-A Few Words Before Reading-
Please be kind to not only the film at number 13, but also any other films I mention in my summary of that number. Any comment expressing negativity towards number 13 or any of the other films I mention in that summary will be deleted. So once again, please be polite 🙂
-Introduction-
Ah, the Christmas season 🙂 The celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth 🙂 Each year, I delight in putting up the Christmas decorations and the tree 🙂 It really makes my own house look so magical 🙂 Also, It is the one time of year (except for maybe one’s own birthday), where everybody arguably gets to open more than just a few presents 🙂 Christmas Day also happens to be my birthday 🙂 Yep, you heard it hear first my dear readers. December 25th is my birthday 🙂 Anyway, with all that being said, let us not forget one of the other most important aspects of the season 🙂 What is that one you might ask? 🙂 Watching Christmas films of course 🙂 I have admittedly eclectic tastes, though a few items on my list below are traditional entries 🙂 The 25 titles I am presenting to all of you are in chronological order as opposed to preferential 🙂 These are not my only favorites, just the ones I happen to watch during the season 🙂
Click here to listen to the late great Doris Day singing Christmas songs from her 1964 album of such 🙂
Also, click here to listen to Prim & Proper’s rendition of Here We Come A-Caroling
Also, click here to watch a video of TCM’s offerings this month with the above song playing in the background
Now without further ado, I present to all of my dear readers:
-John Charet’s 25 Christmas Film Recommendations-
(In Chronological Order)
01.) Hell’s Heroes (1929)
Dir: William Wyler
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: A church celebrates Christmas near the end of the film.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: As much as I love John Ford’s 1948 remake Three Godfathers, director William Wyler’s 1929 version entitled Hell’s Heroes still remains unsurpassable. Dramatically and visually poetic, Hell’s Heroes is as masterful a western as those of Ford’s.
Click here to watch the entire film
02.) The Thin Man (1934)
Dir: W.S. Van Dyke
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The whole film is set during Christmastime.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: The delightful chemistry between it’s two lead stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as detective couple Nick and Nora Charles is one good reason. The witty dialogue is another. Last, but not least, The Thin Man is just so entertaining on a whole. Oh and let us not forget Nick and Nora’s talented dog Asta.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
03.) Remember the Night (1940)
Dir: Mitchell Leisen
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The film is set during the Christmas season.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Released the same year that it’s screenwriter Preston Sturges made his directorial debut with The Great McGinty and his follow-up Christmas in July, Remember the Night is a fitting bookend to his career as a writer-for-hire. A genuinely funny comedy on the one hand and a touching drama on the other, Remember the Night serves as a perfect demonstration of Sturges talents as a writer. Plus, we get two lovable lead characters, who are played here by Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
04.) The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The whole film (or at least most of it) is set during the Christmas season and concludes on Christmas Eve.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Along with Heaven Can Wait, The Shop Around the Corner ranks as celebrated German-American director Ernst Lubitsch’s purest expression of the human condition. As to be expected, the result is genuinely funny and touching.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
05.) The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Dir: Orson Welles
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Watch the sleigh ride sequence.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: How does legendary director Orson Welles follow up one of the greatest directorial debuts in cinematic history? For him, he does it with this haunting adaptation of Booth Tarkington’s Pulitzer Prize winning 1918 novel of the same name. From start to finish, The Magnificent Ambersons remains a masterpiece of mise en scene.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to read an article about the continuing search for original 131-minute cut of Ambersons
Click here to view a short video about it
Click here to view a link to a 1993 book about Orson Welles original cut entitled The Magnificent Ambersons: A Reconstruction
Click here to view an excerpt from the 1982 documentary entitled The Orson Welles Story, in which Welles details how RKO sabotaged Ambersons
06.) Christmas Holiday (1944)
Dir: Robert Siodmak
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The present day sequence is set on Christmas Eve.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Dark and tragic. These serve as only two of many traits that have characterized the film noir subgenre. Director Robert Siodmak obviously understood this when he helmed Christmas Holiday. Blend the two aforementioned elements together and you get a demonstration of why it is such a fitting combination.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch the entire film
07.) The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
Dir: Robert Wise
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Part of the third act is set during Christmas Eve.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Against the wishes of producer Val Lewton and director Robert Wise, The Curse of the Cat People was wrongly marketed as a horror film in the same vein as it’s 1942 predecessor Cat People. In truth, The Curse of the Cat People plays out more as a psychological fantasy drama than a straight up scare picture. In fact, director Joe Dante once remarked that the film’s disturbingly Disneyesque fairy tale qualities have perplexed horror fans for decades. Late English-American film historian William K. Everson has implied that it is every bit as poetic as Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast. I could not have stated those aforementioned sentiments any better.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch this 2007 documentary entitled Martin Scorsese Presents: Val Lewton The Man in the Shadows
