Feeling a bit weary of your standard sappy Christmas movie with lessons to be learned and epic tales to be told? Craving a delightfully decadent romp with some silly ’60s actors we all know and love? Well, Fitzwilly has the shenanigans to satisfy!

Mr. Fitzwilliam (Dick Van Dyke) is a savvy butler who works for the unwittingly penniless philantopist, Miss Victoria Woodworth, whose age doesn’t hinder her big ideas or big donations. Fitzwilly minds Miss Vicki’s entire estate, and takes the responsibility of her welfare very seriously. Would she have a heart attack if she found out she had no money left? The entire house staff doesn’t wait to find out, as they busily carry out Fitzwilly’s grand schemes to illegally keep the Woodworth bank account padded with money to keep the daily charity checks from bouncing. It’s all working out quite nicely until the nosy Juliette (Barbara Feldon) comes to work as Miss Vicki’s personal secretary.

Not only does Juliette seem to be foiling the house staff’s underground operations, but she has even managed to become romantically involved with the head butler himself- Mr. Fitzwilly. Well the poor guy just doens’t know what to do. The snooping Juliette can’t stay under the employment of Miss Vicki if the estate is to remain intact, but can he go through with his plan to send Juliette away when he cares for her so?

Hoping to solve their problems in just one evening, Fitzwilly and the staff plan to pull one last grand heist on Christmas Eve. The scheme has been maticulously laid out, and everything is ready, but what happens when Juliette learns more than she wanted to know, and one of the household staff begins to grow a conscience? Well, since this isn’t your regular holiday special, don’t expect your standard Miracle on 34th Street. Gimbles Department Store is in for a wild, wild night.

Fitzwilly is a fun, light comedy, so please don’t try to disect the plot or acting too much- it’ll ruin the experience for sure. But do be sure to enjoy some of my favorite actors in television history (even a young Sam Waterson!), and a superb collection of plaid skirt suits worn by Agent 99… er, ahem, Barbara Feldon. Seriously. I had a bad case of fashion envy throughout the entire movie.

After his wife kicks him out of their squeaky clean house, Felix Unger (Jack Lemmon) can’t stop thinking about jumping out of 12-story windows. Instead of taking the easy way out, the fastidious soon-to-be divorcee moves into the dumpy bachelor pad of of his slobby divorced friend Oscar (Walter Matthau). Hilarity, almost-murders, and lots of marital-style dispute ensues as the two opposites figure out how to make things work between them.

Adapted from Neil Simon’s Broadway play, this story is seamlessly transferred to the big screen with a couple of well-seasoned Hollywood comedians known for their (sometimes) lovable roles as bachelors throughout movie history. Jack Lemmon is a favorite of mine, always nailing each quirky gesture and tick, while Walter Matthau just shines as a sloppy sports writer who has already settled comfortably into the life of a divorced man and who is (at first) eager to help his friend learn the ropes.

Divorce has been a sad, and often traumatic part of American life since the 20th century, so it would stand to reason that comedic writers have often taken the theme and ran with it. Of course nobody really likes to see marriages end, but this screenplay is really just a lighthearted view of a few bumbling men and their relationships with each other, post-marriages. I think more than anything, this movie pokes fun at marital disputes and uses Felix and Oscar’s relationship as the vehicle to do so.

There’s not a lot to the plot, and this one’s certainly not a heavy-hitter, but what a classic comedy with relatable themes that most people will enjoy.

I remember first stumbling on The Women when I was just a nerdy kid with nothing to do on a snowy afternoon. Thank God for Turner Classic Movies! Ever since then, it has maintained a spot on my list of favorite movies. The funny thing is, until Robert Osborne gave his epilogue from his red leather chair, the 10-year-old me hadn’t realized that there were actually no men to be seen in this film. Not a one. The movie stars women, is about women, and celebrates while reviling women. And even after spending 133 minutes with all of these crazy ladies, you’ve still had an amazingly good time.

Part of the appeal of The Women is the entertainingly voyeuristic look into the lives of rich and fashionable housewives in the 1930s. Well, Hollywood’s version, that is. Each character has her own unique style, personality quirks, and hobbies. The main character, Mary Haines (Norma Shearer), is probably the most likeable of the bunch, and so all of her friends are faced with the awkward dilemma as to how, or if, to let her know that they’ve discovered her husband, Stephen Haines, is having an affair with a lowly shopgirl named Chrystal Allen (who is, of course, played by Joan Crawford).

Ballancing advice coming from every angle, Mary is most concerned with the welfare of her daughter, though is unwilling to forgive her husband and make any efforts to win him back. Perhaps due to the epiphany of her own marital failures, the relationships of her friends begin to collapse all around them, causing all of the ladies to wind up in Reno, considering their divorces, forging alliances, and breaking off long-term friendships. After their return from Reno, the women have a new outlook on life and take New York’s social scene by storm, the plot suddenly racing towards a hilarious and satisying ending.

During that aforementioned January afternoon of my tenth year, I was delighted to discover that the following TCM feature was the sequel to The Women, starring one of my favorite endearing actresses of movie history- June Allison. I’ve always considered her the Jimmy Stewart of the ’40s and ’50s cinema – charmingly clumsy, an unmistakable speaking voice, and somehow irresistible by the opposite sex. So if you like The Women of 1939, you will probably adore the musical version made in the 1950s titled The Opposite Sex.

Oh, and my closing advice- if you saw 2008’s The Women, and didn’t like it (or hated it. Ahem.), don’t that that deter you from enjoying the original. It’s well worth watching, and would be a perfect flick for a ladies’ night in.