Hello everyone,

Wow, there are a lot of Christmas Movies I could add, but will only do a few here.  I found the year and director information for some on IMDB.com  But other information from my own collection.

1)    It's A Wonderful Life (1946) Directed by Frank Capra
2)    White Christmas (1954) Directed by Michael Curtiz
3)    The Lemon-Drop Kid (1951) Directed by Sidney Lanfield
4)    Miracle on 34th Street (1947) Directed by George Seaton
5)    Stalag-17 (1953) Directed by Billy Wilder (though not really a Christmas Movie, it took place on Christmas Eve.)
6)   J'ai rencontré le Père Noël aka Here Comes Santa Claus (1984) Directed by Christian Gion
7)    A Christmas Carol/Scrooge (1951) Directed by Brian Desmond Hurst
8)    The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story (1983) Directed by Delbert Mann  (This was filmed partly in my home town)
9)    It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (1984) Directed by Peter H. Hunt
10)  A Christmas Story (1983) Directed by Bob Clark (also know as Bob Clarke) not sure which is correct spelling
11)  Santa Claus The Movie (1985) Directed by Jeannot Szwarc
12)  Amahl and the Night Visitors (1963) Directed by Kirk Browning

There are so many more I could add.

Here are a few Classic/Sci-Fi/Horror Movies I love


There are several others but I don't want to take up the whole thread with just my favorite movies.

Hi Chip,

You're welcome.  I could do the same for my Christmas and other record albums in my collection, but it would probably take more time to list them then to listen to them lol.

There are several Christmas Cartoons too that are high on my list.  Some that I taped off the TV several years ago and haven't been released on DVD or Video tape.  Alas, they also have commercials in them, but if I can still watch the cartoons from time to time, it's ok.

I hope other members will list some of their favorite Holiday Movies too.

Just a reminder, a holiday movie that I "discovered" a while back comes on Sat. December 19, 8:00 P.M. on TCM,
The Man Who Came To Dinner, a delightful old 1942 black & white movie with a Christmas theme, starring Bette Davis & a host of stars.
Just in case anyone has been looking for this one, it only comes on a few times a year.

Susan,

Ahh...a list after my own heart! If you are able to watch dvds from around the world, I'd like to recommend a recent German dvd of THE CRAWLING EYE from Anolis (many, many extras!). Also, the UK dvd from Optimum of ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. is about 9 minutes longer than the US dvd! It's cheap, check it out if it's one of your faves.

For me, there are too many movies for me to definitively list 10 faves. I can tell you all that the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD has been the most influential movie in my life and I continue to watch it a couple of times every year (which started when I was a kid...thanks, mom!). For Xmas movies, there are so many, but SCROOGE/A CHRISTMAS CAROL with Alistair Sim is right up there at the top (and that even goes over into the regular/non-holiday category).

Ben

Hi Ben,

My first copy of "The Crawling Eye" was on a BETA tape when they first started coming out.  I may still have it in my collection.  Though I don't have the DVD immediately available for reference, it was identical to the BETA version.  I don't think there were any "Extras" on the DVD I have.

I believe I can watch DVD's from other regions on my portable DVD player, but not on the computer.  I have  "One Magic Christmas" (Walt Disney Studios) that I won from an online contest in the UK that is in "PAL" format and on the computer it only plays in B&W but on the portable, it plays in Color.  I do also have an "NTSC" version that will play in any of my DVD players.

It would be interesting to see the "Extra Features" on "The Crawling Eye".  I'll keep my eye out for it on eBay or something.

Chip, I totally agree with you.

"Separating all-time favorite Christmas movies from regular movies does not mean to imply in any way that the Christmas  films  are not on your general list of all-time favorites as well; it's just simply a way to differentiate Christmas movies from regular movies, which is essential on this message board since its primary focus is Christmas. I can say categorically that for me personally, every single one of my all-time favorite Christmas  movies  is indeed included within my general list as well."

Hi Chip!  Here are my faves!