08.) Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: One of the vignettes is set during Christmastime. Among other things, the film is noted for introducing the world to the celebrated holiday song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Even though I rank his melodramas and comedies higher, director Vincente Minnelli is still a master of musicals and Meet Me in St. Louis (my second favorite after The Band Wagon) may be the most charming of them all. Judy Garland’s rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas never fails to move me.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch Judy Garland singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
09.) The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944)
Dir: Preston Sturges
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Part of the latter half is set during Christmastime.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: I think I may have finally answered my own question regarding what makes director/writer Preston Sturges so deservedly unique. The answer may be that his screwball comedies remain incomparable to all of the others. In The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, Sturges takes the subject of unwed pregnancy and turns it into a laugh out loud comedy with two lovable characters, who are played here by Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton. Long after concluding with a sidesplittingly hilarious surprise ending, one question inevitably remains on the minds of we the audience. How on earth did all of this hilarity get passed the Hays Office? For example, in the film, three characters have the last name Kockenlocker. Kindly figure it out for yourselves :)) Either way, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek still emerges as a bonafide comedy classic.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
10.) Black Narcissus (1947)
Dir: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Country: United Kingdom
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: One sequence revolves around a Christmas Eve mass.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: British-American film critic/historian David Thomson cited Black Narcissus as an erotic film about the fantasies of nuns. I could not have stated it any more eloquently. Plus, I just had to include a Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger film on here.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch a youtube video link of British film critic Mark Kermode’s commentary on it as one of his BFI Player picks
11.) Good Sam (1948)
Dir: Leo McCarey
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The third act is set during Christmastime.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Director Leo McCarey’s unofficial counterpoint to Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life deals with some of the negative consequences that arise from altruism. Whereas the latter film has since been reassessed as a holiday classic, Good Sam has yet to receive this honor and for me, it is ripe for rediscovery.
Click here to watch the entire film
12.) All That Heaven Allows (1955)
Dir: Douglas Sirk
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Two scenes stand out in particular here. The first is outdoors at what looks to be a Christmas Tree shop. The second features Jane Wyman’s character staring at the snowy outside.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: As directed by the master of melodrama Douglas Sirk, All That Heaven Allows bright color palette contrasts with the drama’s social commentary on suburban 1950’s conformity. The plot here revolves around the romance between an older woman (Jane Wyman) and a younger man (Rock Hudson). Along with Sirk’s other masterful melodramas, All That Heaven Allows is as visually expressive as it is subtly insightful.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch Mark Cousins Moviedrome intro to the film
13.) Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
Dir: Richard Quine
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Part of the first act is set on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Richard Quine’s career as a reliable director debatably rests on his four collaborations with actress Kim Novak. Pushover, Strangers When We Meet, The Notorious Landlady and this enchanting 1958 romantic comedy entitled Bell, Book and Candle. While their chemistry in Vertigo still stands in a class of it’s own, the onscreen pairing between lead stars James Stewart and Novak here remains every bit as (If not more) inspired.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch the entire film
14.) Blast of Silence (1961)
Dir: Allen Baron
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The film is set during the week of Christmas.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: When it comes to dream double bills consisting of a film noir and a neo-noir, the pairing of Irving Lerner’s Murder by Contract with Allen Baron’s Blast of Silence would be an ideal one. Not unlike that aforementioned earlier film, Blast of Silence can be best described as an existential crime drama with a Bressonian sensibility. Furthermore, I have a feeling that If Blast of Silence were made today (2024 in this case), everything about it would remain intact. In other words, as with Murder by Contract, Blast of Silence has aged like fine wine.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch TCM’s (Turner Classic Movies) Eddie Muller’s intro to the film from his Noir Alley series
Click here to watch TCM’s (Turner Classic Movies) Eddie Muller’s outro to the film from his Noir Alley series
15.) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Dir: Jacques Demy
Country: France/West Germany
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The conclusion is set outside a gas station on Christmas Eve.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Not Unlike All That Heaven Allows before it, director Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg unfolds against a visually beautiful backdrop. Only here, the film’s bright use of color aligns with the mood as much as it stands in contrast to it. As a coming-of-age musical (all of the dialogue is sung), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg resonates with me on so many levels. The denouement never fails to bring tears to my eyes.
