Top 15 CHRISTMAS Movies

Christmas is only 8 days away. Most of us are busy getting ready to celebrate the holiday by shopping, baking, decorating etc. Hopefully the most important preperation is the spiritual preperation so that Christmas can be celebrated as it is truly ment to be celebrated, the birth of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.

This is also a family time & there are many good movies that have a Christmas theme to them. Some clearly focus on the holiday, sometimes spiritual, sometimes purely secularly, others have Christmas as either the backdrop of the story or at least a part of the story. Here are my top 15 (sort of) favorite Christmas movies (OK some are made for TV). All are available on DVD.

15. Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn (1942) - Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire - Bing Crosby plays Jim Hardy, the owner of an inn that is open only for the holidays (hence the name). He is in love with Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds) but circumstances keep coming between them. It tells the story over a period of about a year focusing on the various holidays. While it does have some plot, the highlight is the music by Irving Berlin. It includes such favorites as Easter Parade, Happy Holidays & White Christmas. (The last 2 inspired their own great holiday themed movies.)

14. Going My Way (1944) - Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, William Frawley (cameo)/Bells of St. Mary's (1945) - Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman - I put these 2 together for several reasons. 1st of all because they are basically 2 parts of 1 whole in my mind. They are also variations on the same theme.

Going My Way is about Fr. O'Malley (Bing Crosby in a role he didn't feel worthy to play when he was 1st offered it.) is a young priest asigned to a debt ridden New York City parish, St. Dominic's, run by Fr. Fitzgibbon ( Barry Fitzgerald at his crusty Irish best). Fr. O'Malley was a rising baseball star with musical talent who gave up his shot at fame to answer a higher calling, the priesthood. The 2 don't get along well at 1st but eventually become friends. Fr. O'Malley findas a way to save the parish despite a disasterous fire. Along the way he also deals will a runaway, troubled youth & various other problems. I dare you not to cry at the heartwarming ending of the movie. This movie included many great songs, Ave Maria, Habanera (Carmen), Silent Night, Swinging On A Star, & Toora, Loora, Loora.

Bells of St. Mary's is about Fr. O'malley's latest assignment, St. Mary's, an innercity parish with a school. The principal is Sr. Mary Benedict (Ingrid Bergman) who has her moments of disgreement with the new pastor, esp when he gives the students an impropmtu holiday. There are various problems they deal with, the biggest being the poor condition of the school building. By the end most of the problems are solved. But while it ends on a bit of a down note, there is a ray of hope given.

13. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - Maureen O'Hara, Natale Wood, Edmund Gwenn, William Frawley - Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) is hired by Macy*s to play Santa Claus. Unbeknownst to them he really thinks he is Santa. This eventually leads him to be arrested & brought to trial to prove his claim. By now everyone should know how it is proven that he really is Santa. The scene is 1 of the great funny moments in movies. The real heart of the movie is a divorced mother, Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara) a Macy*s employee & the relationship with her daughter Susan (Natale Wood in 1 of her 1st & best roles). Susan has been hurt badly by the divorce & doesn't believe in Santa at 1st. But eventually she does. Interestingly, many of the things dealt with in the movie, esp commercialism of the holiday & a loss of the real meaning of the holiday are even more relavent today. This is the best version made of the story. Avoid the colorized version as it ruins your enjoyment.

12. Frosty the Snowman (1969 TV) - Jimmy Durante,Billy De Wolfe, Jackie Vernon, Paul Frees, June Foray - An animated retellng of the song, narrated by Jimmy Durante (His cartoon nose made his real nose seem miniscule in comparison). Professor Hinkle (Billy De Wolfe) is a less than talented magician who throws away his silk top hat out of fustration from his failures. When the children make a snowman they put the top hat they rescued on his head. Frosty (Jackie Vernon) then comes to life saying "Happy Birthday!". When Hinkle finds out that his hat really is magical, he tries to get it back. The children & Frosty take off for the North Pole to prevent Frosty from melting & Hinkle from getting the hat. Eventually Santa comes to his aid. & as Frosty flies off with him he promises he'll be back. (A sequel was made, Frosty Returns, but like most sequels, it wasn't done as well as the original.)

