Every Day's a Holiday Review: Mae West, Big Hats, and a Very Fake French Accent

So, should you watch Every Day's a Holiday today?

If you love Mae West and her *very specific* brand of sass, then yeah, obviously you should. If you are looking for a serious historical drama with a plot that actually holds water, you are going to hate this movie so much.

It’s set in New York at the turn of the century, but it feels like it’s happening inside a giant, glittery jewelry box. The whole thing is basically a collection of scenes where men act like idiots while Mae says something that sounds slightly dirty. 🎩

Mae plays Peaches O'Day, a lady who literally tries to sell the Brooklyn Bridge to some poor guy in the first ten minutes. I love how she doesn't even try to hide that she's a con artist; she just leans into it with a wink and a shrug. It reminded me a bit of the hustle you see in Bright Lights, but with way more sequins and feathers.

The movie is really just a long excuse for Mae to wear different hats. And let’s talk about those hats for a second—they are massive.

There is one hat in particular that looks like a literal bird nest with feathers shooting out in every direction. I honestly don't know how she kept her neck straight while walking. She walks like she’s trying not to step on a bug, but in a very fancy way.

The main 'conflict' involves a police captain named McCarey who wants her out of town because she's a nuisance. But he also kind of wants to marry her? It’s that classic 'I’m going to arrest you or date you' trope that was everywhere in these old movies. 🚔

Peaches gets 'exiled' from New York, but she just comes right back wearing a black wig. She calls herself Mademoiselle Fifi and pretends to be a famous French singer from Paris. It is the least convincing disguise in the history of cinema.

Nobody notices it's her? Really? Even the guy who just saw her two days ago is totally fooled by a wig and a fake accent. It’s hilarious because of how little effort is put into the logic of the world. But then again, you don't watch a Mae West movie for the logic.

The accent she uses is absolutely terrible, by the way. It’s not even French; it’s just Mae West talking through her nose and occasionally saying 'oui.' 🇫🇷

You can almost see the other actors holding back a laugh in some of the close-ups. There’s a moment where she’s performing on stage and she does this little shimmy that feels like it goes on for a long time. The camera just stays on her for a beat too long, and it starts to feel like the director was just waiting for her to give him permission to stop filming.

The movie gets a massive boost when Louis Armstrong shows up. He leads a street parade and it is easily the best part of the whole film. He’s young, energetic, and his smile just lights up the screen in a way the rest of the movie doesn't.

The parade has absolutely nothing to do with the bridge scam, but who cares? 🎺 Watching him play is like a shot of caffeine. It makes some of the drier stuff from this era, like The Wind, feel like a very long nap. Not that The Wind isn't good, it's just... heavy, and this movie is light as a soap bubble.

I noticed this one extra in the background during the parade who looks genuinely confused. He’s just standing there like he wandered onto the set by mistake and didn't know there was a movie being made. I love finding small things like that in these old studio films.

The movie hits a bit of a wall in the middle when it starts talking about a mayoral election. Politics in 1930s comedies are always a bit boring and weirdly polite. I found myself looking at the set design instead of listening to the speeches.

The sets are clearly painted backdrops in some spots. You can see the line where the floor meets the wall in the 'outdoor' scenes. It gives the whole thing a very cozy, theatrical feeling that I actually kind of dig. It's like watching a play that had a huge budget for clothes but forgot to buy real trees.

The dialogue is full of Mae’s signature one-liners. Most of them are pretty tame because the censors were really strict by 1937. She’s not as 'dangerous' here as she was in her earlier films, but she still makes every sentence sound like a secret. 🤫

The suitors are all pretty interchangeable. They are just guys in suits with various levels of money and frustration. Except for Charles Butterworth, who plays this rich guy who is just so awkward. He has this way of looking at Mae like she's a puzzle he can't solve, and his dry delivery is actually pretty funny.

There's a scene in a restaurant where the editing feels a bit jumpy. One second she’s holding a glass, the next it’s gone, then it’s back again. I don't think they cared about continuity as much as we do now. They just wanted to make sure Mae looked good in every shot.

I also liked the scene where she’s in a jail cell. She has a better-looking room in jail than I have in my actual apartment. She’s sitting there in silk robes like she’s at a five-star spa. It’s totally ridiculous, but that’s the point.

Mae West wasn't making movies about reality. She was making movies about a world where she was the smartest person in the room and everyone else was just there to provide a chair for her to sit on. Even the villain seems more annoyed than actually angry. 👗

The ending is a bit of a mess and wraps up so quickly you might miss it if you blink. Suddenly everything is fine, the bad guy is gone, and she’s the queen of New York. It’s not a deep movie, and it’s definitely not trying to be an artistic statement like Once in a Blue Moon.

It’s just Peaches O'Day doing her thing. I’d say it’s a solid watch if you like old Hollywood fluff and want to see some amazing 1930s costumes. It’s better than Daredevil O'Dare, which I found a bit annoying to sit through.

Just don't expect to learn anything about the actual Brooklyn Bridge. Or France. Or anything, really. It’s just a bit of fun with a lot of feathers. 💍

One reaction shot of a guy looking at her through a monocle lingers so long it becomes funny for the wrong reasons. But hey, that's part of the charm of watching these. It feels human, even when it's trying to be glamorous.

If you've got 80 minutes and want to see Louis Armstrong blow a trumpet while a woman in a bird-hat cons a whole city, this is your movie.