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Why are there no Christmas decorations at Mrs. Hamilton's house?


Any idea why? There isn't even a tree.

Our late editor is dead, he died of death which killed him. -John Lennon's Daily Howl

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Good question, Gonzo ! I hadn't noticed that her manse is indeed barren of holiday cheer.

I would venture to guess that, just like old Scrooge and the Grinch, Mrs. Hamilton no longer "kept Christmas" anywhere, not in her heart, and not in her household. It took Dudley's intervention of playing her the "locked away" music her old boyfriend had written, in order to un-freeze her heart.

In addition, it might have been a habit of some "old-monied," "respectable" folks to spurn any decorating for the holidays, considering it gauche, frivolous, sentimental, and simple-minded --- but then, we're getting back onto Scrooge territory again !

J'ai l'œil AMÉRICAIN !

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She could just be one of these people that thinks putting up Christmas decorations would destroy the aesthetic of her home. But I think the bleak home symbolizes her heart. She feels empty inside because she lived a lie and never loved her husband.

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I like your analysis best but in those days a lot of people didn't decorate until Christmas Eve

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Exactly. My family didn't put up the tree until Christmas eve and we left it up until January 6. The only other indoor decoration for the time after Thanksgiving was an advent wreath, although my dad put up a modest string of outdoor lights. Just like the Bishop, my family is Episcopalian.

These days, we have an artificial tree and we put it up around the second weekend in December and leave it up until the sixth. I miss those less commercial days.

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Truth be told, I love that kind of Victorian decor.
Far more than the barren minimalism of today!

What's sad is the lady lives all alone in that huge mansion with no other company than her valet.
I hope that after Dudley's visit, she'll open her home to guests; maybe even rent a room or two to other elderly people (like the Professor) so she can have someone to talk to in the evenings.

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It's quite clear that Mrs. Hamilton was 'emotionally shutdown' and, in truth, very lonely -- left with the significant estate of a husband she perhaps never loved. She was cantankerous, sharp and demanding with everyone she dealt with -- a woman of great privilege but extremely unhappy.
With the entrance of Dudley, she begins to have her heart opened not only to others needs, but to begin to remember how it feels to be loved herself. Dudley helps connects her with why she should celebrate her life as well as share her good fortune to fulfill the needs of the community. She tells Dudley she has "spent a fortune honoring her late husband with empty monuments". Though she had been very much in love with her former paramour, Allain Cartwright, over 40 years ago, she was afraid of possibly facing poverty if she married him. Instead, she turned away from him in order to marry a wealthy man she never loved, though he deeply loved her.
This was not a woman who had likely decorated her home to celebrate anything, in many years. But, Dudley reconnects her with the gift of love for herself and that the opportunity to love is not lost by the choices she had made when she was a young woman.
I would wager that she would come to truly celebrate Christmas, and many other things, in the future. She had hardened her heart over the years but Dudley gave her a chance to cry about her lost love and see a caring path going forward!

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That scene between Dudley and Mrs. Hamilton could have been unbearably mawkish, but the superb performances of Cary Grant and Gladys Cooper kept it from sinking into bathos.
This is one of the best-acted movies I've ever seen.

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I might be wrong but I recall someone bringing up a lack of decorations early on in the film and a quick explanation why.

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