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FF, I watched this a while back. Honestly, felt a little uncomfortable with the Powell - Reynolds set up and a little put off by the way the movie tries to be clean and upright and inside the Production Code as well as risqué and daring and edgy for 1954.
Technicolor and Powell's topnotch acting chops, as well as the solid supporting cast can't IMHO raise it to the level of genuinely entertaining storytelling.
Did you notice that the movie opens on Christmas Eve with colorfully wrapped presents under the tree, and remain unopened as the story unfolds? Who were they for?
Pretty much feel the same way. Powell was 50, supposedly playing a (wink, wink) 35 year old who looked every one of his fifty years / Reynolds was 22 playing an 18 year old and looking 18. Even adjusting for the different standards of the day, it felt off. For the time period, an in-his-mid-30s William Holden would have been a much better choice as their real age difference would have been less than 15 years not the 28 years between Reynolds and Powell.
Also, as you note, the whole "oh, what if they, oh, you know, but, of course, we won't have them do that" shtick got old fast. That said, had a much younger male played the lead, the movie would have been okay for what it was as those movies weren't supposed to reflect real life but to be more of a '50s version of a rom-com-screwball-comedy mashup. I did enjoy Reynolds as she seemed to be having a ball overall. Her reactions to Francis - especially when she was watching the home movies - were truly funny.
As to the presents, I missed the first fifteen minutes or so of the movie (darn work schedule), but I did notice they sat unopened (except when Powell gave Reynolds the mink which made me chuckle as so many would be offended by that today). I just assumed that the arrival of Reynolds interfered with Powell and Francis' Christmas celebration - but that was just an assumption. Also, I did note the over-the-top modern apartment and Christmas decorations - purple walls / white Christmas tree, ugh. I doubt that is what the Hipsters envision when they laud Mid-Century Modern.