Click here to watch a Restoration trailer of it
Click here to watch a what I believe is a BFI 2019 trailer showing of it
Click here to watch a recent 4K Restoration trailer for it
16.) Female Trouble (1974)
Dir: John Waters
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The early parts of the film’s first half. I usually watch this one shortly before or after Thanksgiving.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Quite possibly one of the few (If not the only) genuine trash classics that can be watched and enjoyed during Christmastime. For me, Female Trouble is the film I will watch on the last day of November to kick off my Christmas viewing marathon. Before hitting the mainstream somewhat with Polyester, Hairspray and Cry-Baby, iconoclastic director/writer John Waters was making delightfully trashy 16mm underground films like Pink Flamingos, Desperate Living and this one in between the two. In Female Trouble, the late great Divine (a then Waters regular) plays bad girl Dawn Davenport, who embarks on a life of crime when she does not receive her beloved Cha Cha Heels for Christmas. A ridiculous premise no doubt, but only Waters could write such trash and make it charming at the same time. I hate you, I hate this house, and I hate Christmas! is just one of many truly hilarious lines that can be found in the film. Click here to see more examples.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch a TCM interview with John Waters from earlier in the year
Click here to view John Waters Top 10 Favorite Films of 2024
Click here to watch one video of an actress reaction (I won’t spoil) from his number one choice’s reaction
Click here to listen to all of the songs from his album of Christmas songs (I believe it was from 2013) entitled A John Waters Christmas
17.) Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Dir: Ingmar Bergman
Country: Sweden/France/West Germany
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The opening sequence is set during Christmastime.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Every once in a while, Fanny and Alexander gets wrongfully dismissed as Ingmar Bergman’s sellout film, but as a huge fan of the aforementioned Swedish director myself, I can assure all of you dear readers that it is anything but. Fanny and Alexander is undoubtedly more optimistic than his then more recent films, but standing on it’s own, it remains every bit as emotionally and intellectually stimulating as the rest of Bergman’s work. At the heart of it, Fanny and Alexander is a semi-autobiographical period drama of Bergman’s upbringing as a child. In fact, the latter title character is based (loosely or otherwise) on Bergman himself. One can’t get more personal than that. Though I still rank Persona, Wild Strawberries, Cries and Whispers and Saraband above it, Fanny and Alexander still remains a grand late period cinematic achievement that I never tire of watching.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch a BFI 40th anniversary trailer for it
Click here to watch a youtube video link of British film critic Mark Kermode’s commentary on it as one of his BFI Player picks
18.) A Christmas Story (1983)
Dir: Bob Clark
Country: United States/Canada
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Everything about it basically.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: What do you know, a traditional comedic Christmas classic. What else can be said about A Christmas Story that has not been said yet? The vignettes for one thing. Whether it be the licking of a school flagpole in one episode to the presence of a leg lamp clad in fishnet stockings, it is nothing but pure hilarity from start to finish. Last, but not least, who can forget the lead child protagonist’s wish of a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle for his Christmas present. Almost everybody’s response to it is the inevitable you’ll shoot your eye out.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
19.) The Dead (1987)
Dir: John Huston
Country: United Kingdom/United States/West Germany
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The story is set during a dinner party celebrating the Epiphany.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: If anything else, The Dead not only resembles the work of a seasoned veteran, but also that of a born-again director. For his intended or unintended swan song, Huston adapts James Joyce’s title story that first appeared in the aforementioned celebrated author’s 1914 book of shorts entitled The Dubliners. Huston’s refined touch fits perfectly with the elegantly written drama, which is penned by his son Tony. The result is every bit as intimate as it is profound.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
20.) Die Hard (1988)
Dir: John McTiernan
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The entire film is set on Christmas Eve night.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Along with A Christmas Story, this recommendation is for all of you normies out there. Admittedly, I wrestled back and forth as to whether or not I should include Die Hard on this list. Make no mistake, I love the film and I do watch it four times each year with December marking one of those occasions. Taking all of that into account, I just decided to put it on here anyway. What else can be said about this action-packed masterpiece that has not been said before? Aside from featuring a suave villain played with relish by late great British actor Alan Rickman, Die Hard made a superstar out of a then low-profile Bruce Willis, who at the time was only known as one of the two leads (the other being Cybill Shepherd) on the ABC television series Moonlighting. In contrast to all of the Ramboesque type action heroes at the time, Willis John McClane is a wisecracking everyman (a cop in this case) and to feature such a character at the time was a breath of fresh air when the action genre was showing a slight (just slight) case of wear and tear. All in all, in the words of the immortal McClane, Yippie-Ki-Yay motherf**ker.