11. The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) - Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, Lloyd Nolan, & Willaim Frawley (He was also in the 1934 version.) - The movie is based on a story by Damon Runyan. Sidney Melbourne aka The Lemon Drop Kid (Bob Hope) because of his love for the candy is a race track tout. When 1 of his tips doesn't pan out, the mobster tells Lemon Drop he has to make up the $10,000 he should have won. To do so he creates a sceme to create a home for homeless old ladies named for 1 of them, Nellie Thursday (Jane Darwell). The home is actually a casino. He also gets several of his fellow shaddy characters to pose as Santas raising money for the home. 'Brainy' Baxter (Marilyn Maxwell) is in love with The Lemon Drop Kid, but can't get him to commit to marriage. Bob Hope has 1 of his best roles as The Lemon Drop Kid. This movie introduced the Christmas classic Silver Bells.

10. Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life (1946) _ Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers - George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) is the hero who is always putting aside his plans to help out others, even his honeymoon with his wife Mary Hatch (Donna Reed). Eventually he takes over the Savings & Loan started by his father. Right before Christmas Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell, best known as Gerald O'Hara in Gone With the Wind) looses $8000 of the S &L's money that he is supposed to deposit in Potter's (Lionel Barrymore) bank. Potter who accidently got the money sees this as his opportunity to finally put the S & L out of business. When a auditor shows up George reaches the end of his rope & plans to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. At this point Clarence (Henry Travers) an angel who has yet to earn his wings is sent to stop him. He does so by showing how things would have turned out if George got his wish & had never been born. This is where Clarence finds out all the sacrifices he made that we see in the 1st part of his life were really worth it. Naturally everything works out & Clarence gets his wings ("Everytime a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.") In the 1980s Saturday Night Live did a great lost ending to this movie that is well worth seeing also.

9. Raymond Brigg's The Snowman (1982 TV) - Openning narration by David Bowie - Except for the intro by David Bowie & the beautiful song Walking in the Air about half way through, the story is told entirely by the animation. It is based on the wordless book by the same name. It tells the story of a young English boy, James, who builds a snowman on Christmas Eve. That night the snowman comes alive to the delight of his maker. At 1st they explore the boy's home. Finally the snowman takes the boy off on a flight accross the seas & land eventually ending up at a gathering of snowmen & snowwomen for a party. Santa shows up & takes them home. The artwork on this is fantastic. It is done in pastel colors. The storyline is somewhat changed from the book, but much to the improvement of the storyline. When it originally aired on the BBC Raymond Briggs did the openning narration. Peter Auty sang Walking in the Air for its airing on the British TV. Aled Jones did it for the PBS showing. Some DVD versions have this along with the adaptation of another Raymond Briggs' book, Father Christmas. The main part of this story is about Father Christmas' decision to take a vacation & his adventures while on vacation. The last part is Father Christmas' return so he can deliver the presents to everyone in Britian. On the way home he stops in at the snowmen's party where he discovers he forgot to drop off the Queen's present. After doing so, Father Christmas goes home to his own celebration of Christmas. This 1 does have some dialog. Father Christmas is a bit of a curmudgeon & definitely not the jolly old elf we here in the USA thing of Santa as. The animation is again based on the, almost, wordless drawings in the book. But he drew this in a more straight forward style.

BONUS pick Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean (1992 TV) - Rowan Atkinson - This is the Christmas episode of the BBC series Mr. Bean. In it we see the adventures of Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson) as he prepares for Christmas. My favorite scene is the visit to Harrod's Department Store. (I promise I'll post this scene when it gets closer to Christmas.) There we learn something about the Nativity story that will come as a hillarious surprize to most. Another great scene is his attempt at stuffing the turkey. (A version of this scene was done in the movie Bean.)

8. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964 TV) - Burl Ives - 2 words: "Bumbles bounce!" That is my favorite line from this movie that I fell in love with when I 1st saw it in 64. It also has some happy memories from a Christmas during my college days. The story is based on the Johnny Marks' song (He also wrote the rest of the great music for the show.) Sam the Snowman (Burl Ives) tells about the year that Christmas was nearly cancelled. Rudolph is ostracized due to his glowing nose & he takes off with Hermey, an elf who wants to be a dentist to find out where they can fit in. On the way he meets Yukon Cornelius, visits the Island of Misfit Toys & deals with the abominable snowman. He returns in time to save Christmas. My only complaint is that it makes Santa a little less lovable than he should be because of how he treats Rudolph. The music produced so many classics such as Holly, Jolly Christmas & Silver & Gold.

7. Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966 TV) - Narrated by Boris Karloff, June Foray - "All the Whos down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not. The Grinch hated Christmas - the whole Christmas season. Oh, please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. Or maybe his head wasn't screwed on just right. But I think that the best reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small." That about says it all. Boris Karloff is perfect as the Grinch who tries to stop Christmas in this faithful animated adaptation of the Dr. Seuss story. (Avoid the live Jim Carrey version.)

6. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) - Chevy Chase, Beverly D"Angelo, Randy Quaid - The 3rd in the Vacation movie series & 1 of the 2 best. Clark Griswold is hoping for a good old-fashioned family Christmas. What he gets is anything but. Relatives show up from both sides of the family who do everything they can to drive him crazy. His bonus that he is expecting isn't. & about anything else that can go wrong does from problems getting the live tree to what happens to the poor cat. The scene where he lights up the house is a classic. & this movie has 1 of the best set of supporting actors there could be cast for the roles they play. (A made for TV sequel with Randy Quaid is a big let down.)

5. Irving Berlin's White Christmas (1954) - Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger, Mary Wickes - The Irving Berlin song written for Holiday Inn (15) is the springboard for this story. The story begins in WWII where Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) & Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) are putting on an impromptu show for the troops near the front. It is also the last day that their old commander, General Waverly (Dean Jagger) will be in charge. Davis cons Wallace into forming an act after the war which becomes a big hit. While in Florida they go to see an act with the 2 sisters of a former Army buddy, The Haynes Sisters, Betty (Rosemary Clooney) & Judy (Vera-Ellen). After helping them escape the sherriff they eventually end up at the inn/ski lodge in Vermont where the Haynes sisters are scheduled to play. They find out that it is run by Ret. Gen. Waverly aided by his granddaughter Susan & the housekeeper, Emma (Mary Wickes at her snooping best). The area is beautiful with just 1 small problem, no snow. The guys decide to bring their show up there to help out. Romances blossom, with the usual bumps in the road before the gala happy ending. The music is some more of Irving Berlin's greatest such as Snow, Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep, Blue Skies, Mandy, Sisters, & of course White Christmas.

4. A Garfield Christmas Special (1987 TV) - Voices of Lorenzo Music, Pat Carroll, Pat Harrington, Jr. - Jon Arbuckle takes his pets Garfield (Lorenzo Music) & Odie back to the farm to celebrate Christmas with his family. Jon's family has its flaws but there is definitely plenty of love there. & for Garfield there is plenty of food. (But not the lasagna machine he gets in his dream at the openning of the show.) Jon's Grandma (Pat Carroll) is the star of this story. She refuses to grow old gracefully but continues to enjoy life despite her setbacks. & we get to see a side of Garfield we rarely see when we see see what he does for the gifts he gives.

