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Post by BingFan on Oct 21, 2022 19:11:16 GMT
I know that it’s pretty early to start thinking about Christmas movies, but, hey, Hallmark just started its Countdown to Christmas, so I guess it won’t be that long until my wife and I start getting out our favorite Christmas movies in early November. (We usually start our Christmas viewing comparatively early because we have such a long list that we try to see each year — atypical favorites like Cover Up and Larceny, Inc., as well as more expected Christmas fare, like Christmas in Connecticut.)
What Christmas movies will you start the holiday season with?
We often start the season with Meet Me In St. Louis (1944). Besides the well-known Christmas scenes near the end, where Judy Garland famously introduced “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” the movie’s lengthy Halloween scene provides a great segue between the two holidays.
Another movie with a Halloween-Christmas nexus is Bell, Book, and Candle (1958). In case you haven’t seen it, it’s a comedy in which Jimmy Stewart, a book publisher, discovers that the other residents (Kim Novak and her character’s auntie, Elsa Lanchester) of his small Greenwich Village apartment building are witches, as is Kim’s brother, played by Jack Lemmon. While the movie doesn’t actually encompass Halloween, the witches add the spooky element, and the story takes place during the Christmas season. It’s a good movie to see between the Halloween and Christmas seasons.
Other movies you like to see at the beginning of the Christmas season?
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Post by Andrea Doria on Oct 21, 2022 22:52:13 GMT
My Christmas viewing usually starts on Thanksgiving Day when I watch the Winona Ryder's version of "Little Women" while I cook.
I felt like I had a very early start this week with "Shop Around the Corner," on TCM.
I like almost all of the traditional ones with "Remember the Night," and "Holiday Affair," being ones I never miss.
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Post by topbilled on Oct 23, 2022 15:28:43 GMT
CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT is one I never get tired watching. I love that crazy scene where they think the baby has swallowed the watch.
Another one I like, that hardly gets mentioned, is the noir CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY (1944)...a Universal picture starring Deanna Durbin & Gene Kelly. Has anyone seen it?
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Post by BingFan on Oct 23, 2022 17:35:37 GMT
You’ve both mentioned some of my favorite Christmas movies!
My wife and I always save our two favorite holiday movies for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (unless we have guests, which can change the plans). Anyway, those two favorites are Christmas in Connecticut and White Christmas. We probably watch at least a dozen or more holiday movies before we get to the two “big” ones, always including Remember the Night, Holiday Affair, and The Shop Around The Corner (probably my favorite Lubitsch movie and, really, one of my favorites of all movies).
I was overjoyed several years ago when Remember the Night was revived via a TCM DVD release. I had become a big fan of it after seeing it on AMC several years earlier, which led me to buy the VHS tape way back then. As Robert Osborne said when TCM first showed it, it’s a movie that deserves to be more well known.
I’d love to see Christmas Holiday but have never had a chance. I was really disappointed a few years ago when Eddie Muller had it on the Noir Alley schedule but then had to pull it off for some unexplained reason. The prospect of seeing Deanna Durbin as a night club singer, playing opposite Gene Kelly, and in a film noir to boot (not what you’d expect from either of them) has always intrigued me. As a bonus, it’s based on a book by Somerset Maugham, an author I like very much (although I haven’t read this book yet). I understand that the movie is available on YouTube, but unfortunately, streaming doesn’t work well with our satellite internet provider (all that’s available where we live).
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Post by dianedebuda on Oct 23, 2022 18:42:48 GMT
You’ve both mentioned some of my favorite Christmas movies!
My wife and I always save our two favorite holiday movies for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day ... Christmas in Connecticut and White Christmas.
We always save those 2 for viewing during the week before Christmas. The Christmas Eve movie here is always Miracle on 34th Street (1947). I (but not hubby) always include one or more versions of The Nutcracker (ballet) and A Christmas Carol (1984) with George C Scott. Have never seen the Alastair Sim version & tried last year, but think either I missed it or didn't get around to watching the recording. Have seen a couple of other versions, but not really a Dickens fan, so not driven much towards that. Have tons of other Christmas movies, including the ones you mentioned, that are only watched some years.
The Shop Around the Corner (1940) is also a favorite of mine, but it's a year-round thing for me. Every once in awhile I'll watch it followed by You've Got Mail (1998) and, what is now probably my favorite version of the story, the PBS recording of the stage musical She Loves Me (2017). I usually skip the In Good Old Summertime (1949), a version that I'm not too fond of.
I too have never seen Christmas Holiday (1944) and am interested for the same reasons that you gave. YouTube works pretty well here, so maybe I'll give that a try after Thanksgiving. Gene Kelly could play a low life pretty well. He did get his Hollywood break after being seen on Broadway in the title role of Pal Joey after all.  |
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Post by yanceycravat on Oct 26, 2022 1:02:25 GMT
Here's my list of Christmas Favorites. If TCM doesn't air them I'll watch my DVD.
