Christmas in July (film) Christmas in July (film) Christmas in July is a 1940 comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges based on his 1931 play "A Cup of Coffee". It was Sturges' second film as writer-director, after "The Great McGinty", and stars Dick Powell and Ellen Drew. Dr. Maxford (Raymond Walburn) is thoroughly exasperated. He is supposed to announce on national radio the winners of a slogan contest for his Maxford House Coffee; the first prize is $25,000. Maxford's jury is deadlocked by the stubborn Mr. Bildocker (William Demarest). As a result, the program ends without an announcement. One of millions of
Christmas in July (film) 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' film. Once Sturges himself moved to Paramount, he made a deal with the studio to buy the script for $6,000. William Holden and Betty Fields were to have played the leads, with Arthur Hornblow Jr. as producer. Production on "Christmas in July" began on June 1st, 1940 and continued through June 29th. According to author Donald Spoto in his book "Madcap: The Life of Preston Sturges", Sturges directed