3. A Christmas Story (1983) - Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon, Peter Billingsley, Zack Ward - I think by now everybody knows the main story line of this movie, Ralphie's (Peter Billingsley) quest for "Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle with a compass in the stock" & his eternal fustration at being told by everybody "You'll shoot your eye out!" Ralphie is your typical 9 year old with the typical 9 yr old problems. His parents are somewhat clueless, esp his The Old Man (Darren McGavin). He & his friends live in eternal fear of the local yellow-eyed bully, Skut Farkus. All he wants is the 1 thing he is dicouraged from asking for. But he clearly has a great imagination. We see the family prepare for Christmas getting the tree, shopping, etc. The Old Man is at his clueless best when he gets a "Major Award" from his job, a tacky lamp in the shape of a woman's leg wearing a fish net stocking. From the arrival of the package marked "Fra-gee-lay" (actually fragile) & his thinking it is from Italy to showing it off to the neighbors he has no idea of how rediculous it really is. There are so many great scenes, the mouth washing with soap fantasy, the teacher's reaction to his essay fantasy, etc. But my favorite scene is when Ralphie goes to see Santa. & even Santa shoots down the idea of a BB gun.

2. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965 TV) - Charlie Brown is fustrated because he can't get into the Christmas spirit. He is esp fed up with the commercialism. So he visits Lucy's psychiatric booth. she suggests he direct the Christmas show. Naturally no 1 listens to him. The final straw is when they reject his choice of a Christmas tree. Finally he screams out: "Isn't there anyone out there who can tell me what Christmas is all about?" Linus responds: "Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you. Lights, please." & goes on to tell the narative found in Luke's Gospel. This is 1 of the few Christmas shows that actually focuses on the real meaning of Christmas, not some phony feel good real meaning.

& now, here it is the all-time #1 best CHRISTMAS movie of all time:

SCROOGE (1951 version of A Christmas Carol) - Alastair Sim, Kathleen Harrison, Hermione Baddeley, Mervyn Johns, Patrick Macnee, Michael Hordern - Over the years A Christmas Carol has got to be the most filmed Christmas story ever written. & of all the versions this is my favorite versions. (I'll talk about a few of the other versions I like later.) Everyone knows the story of that "squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!" Ebenezer Scrooge (Alastair Sim) who is visited on Christmas Eve by his dead partner Jacob Marley (Michael Horden). He is there to offer Ebenezer a chance to save himself from the same fate he is sufferring. 3 ghosts visit Scrooge & show him his past, present & future. 1 of my favorite scenes is the 1 with the Ghost of Christmas Present. After trying to send the ghost away the Ghost talks to him about the real meaning of the day: "Mortal! We Spirits of Christmas do not live only one day of our year. We live the whole three-hundred and sixty-five. So is it true of the Child born in Bethlehem. He does not live in men's hearts one day of the year, but in all days of the year. You have chosen not to seek Him in your heart. Therefore, you will come with me and seek Him in the hearts of men of good will."

While not perfectly faithful to the book, it does an excellent job. The scene where Scrooge sees the ghosts struggling to help someone in the street catches the horror of Scrooge perfectly. Every role is cast perfectly. Alastair Sim has 1 of his best roles in Scrooge. (He later voiced Scrooge for an 1/2 hr animated version of A Christmas Carol in 1971. This version won an Oscar for best animated short.) & the same is true for the rest of the cast. This version became my favorite as a child because a local station, KCRG, channel 9 always ran it for the holiday. & I can never watch the ending without at least a tear in my eye. (A few years ago they made a colorized version, avoid it, like so many great B & W movies colorizing it destroys the effect of light & shadow that makes some scenes so effective as well as looking so fake.) If you can only watch 1 version this is the 1 to watch.

But there are several other good versions made of A Christmas Carol. Most of the earlier versions keep the religious aspect of Christ's Birth a part of the storyline a lot better than some of the newer versions. Many shows have also taken their cast & adapted the story to fit their characters. Here are a few of my favorites:

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962 TV) - voices of Jim Backus, Paul Frees, Morey Amsterdam - Mr. Magoo is the actor starring in a Broadway musical version of the story. The actual story is done as if it was on stage within the outer story of the production. It does the basics of the story with some songs that really add to the humor of this version. My favorite is "Dispicable". Tiny Tim's greatest wish is for "razzleberry dressing".

A Christmas Carol (1984 TV) - George C. Scott plays Scrooge in this well written & well produced adaptation.