In no particular order it's just not Christmas without:
White Christmas (1954) It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
A Christmas Story (1983) - I may have been one of the few people who actually saw this in the movies! The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) Going My Way (1944)
And for you Old Time Radio enthusiasts:
When I lived in New York and traveled back to New Jersey for Christmas I got in the habit of listening to a cassette tape of Lux Radio Theater's 03/07/38 airing of Poppy starring W. C. Fields, Ann Shirley, John Payne and Skeets Gallagher.
There's nothing Christmas about it but I just loved it and saved it every year for that bus ride home. It was especially fun for me when it was snowing.
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Post by dianedebuda on Oct 26, 2022 13:28:47 GMT
A Christmas Story (1983) - I may have been one of the few people who actually saw this in the movies! |
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Post by LiamCasey on Oct 26, 2022 17:06:25 GMT
A Christmas Story (1983) - I may have been one of the few people who actually saw this in the movies!
So you were the other person I saw in the theatre back then?  |
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Post by Fading Fast on Oct 26, 2022 17:43:49 GMT
This thread's been a lot of fun to read. My girlfriend and I are big Christmas movie fans and we'll start watching them as soon as they appear on TCM or other old movie channels.
In addition to most of the ones already mentioned, almost every year we'll watch "The Bishop's Wife" and "Holiday Affair."
The only modern one we watch regularly is "Love Actually."
A few quirky ones we've found more recently are "Cash on Demand" and "Crooks Anonymous" (the latter brings my love of Christmas movies and Julie Christie together).
Another not-as-well-known one I'd recommend is "The Holly and the Ivy."
Last one for this post (I could go on and on), is "Desk Set" a fun somewhat Christmas movie with Tracy and Hepburn.
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Post by Andrea Doria on Oct 26, 2022 18:06:56 GMT
CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT is one I never get tired watching. I love that crazy scene where they think the baby has swallowed the watch.
Every scene with Robert/Roberta is hilarious. The funniest part of all, is no one mentions the obvious -- that this big beautiful brown eyed, dark haired baby, couldn't possibly belong to Barbara Stanwyck unless she had an affair with Desi Arnaz. |
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Post by yanceycravat on Oct 26, 2022 18:57:00 GMT
A Christmas Story (1983) - I may have been one of the few people who actually saw this in the movies!
So you were the other person I saw in the theatre back then? If you lived in Toms River, New Jersey, yes, that was me! |
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Post by BingFan on Oct 26, 2022 22:56:22 GMT
What a terrific bunch of Christmas movies! If I were to put the movies you’ve all mentioned in a list, it would practically be a rundown of the holiday movies my wife and I actually watch almost every year. No kidding — because there are so many Christmas movies we want to see, we usually start on them in early November and watch them until the end of the year. (Yes, I know — we’re kind of nuts when it comes to Christmas movies...)
Beyond movies I’ve already mentioned, we almost never miss classics like It’s A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Miracle On 34th Street, and Going My Way. (For some reason, we don’t seem to watch The Bells of St. Mary’s quite as often, even though we like the movie.) Desk Set is another favorite that we never miss.
The Bishop’s Wife features my favorite actor, Cary Grant, so I like to watch it every year. And Monty Woolley, who plays the Professor there, stars in another movie we enjoy each holiday season: The Man Who Came To Dinner.
A couple of relatively recent discoveries for us were Cash on Demand and The Holly and the Ivy. TCM deserves credit for helping us find these two gems. If I remember correctly, Cash on Demand was shown on Noir Alley with Eddie Muller’s typically interesting intros and outros. I remember that The Holly and the Ivy was originally part of TCM’s holiday schedule several years ago but was pulled and not shown until a few years later. We liked it so much that we now have the blu Ray.
I could go on and on...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2022 21:20:12 GMT
CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT is one I never get tired watching. I love that crazy scene where they think the baby has swallowed the watch.
Another one I like, that hardly gets mentioned, is the noir CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY (1944)...a Universal picture starring Deanna Durbin & Gene Kelly. Has anyone seen it?
S.Z. Sakall. (Cuddles)
I could watch Christmas in Connecticut on the hottest or coldest day of the year!
I seem to recall Christmas Holiday was scheduled for Noir Alley some time ago, only to get cancelled. I’ve not seen it.
Love Gene Kelly (naturally). Deanna Durbin, not as much.
Just Watch doesn’t show it available to stream. Not even in their database. |
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Post by topbilled on Nov 12, 2022 1:43:44 GMT
CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT is one I never get tired watching. I love that crazy scene where they think the baby has swallowed the watch.
Another one I like, that hardly gets mentioned, is the noir CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY (1944)...a Universal picture starring Deanna Durbin & Gene Kelly. Has anyone seen it?
S.Z. Sakall. (Cuddles)
I could watch Christmas in Connecticut on the hottest or coldest day of the year!
I seem to recall Christmas Holiday was scheduled for Noir Alley some time ago, only to get cancelled. I’ve not seen it.
Love Gene Kelly (naturally). Deanna Durbin, not as much.
Just Watch doesn’t show it available to stream. Not even in their database.
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Post by dianedebuda on Nov 12, 2022 10:34:47 GMT
Everything is “hunky-dunky.”
S.Z. Sakall. (Cuddles)
I could watch Christmas in Connecticut on the hottest or coldest day of the year!
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