Click here to watch the first original theatrical trailer for it
Click here to watch the second trailer for it
Click here to watch the third trailer for it
Click here to watch a 30th Anniversary trailer for it
Click here to watch a hilarious trailer in the style of a Christmas themed film :))
21.) The Long Day Closes (1992)
Dir: Terence Davies
Country: United Kingdom
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Along with a child staring at a window (it is snowing outside), we get a poetic image of a family (all dressed up) sitting at a table for Christmas Eve dinner. This film is full of many other such images.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: In contrast to the bleakness and existential dread that powered the late great British director Terence Davies Children, Madonna and Child, Death and Transfiguration (his three early short films) and Distant Voices, Still Lives (his first feature-length film), The Long Day Closes is driven more by a beautifully realized combination of gentleness and melancholia. In The Long Day Closes, the grimmer aspects of those previous films are limited to the surface. This time around, it is jubilation and togetherness that take center stage. One of many standout images is set in a packed movie theater and the camera gazes in the center top at a young boy (the film’s protagonist), who has a look of joy on his face at what he is watching. As with it’s predecessor, The Long Day Closes is an autobiographical film for Davies. In fact, Davies love for Classical Hollywood cinema (it is set during the mid-1950’s) is emphasized by excerpts from numerous films of that era peppered throughout. I too share his passion. The Long Day Closes is as much a celebration of cinema as it is the cinematic equivalent of a poem.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch a short video about the use of dissolves and memory in the film
Click here to watch this 1992 documentary on Terence Davies (one of the joys here comes at the 3:00 mark of the video featuring him lip-synching to Doris Day)
Click here to watch Terence Davies insightful analysis on Ingmar Bergman’s Cries and Whispers from a 1990 episode of Channel 4’s Movie Masterclass
Click here to watch Terence Davies 1989 BBC Film Club into to Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove
Click here to watch Terence Davies 1989 BBC Film Club into to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey
Click here to watch a video entitled In Conversation: Terence Davies
Click here to watch a video of Terence Davies talking about Ealing Studios
Click here to watch a video of Terence Davies appreciation of The Ladykillers
22.) Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Country: United Kingdom/United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The whole film is set during the holiday season. For example, we see Christmas lights displayed in various places.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Along with Barry Lyndon, Eyes Wide Shut is legendary director Stanley Kubrick’s most mature film to date. A fitting achievement for a debatably unintended swan song. Here, Kubrick takes the early 20th-century Vienna setting of Arthur Schnitzler’s 1926 novella Traumnovelle (the film’s source material) and interestingly updates it to the then present day New York City of the 1990’s. With the exception of one or two establishing shots, Eyes Wide Shut was filmed entirely in the United Kingdom (England in this case). This blends perfectly with the film’s dreamlike quality. The result is simultaneously disturbing and sexy.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch another trailer for it
23.) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Dir: Wes Anderson
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Vince Guaraldi’s Christmas Time Is Here is played in the film. Enough said.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: As to be expected from director/co-writer Wes Anderson, beneath The Royal Tenenbaums stylized surface, lies at the center, a deadpan and poignant comedy/drama effortlessly acted by it’s ensemble cast. The now retired Gene Hackman stands out especially as flawed family patriarch Royal Tenenbaum. Like Anderson’s other films, The Royal Tenenbaums is set to a distinctive soundtrack of popular songs.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
24.) Bad Santa (2003)
Dir: Terry Zwigoff
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The film is set during the Christmas season.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Delightfully tasteless comedies like Bad Santa are in short supply compared to the endless number of tasteful ones, which is why I always gladly welcome something like this. Lead actor Billy Bob Thornton’s performance as the irreverent title character (named Willie T. Soke here) is worthy to that of the late great W.C. Fields.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
25.) Carol (2015)
Dir: Todd Haynes
Country: United Kingdom/United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The first half is set during the Christmas season.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: If Carol is not the greatest LGBTQ romance drama ever made, then it certainly comes close. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt (under the pseudonym Claire Morgan), Carol is like a collaborative match made in heaven. On the one hand, Carol is helmed by gay director Todd Haynes and on the other, it is written by lesbian screenwriter/playwright Phyllis Nagy. When it comes to content, the two complete each other so effortlessly, one is tricked into thinking that the whole production must have been a cakewalk. As a period piece set during the early 1950’s, we are treated to beautifully evocative Super 16mm cinematography and costume designs courtesy of Ed Lachman and Sandy Powell respectively as well as Carter Burwell’s expressive music score. Last, but not least, who can forget the standout performances of it’s two lead actresses, which in this case are Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara? In Carol, Blanchett and Mara imbue their respective characters with grace and pathos. Carol is also noted for featuring one of the most tender lesbian sex scenes ever depicted in an English-Language film.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch the film’s second trailer
Click here to listen to composer Carter Burwell’s entire score for Carol
Let me conclude this blog entry with two questions for my dear readers below:
What Christmas films do you love to watch during the season?
What links (video or otherwise) interested you the most?
cinematiccoffee 