conversation will refill your cup.
If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a movie‑loving friend, and leave a quick review—what’s your favorite scene from Christmas in Connecticut?
Story-Power Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/story-power/id1524657088
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On the couch we laugh and cry and feeling it all breaking down the big screen, the hits and the flaws. Have your seat, let's play, let's take the pick. Lights, camera, action. It's the couch critic.
SPEAKER_02:Hello, everyone, and welcome to a brand new episode of The Couch Critics. I'm your host, Nathan. And on today's episode, I am joined with a special guest. She's actually been on the show before. I want to say the last time you were on here, I think it was for It's a Wonderful Life. I think we talked about it. Oh, it might have been. Yeah. So, but for those listeners who may not know who you are, go ahead and reintroduce yourself, please.
SPEAKER_01:My name is Lucinda Sage Midgordon, and I have a podcast called Story Power. And Nate and I met, I think, on Pod Match, and we both love movies.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, we do. Yes, we do. And like I said, she she added a lot to the It's a Wonderful Life episode. She she does a really good job at diving into like the historical aspects of movies, and she also was on our Casablanca episode as well. So yeah, I'm really excited to talk about this movie because I unfortunately had to admit to her that I had to watch this movie two times because the first time, yeah, I guess I was just really tired. It's not that it's a bad movie, I was just really, really tired, and I actually fell asleep while watching it. So I re-watched it, and so now I'm ready to talk about Christmas in Connecticut. This is a what some might consider a classic because it is just yeah, it's like classic Hollywood, classic actors, all that fun stuff. But before we talk about our likes and dislikes, I have to go over the synopsis. A food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas. Christmas in Connecticut stars Barbara Stanwick, Dennis Morgan, Sidney Greenstreet, and Reginald Gardiner. And there's also another well-known actor in this movie that was not on the main cast, but I just scrolled over and SZ Sackle. And if I said that name wrong, you you can probably correct me. So I just want to know, seriously, I just want to know what you thought of this movie before I even dive into any of my thoughts. So take it away, Lucent. What are your thoughts on this movie?
SPEAKER_01:Okay, I have to say something, but I think it's Sakal is how you say it, but his nickname was Cuddles because he had big jowls. And yeah, he's also in Casablanca. So this is a movie that my family really loved. And when I was growing up, and my husband and I watch it almost every Christmas. And it's one of those movies that was made, I think they were making it like in the last year of the war. So it was 1945. I think it came out after the end of the war in Europe, and then shortly after it came out, it was the end of the war in Japan. So it was a really popular movie. And even though it's a Christmas movie, it came out in April. I don't know why they did that, but anyway, it's a comedy, it's a Christmas comedy, and people needed to feel good, and I think that's why it was so popular. And there's this wonderful little love story between Elizabeth Lane and the sailor who comes to her quote unquote house, which it's really her friend's house in Connecticut. His name is, he's played by Dennis Morgan, and his name is Jefferson Jones. And SCZ Segal or Cuddles is kind of the catalyst character in this movie because the minute he sees that those two people are attracted to each other, because he has this long relationship with Elizabeth, and he is the one that kind of makes sure that her other she's engaged supposedly to Reginald, but his name is John, I think, in the movie. He is he's not the right guy for her. And she only reason she's doing it is because she knows she's gonna lose her job at the magazine. So he's he's doing all he can to keep her away from John and with Jefferson and making sure that they develop their relationship. And it's a really just a short amount of time. I think it's like two, two days or maybe a day and a half or something, yeah. Where they fall in love.