A Christmas Carol (1999 TV) - Patrick Stewart plays Scrooge in another well written version. He did a 1 man reading of the story on Broadway for many years. While all the other actors do fine I would have loved to have seen this done as a film of that show instead. But, it is still well worth watching.

Scrooged (1988) - Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Bobcat Goldwait, Carol Kane & too many other good actors to mention - Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is a modern day Scrooge who runs a TV station that is putting on a Christmas Eve live production of A Christmas Carol. Instead he finds himself living out the story. This is a funny updating of the story that is 1 of the best. It keeps the spirit of the story despite the changes.

Hanna-Barbera took 2 of their best animated series & adapted the story to their characters. The Jetsons Christmas Carol (1985 TV) - Mr. Spacely forces George Jetson to work on Christmas Eve. As a result things go wrong at home. Spacely is visited by his old partner Marley & 3 Ghosts. Short version that works well adapting to the basic characters of The Jetsons. A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994 TV) Fred Flinstone is supposed to star as Scrooge in a Bedrock version of A Christmas Carol. Instead he begins acting like Scrooge getting Wilma, Barney & Betty Rubble & everyone else mad at him. Another good fitting of characters with the story. By avoiding the more obvious choice of making Mr. Slate the Scrooge equivalent it makes it even better.

Scrooge (1970) Albert Finney plays Scrooge in this musical version of the story. The music was done by Leslie Bricusse who also wrote the adaptation. Good music, well acted with great choreography.

Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988 TV) - Rowan Atkinson - 1 hour special that is a part of the continuing series about the original Black Adder & his descendants. Ebenezer Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) is so nice that everyone is constantly taking advantage of him. When the slightly tipsy Spirit of Christmas makes & wrong turn & ends up at Blackadder's place the Spirit is forced to show the stories of several of his ancestors as well as a far future descendant. Naturally this Blackadder turns mean in th end. Great for fans of the Balckadder series. This adaptation uses the actors that were in the various series in both their familiar roles as well as some new ones.

Rich Little's Christmas Carol (1988 TV) - Rich Little plays every character as the many characters he is known for doing imitations of. W. C. Fields is Scrooge, Edith Bunker is Mrs. Cratchett, Nixon as Jacob Marley, Inspector Clouseau as the Ghost of Christmas Future, John Wayne, Johnny Carson, Paul Lynde, Groucho Marx, Laurel & Hardy, Jack Benny, Truman Capote as Tiny Tim, & too many others to name. Funny 1 man version well worth seeing for Rich Little's talents alone.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) - Another funny adaptation playing on the various Muppets real characters. Kermit is Cratchett, Miss Piggy is Mrs. Cratchett & Michael Caine as Scrooge in this, at times loose, adaptation that is another funny version. Many guest stars in cameos like all Muppet movies.

Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) - Animated Disney Short with Mickey as Bob Cratchett & Scrooge McDuck as Scrooge. Many other Disney characters appear as the other various denisons of this story. My biggest disappointment, it was way too short.

Scrooge (1935) - Seymour Hicks is Scrooge in this well done B & W adaptation. He was well known for his playing Scrooge on the English stage. You can see why in this film. (Again avoid any colorized version.)

A Christmas Carol (1938) - Reginald Owen is Scrooge in this version. Mr & Mrs. Bob Cratchett are played by real life couple Gene & Kathleen Lockhart (parents of June Lockhart who is a well known actress in her own right). It also has Leo G. Carroll as Marley. Another fine B & W adaptation. (Do I have to repeat the colorization warning?)

There are many other versions out there. Some are OK, some lousy. Some even did female versions of Scrooge. Many TV shows took the basic theme of A Christmas Carol & turned 1 of their main characters into a Scrooge for a fantasy Christmas special, again some done well, others not so well. These are the ones I like the best. (Many of these A Christmas Carol adaptations are available on DVD or VHS) Hopefully you will be able to enjoy some of the above with your family during this Christmas season.

I conclude my comments with a quote from Tiny Tim: "God bless us, everyone."