Christmas Movies

1   Babes in Toyland (1934)
2   Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
3   Scrooge  (1951)
4   The Bishop's WIfe (1947)
5   Holiday Affair (1949)
6   White Christmas (1954)
7   Going My Way (1944)
8   Bells of St Mary's  (1945)
9   Holiday Inn (1942)
10 Scrooge (1970)  Sadly we just lost legendary Dir Ronald Neame

Honorable mention

11 A Christmas Carol (1938)
12 Die Hard (1988)  I know both strange picks for fave Christmas movies but both take place on Christmas Eve!!!
13 Die Hard 2 (1990)
14 It's a Wonderful Life (1947) Would be higher if it did not take so long to get to the ending where the Christmas stuff takes place, it is a wonder that George Bailey didn't try to end it all after the 4th or 5th reel he is a tortured soul for soooooooo long!     

Favorite Non Holiday Films


1  The Wizard of Oz (1939)
2  The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3  The Farmer's Daughter (1947)
4  Spooks RUn WIld (1941)
5  Northwest Passage (1940)
6  The House On 92nd Street (1945)
7  Mary Poppins (1964)
8  The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
9  The Ghost Breakers (1940)
10 Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
11 Easter Parade (1948)
12 King of Kings (1961)
13 The Robe and Demetrius and The Galdiators 2 for 1 as they were filmed back to back.

Right you are Chip, we can include Babes in Toyland on that list too!!!!  I just have seen "Christmas in CT" the last two years as it was in the dvd set I bought and have thoroughly enjoyed it - although it misses being a "classic" holiday film for some reason!

Happy birthday to the "Christmas Story" mom, Melinda Dillon!!

 

 

1)                 Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

2)                 Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977)

3)                 Homecoming - A Christmas Story, The (1971) (TV)

4)                 A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965 - TV)

5)                 Frosty the Snowman (1969) (TV)

6)                 Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) (TV)

7)                 Year Without a Santa Claus, The (1974) (TV)

8)                 Twas The Night Before Christmas (1974) TV

9)                 A Very Brady Christmas (1988) TV

10)            Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970) (TV)

11)             

12)            A Christmas Story (1983)

13)            The Polar Express (2004)

14)            Christmas Carol, A (1984) (TV)

15)            Bells of St. Mary's, The (1945)

 

 

 

 

 My Top 12, not necessarily in order:


1. Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962)

2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)

3. Borrowed Hearts (1997) -- Roma Downey, Eric McCormack, Hector Elizondo

4. Silent Night (2002) -- Wonderful true WWII story of German and American soldiers in the Ardennes

5. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

6. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

7. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

8. The Christmas Box (1995) -- Richard Thomas stars in this lovely adaptation of the heartwarming bestseller

9. Remember the Night (1940) -- Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray

10. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

11. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

12. A Christmas Memory (1966)  -- I haven't actually seen this but I had to include it, because it's an award-winning adaptation of Truman Capote's incredible piece.

Nothing different to add for me....I'll love pretty much anything Christmas (i even find myself watching some of those terrible ones on Lifetime).

"It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" from 1984 has only been on TV a few times as far as I know.  But at least I was fortunate to Video Tape it when it first aired.  I don't think it is available on DVD, and I don't know if any of the Networks like Hallmark, Lifetime, Disney would be likely to show it so I am grateful that I do at least have it on Video Tape and I may have made a DVD out of it after editing out the commercials, but the quality got degraded though it is still watchable.  It's hard to believe it was 28 years ago already.

Hello,

Welcome to the message board, Jim.

While not exactly a fully joyous movie, I'd like to recommend Ingmar Bergman's Fanny & Alexander. The first hour or so is essentially the family's prep and Xmas celebration. Yes, it becomes rather depressing for the second half or so, but the journey is very worthwhile. Wouldn't be a Bergman movie without both ends of the emotional spectrum, anyhow. :D

How sad is it that I had to go halfway down this thread to see A Christmas Story mentioned?  Is it because it's overexposed now?  Because it's not from the "classic" era of filmmaking?

James,

Without going too off topic, Susan, I think it would've made a lot more sense to have it take place in a more modern era, centered around a different family. Something that tries to carry the same sense of nostalgia and hilarity, without having to revisit old material. However, if they could use the same house for the film, and a new family was living there, I think a scene in which someone accidentally uncovered the  "lamp's tomb" would've been a great little homage.