SPEAKER_02:So it's like you're, you know, steered it. It's like a kind of like a Hallmark movie meets just a classic, you know, it's a black and white film, so it has that going for it. And it's it's I'll say this about it. It's not a it's not a plot that I haven't seen before. Now, obviously, this was in the 1940s, you know, 1945. Yeah, so these types of movies probably weren't around as much as they are nowadays because this is like for very formulaic. Right. You know, she's she's trying to save her job, trying to save John's job at the same time. Because, like you said, she writes these articles about living in a home in Connecticut with her husband and her baby, which you find out she has neither of those things. And then a nurse uh during the war writes and says that the sailor needs to have a home Christmas, just a nice Christmas nice home. So could he stay at this lady's house? And comedy ensues, mistaken identity, two lost babies in in this whole mess. And it is, it's very comical. It kind of reminds me a little bit of bringing up baby, the you know, the the the slapstick comedy, the you know, the yeah, it's just it it is a very, very, very good movie, and I did enjoy it the second time because I actually stayed up and watched it. So, do you have any like little tidbits or any behind the scenes uh things because you're really good at at at throwing those out there as well. And I know I usually use IMDB to do that, but yeah, do you have anything that a lot of people may not know about this movie?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, one thing is Elizabeth's character is based on a real person, although, of course, she really was married and she really did live on a Connecticut farm, and she really was a great cook and all this stuff, which Elizabeth's not a good cook. She doesn't know how to cook. But that woman's name was Gladys Tabor, and she worked for Family Circle. So it's just she's loosely based on that character. Of course, she doesn't know how to cook. She and Cuddles have uh, well, his name is Uncle Felix. He and they've known each other for a long time. And they're in the beginning, when they're talking in her apartment, she has helped him somehow get his uh restaurant started. And he says, I'm, you know, because he brings her breakfast. She doesn't know how to cook him. So he he brings her breakfast and probably other meals during the day. And he says something about, well, I'm just paying you back for what you did for me. I wouldn't have a restaurant without you. And she says, Oh, you paid that back long ago. So they have this nice, like, father-daughter, uncle, niece kind of relationship, even though they're not really related. And one thing about Mr. Yardley played by Sydney Screet Green Street, he usually plays like gangsters or you know, something like that. But in this one, he has this rare, funny character. Yeah, he owns the magazine, but he's and he manipulates people, but he does it in a really kind of fun, funny way. So that's that's interesting because usually he's playing a heavy character. And then we get to hear Dennis Morgan sing. That's how he started his career was in musicals. So he gets to sing a couple of times, and that's really nice because he has a beautiful voice.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he did dancing really, really well. And and yeah, and I think those moments are really what makes it feel more Christmassy. Because obviously this movie takes place during Christmas. He he wants to have a Christmas, you know, home cooked meal and all this stuff. But yeah, those little, those little heartfelt moments of of singing at a piano and she's decorating the Christmas tree, and you're like, oh yeah, this this just this just feels like Christmas. And and and while you were talking, I did look up a little bit of information. This movie actually came out in August of 1945.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, it was August, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And and it was, like you said, it was it was one of the first films to benefit from the post-war euphoria that gripped America in 1945. So yeah, this movie obviously was released around that time. Obviously, it was before Christmas, but to give people kind of what movies are supposed to be for anyway, kind of an escape from what's going on in the world. And it allows you to go into a movie theater with a group of people who all who are all probably thinking the same thing, you know, the world's going crazy, and we just need an escape. And that's exactly what this movie was about. And did you know? I don't know if you knew this, you probably did, because you seem to know a lot about classic movies. But did you know, listeners, that Betty Davis was originally cast as Elizabeth in 1944, but Barbara Stanwick replaced her in April of that same year. So in April of that year, she replaced um Betty Davis.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah, that's where I remember the April from.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but yeah, that would have been very interesting. And speaking of bringing up baby that I brought up or a little bit earlier, John Sloan, the character, his Connecticut home in this film is the same set used in bringing up baby. So yes, maybe that's why I was like, it kind of reminds me of bringing up baby because it's yeah, thanks.
SPEAKER_01:It's configured a little bit differently. The inside of the house is configured a little bit differently, but they probably just reused sets over and over again and just re-re-jiggered them a little bit. Yeah. The other thing that maybe we should say about this is the setup is that Dennis, it's this is the very first thing that happens, actually. Dennis Morgan and his friend are on a destroyer that gets torpedoed by the Germans, and so there he and his friend are in this little raft for 18 days. So he he's in a hospital because he can't eat very solid food at first, because he gave hit the K rations to his shipmate. And so when he goes to the house in Connecticut, he's already engaged to the his nurse partly because he wants to get real food. He's tired of eating or drinking milk with an egg in it. But she spoiler, alert, spoiler, alert. She marries his shipmate before she shows up. Sydney Green Street has sent for her, and so that paves the way for even more Elizabeth and Jefferson to get together. Yay!
