THE STANFORD THEATRE
Christmas in July poster

Christmas in July

1940 ★ 67 min
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Starring: Dick Powell, Ellen Drew, William Demarest
Director: Preston Sturges
Writer: Preston Sturges
Producer: Paul Jones

Christmas in July is a 1940 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, and starring Dick Powell and Ellen Drew. Based on Sturges' unproduced 1931 play A Cup of Coffee, it follows an ambitious clerk who is tricked into thinking he has won $25,000 in a coffee company slogan contest, and begins using the prize money he is errantly given to fulfill his dreams.

Trivia

  • The working titles for Christmas in July were The New Yorkers, Something to Shout About and A Cup of Coffee, the latter of which was the name of the play Sturges wrote in 1931 on which the film was based.
  • In 1934, Universal hired Sturges to direct a film based on the play, but that project fell through when the studio found other work to assign him, including doctoring the script of Diamond Jim.
  • Once that task was completed, Sturges' mentor at the studio, producer Henry Henigson, left, leaving nobody at Universal to champion Sturges' project.

Previous Showings

13 Runs • 7 Festivals

7,011 tickets sold

Original Billings: 1 run (January 16, 1941)

Original Run: January 16, 1941 (Thursday - Friday)

All runs on record (13):

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