I totally agree.  It's just that sometimes I get a sense from some members here that it had to be made before the '80s (70s?)  to be considered really "great" or even "good."  I may have a soft spot for the decade I grew up in, but the '80s did have a lot of "classic element" in its movies and TV, and the presentation therein.  Maybe it was helped by the last of the '70s living on in that decade!

Yes, the sequel was a waste of time, but some fellow did a really good write-up on it, I hear...just Google "Blog of Doom" and "Christmas Story 2" ;-) ;-)   I don't know if the movie taking place anytime would help.  You just can't live up to Jean Shepherd's and Bob Clark's original work (I am sure Bob is rolling in his grave over the sequel...then again, he DID think Baby Geniuses was a good idea...).  Though as a kid, I actually wrote a scene for an imaginary ACS2 where Ralphie's kid says the F dash dash dash word, and then him and Randy remember the time that he said it...

To be fair, they did explain how the leg lamp returned...Ralphie just bought a new one for the Old Man.  That's one rare bit of logic I'll admit they used. 

 

Very well said Chip,

There's a COUPLE more from the modern age that I think deserve merit.

1. Santa Claus the Movie. For some reason, hardly anybody I've ever met actually likes this film. The storyline likes to shift between immersive and campy at a moment's notice. One minute you're in the splendor of the North Pole, and the next, you're caught in a diabolical plot with a Lex Luthor clone (and his plan to take over Christmas involves a vehicle that uses the same sound effects pack as the "megacomputer" from Superman 3). But dang, a lot of love was put into this film. From the moment the first title appears on the screen in pixie dust sparkles while simple bells are played in the background, something feels uniquely special. The sets, costumes, and matte paintings are beautiful, and I don't think I've ever seen a better vision of the North Pole workshop. The fact that some things don't look ultra-realistic by today's standards only helps to enhance the dream-like quality that the director seemed to be going for. Even the lack of CGI effects on things like the veil of light that the reindeer run on, makes everything feel more warm and organic.

2. Home Alone (don't shoot me). Too much pop-culture? Maybe. But you can't ignore the things that this film does well, and I think it even may be intentionally borrowing a few elements from A Christmas Story. I can't ignore the fact that Kevin greets a couple of robbers invading his home with a BB gun, or the family life in his home that borders on the bizarre. And, even not being a Christmas Movie, Home Alone miraculously took the extinct tradition of slapstick comedy, and turned it into a modern blockbuster hit.

3. The Grinch. Yeah, I was VERY skeptical when this came out and didn't want to touch it with a ten-foot pole. It wasn't until my wife introduced it to me years later that I finally saw it. I don't know if their vision of Whoville is what Seuss would have envisioned for a live action film, but it doesn't seem to matter. Jim Carrey may be the only reason this film works, but given that he's the key to the whole story, that's not necessarily a bad thing. My main gripe about the film is that it gets oversexulized at certain moments to the point of feeling cringeworthy. But the dynamic of Cindy Lou and the Grinch trying to find the true meaning of Christmas; two souls at opposite ends of the social spectrum, both trapped in a maze of greed and avarice, is just wonderful. The Grinch's moment of redemption always makes me cry if I let it.

4. The Santa Clause. Please don't shoot me. One of the things that has had to happen with modern films, is the acceptance that broken families are now a part of everyday life. I'm sure a lot of folks cringe at the idea of Santa being divorced with a kid. But it's not as if it happened while he was Santa, and it wouldn't be the first time that a quasi-Dr. Who solution to a character being hundreds of years old was applied to Santa Claus (see Ernest Saves Christmas). Somehow, this relatively recent Disney film managed to convey elements of faith in a way that few other films ever have. Between all the instances of chaotic humor, it has some very touching moments. Sadly, this film has been watered down by its sequels, which managed to decrease in quality as films like this often do.

5. As alluded to a moment ago: Ernest Saves Christmas. Wait... there's people who don't like this movie? Silly, awkward, bizarre, but still touching and nostalgic. If it were a standalone film and nobody knew who Jim Varney was, I think this would rank right up there with A Christmas Story.

You won't find anyone who loves classic film more than me (when I finish up here, I'm going to go watch a Silent!)