SPEAKER_02:We have because she shows up, and so Elizabeth finds out that he's engaged, so she's upset about that, and then he runs off, and then the nurse is like, Yeah, it thinks that I'm gonna have to break his heart, and the uncle's like, What are you talking about? And so yeah, so it's just it's it's it is a very it is like I said, it's a very good movie. I think people should go watch it. If you've never seen it before, it is classic Hollywood, classic Hollywood actors and actresses in this movie. But I have to ask you, Lucinda, is there anything about this movie that you did not like? I know you said it's a classic, you watch it every Christmas. Is there anything that stands out and you're like, not really my thing?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I am not a big fan of, of course, this is fantasy, right? It's a fantasy movie, but I'm not a big fan of we meet and fall in love in two or three days. I mean, but actually, Uncle Felix makes sure that they have plenty of time to talk and to, and and actually, one of the funny things in the movie is they have this, the community has this Christmas dance, and they all go to it, and Uncle Felix stays home with the babies, the baby, and that the the housekeeper takes care of these women's babies when they have to go work in the war plant. And so he's home, but the rest of them are at the dance, and she and Jefferson go out and they sit in this little sleigh because it's pretty snowy, and the horse is not tied up. So the horse walks off with them and they just let the horse walk, and they're and again they're talking. So we see them about three or four times where they're having kind of serious conversations. Of course, he thinks she's married, so he's you know, a little standoffish, although he's letting her know that he's attracted to her. But, you know, he's a nice guy. He's not gonna, you know, he's not gonna horn in on her husband. But again, Cuddle's the call is the guy, Uncle Felix is the guy that finds out all the information that helps tie everything up together. And and he gets to tell he gets to tell Jefferson that he's not engaged anymore because the nurse married his, you know, and and Elizabeth's not married. And so so that kind of ties everything up in the end. Yeah. So that's the only thing, really, too fast.
SPEAKER_02:And I think, I think for me, and I think this is mostly based on modern day movies that I've seen multiple times. And so to me, it's it is a little bit, like I said, for uh formulaic. So it's not like anything brand new. It's you know, it's a storyline that we've probably seen multiple times before. But again, that doesn't take away from the fact that it is a very good movie and it has very fun moments. I will say, agreeing with you, that the whole meeting after two days and falling in love is a little hallmarky and a little cheesy. But again, you you gotta think about when this movie was released, and again, it's it's trying to take people away from what's going on in the world and just giving a a nice, you know, heartfelt Christmas movie that's released in August. Because I think wasn't it's Wonder for Life released like before Christmas in the summertime, too. And I think uh a Christmas story was as well. So it's not the first time that a movie has been released, you know, yeah, way ahead of Christmas. But yeah, really, sure, why not? I don't think I've ever seen a an actual Christmas movie released on Christmas. It's usually like a big blockbuster or something. It's never I don't think I've ever seen a Christmas movie released on Christmas.
SPEAKER_01:I think the uh The Man Who Invented Christmas, which is about Dickens writing a Christmas Carol, that was that was released around Christmas time. I don't know if it was on Christmas Day, right? But it it was a really it was closer than August. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02:Might have been Thanksgiving weekend, maybe I think it was I think it was Thanksgiving weekend.
SPEAKER_01:I do want to say one thing though. This is probably like a template that other move later movies have used, so it might be sort of one of the first kinds of movies of it's of the now we're used to this kind of story, but it might have been kind of one of the first ones that other later movies based their their trope on, you know.
SPEAKER_02:That's true, that's true. So I have to ask, we talked about what we liked, we talked about what we didn't like. What would you give this movie as a Christmas raid? Christmas overall.
SPEAKER_01:It's probably a nine okay or a nine point five. I mean, we watch it every year just because it's so fun, it's just a really fun, fun movie. And I love the fact that that oh, I forgot to say that uh that Den when the Slay goes off with Elizabeth and Jefferson, they get put in jail. That's the owner, and so they have all night in jail. Well, I don't know, maybe their cells aren't next to each other, but I was thinking their cells were next to each other, and they probably stayed up all night talking to each other. You know, they had to know each other even more. Yeah, right, yeah. Which we don't get to see that, but I'm just assuming that yeah, I think we watch it every year. I mean, we have a long list of movies that we watch every year, and not all of them are classic movies, but this is one of our standard classic movies, so yeah, nine, nine point five.
SPEAKER_02:Well, you you you just blew past our our usual out of five stars, but that's okay. You I didn't I didn't tell you before we started that that we that we go from one to five stars, that's totally fine.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I'm so sorry. Yeah, I'm in another I'm in another film group that we go from one to ten.
SPEAKER_02:You're good. So you so let's say you probably get a four or a four point five out of five.
SPEAKER_01:Four point five out of five, right? Good, yes, cool.
SPEAKER_02:And and I will I will give it a four, and it's mostly just because it's classic Hollywood, you can't beat that. I think I'm probably gonna give all classic movies that high of a score because classic Hollywood, classic actors, just yeah, you just can't beat it. So that's that's our Christmas rating. So how about a movie overall in general? Take taking away Christmas, how how do you see this movie as a film itself?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah. Well, I was thinking about this before you and I started talking. This is a a story that you could you could do any time of the year. You wouldn't have to have it be at Christmas time. It could be in any location, any, you know, as long as it's well, I suppose you could take it out of the war, but I think the war is a like a component that you need to keep. That's what I was thinking about. That it's you could it doesn't have to be a Christmas movie. It could be, you know, it could happen in the spring or the fall or Halloween or Thanksgiving or anytime.
SPEAKER_02:Well, it's funny you say that because that's usually sometimes what I base my Christmas rating off of. Like if you took Christmas out of it, could it still be a coherent story? And what you're saying is yes, but you're still your 4.5 out of five for Christmas. I'm assuming you'd probably put that in your general rating as well, then.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, okay, yeah, I would.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I'm gonna stay with a four out of five as well for general rating again for the same reasons, it's just go watch it, you know. Get away from the modern day blockbuster movies and just sit down and watch a classic film once in a while. And this is definitely a classic film. Yeah, Cinder. Thank you so much for coming on the episode today. It's always I I really do enjoy talking to you because, like I said at the beginning, you always add just a lot more than I could ever add when talking about movies in general, because I I I'm, you know, and I've said this before, I don't like recording by myself because my episodes tend to be extremely short when it's just me. So it's always a pleasure to have somebody else on.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's really uh I I love talking to you about movies. So thanks, Nate.
SPEAKER_02:So go ahead and uh I know you have Story Power, which I I listen to. Go listen to it. I I love listening to all the guests that you have about how they tell stories and in really fun and interesting and unique ways, but you also have a YouTube channel, correct?
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm. Yes, my sister and I started it in February of 2025, and we're about to publish our 16th episode, and it's classic cinema with the Sage sisters. We both hyphenated our names, so we both still have Sage in our names. And yeah, the one that is going to air this coming Wednesday is I have to look at my calendar, Captain Newman MD. We're starting a like a three or four movie thing about mental health. And Captain Newman stars Greg Ripeck, who happens to be one of my favorites, and he's one of the first ones who kind of identified PTSD during World War II. So nice.
SPEAKER_02:And then you said that's dropping Wednesday.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, yeah, the first of October is when it drops.
SPEAKER_02:Awesome. Well, perfect. And I will put your story power and your YouTube channel in the show notes so be able to check that out. And this cinema Saturday, so last cinema Saturday was supposed to be my wife and I talking about a movie that we went to go see, but I did not release that episode. My bad. So we'll be releasing that episode this Saturday. My wife and I went to go see the Angel Studios movie The Senior based on a true story. So we'll be talking about that. And then our first episode for October, I'm gonna be talking about, and who knows, maybe somebody will join me. I'm gonna be talking about the Ryan Reynolds comedy classic Christmas just friends. It's actually a really funny movie. I haven't watched it in a while. Can't wait to watch it again. It is really, really funny. So that is what I'm gonna be talking about on the next two episodes of The Couch Critics, where every movie gets its close-up.
SPEAKER_00:It's not just a movie, it's a way of life. We'll watch it together. They are not closed and don't miss it.
