Favorite Christmas Movies

I admit it; I am an absolute fool for Christmas movies.

Remember that made-for-television Christmas movie with Jaclyn Smith and Paul Williams? Of course you don't. It was called "The Night They Saved Christmas," and it was made in 1984. You would never lower yourself to watch such a terrible film. But I would - and did. (We've recently heard from one reader who loved this movie - is it time to watch it again?) Don't even think of condemning yourself as being as bad as I am about Christmas movies unless you, too, own Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol on DVD. (I like the songs, especially that one about Razzleberry Dressing....)

Why are there so many bad Christmas movies? It probably has something to do with the laws of supply and demand. During the holiday season, most of us want to watch movies about the holidays. Consequently, there's a big demand. But it's hard work to write a great script for a Christmas film, and difficult to produce one. Thus, we have a lot of cinematic offerings that, were they not about Christmas, would probably never have been made.

On the other hand, some of the best-loved films of all time have been Christmas-related. Scenes from these movies stand White Christmas out in our minds clearly: Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye putting on a show, Judy Garland writing Christmas cards, Jimmy Stewart telling Donna Reed that it is, indeed, a wonderful life.

What follows is a list of my favorite Christmas films; it does not pretend to be the indisputable last word on the subject. It is not based on popularity polls. It is subjective. If I've left off your favorite film, don't despair. If there's a Christmas movie on this list that you haven't seen yet, get going!

Great Christmas Movies

Christmas in Connecticut
Miracle on 34th Street - With Natalie Wood as a child who doesn't believe in Santa. There was a remake, but who needs the remake?
It's a Wonderful Life
Scrooged - What can I say? I love this film. Bill Murray's great, and so is everyone else.
White Christmas. Although the character of the retired (and still proud, but not shrewd, from a business viewpoint) General doesn't really spend a great deal of time on stage, his poignant dilemma is really the whole turning point of the movie. That may be obvious - in fact, it is obvious - but as we baby-boomers age, it's interesting to watch how many "old generals" among us flounder, and require the help of those who are younger but, at least in some aspects of modern life, smarter. Something to think about, the next time you view this film.
Holiday Affair - 1949, with Robert Mitchum. Not as well-known as it should be, and I'm not sure it's available on DVD. If you can find it, watch it.
Going My Way - Bing Crosby as a young priest, Barry Fitzgerald as an old priest. Touching.
The Bells of St Mary's - Bing Crosby as a priest (again), Ingrid Bergman as a nun. A great movie.
The Bishop's Wife - Cary Grant stars, with David Niven, Loretta Young, and Elsa Lanchester. (The remake is unnecessary, and can be avoided.) This is about as unusual a script for a Christmas movie as you're likely to find....
Borrowed Hearts. With Roma Downey, and that guy who played Will in "Will and Grace." This was a made-for-TV movie that turned out to be anything but run-of-the-mill. The script is a delight, the acting is great. Sadly, no complete, unedited version is available on DVD as of this writing. The edited version is not worth owning.
The Santa Clause, and the Santa Clause 2, both with Tim Allen. (Haven't yet seen Escape Clause - heard it was terrible, but curiosity will still probably get the better of me.)

Short list, right? Of course, a new one could come along any day now. I'll be watching.

Bad Christmas Movies

And okay, Scrooge-like, I may as well mention some Christmas movies that you should simply avoid. Do yourself a favor, and steer clear of these:

Christmas With the Kranks - Tim Allen should stick to playing Santa . . . or maybe just avoid Christmas films from now on . . .
Jingle All the Way - Schwarznegger terminates any feeling of holiday joy one might have in this one.
Surviving Christmas - Christina Applegate's cute, Ben Affleck's annoying, and the script is awful. Maybe some day someone will make a nice, wholesome, non-annoying romantic Christmas movie with Christina Applegate.
Twelve Dogs of Christmas - Set in the Depression, the first 20 minutes of the movie are so annoyingly frustrating that one is left without any desire to view the rest.
Smoky Mountain Christmas. This was made in 1986 for television, and is about as cheesy as a mid-1980's made-for-TV movie can get; which is very cheesy, indeed. Not even Dolly Parton and the Smoky Mountains can make this worth watching. Nor, for that matter, can Lee Majors, as "Mountain Dan," the late Anita Morris as a witch, or the late John Ritter in a cameo appearance as a judge.

Dumb Christmas Movies I Still Like

Criticize me all you want.....

The Christmas Gift - made in 1986, starring John Denver. Here's the synopsis: "George Billings is a successful NY architect. One year ago, at Christmas, his beloved wife died. George and his daughter Alex visit a small Colorado town to look at a possible real estate development for George's boss. When they arrive they discover a charming hamlet where everyone, from the oldest grandfather to the smallest child believes in Santa Claus." This did come out on VHS, but I believe that's out of print. I haven't seen it on DVD. Maybe they'll show it on television....
Ernest Saves Christmas.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus - This sounds like a silly title, and the film is silly; but it stars Steve Guttenberg, and Crystal Bernard, who played Helen on "Wings." Update: This was silly - too silly, in fact, and I'm guessing the scriptwriter got coal for this effort....

Christmas Movies I've Missed, But Want to See

I'm semi-curious about Christmas Mountain. The plot and the DVD packaging both seem hokey, but the New York Times called it a "heartwarming Christmas tale," so I think I need to check it out.
I'm more than semi-curious to see Christmas in the Clouds, partly because it's received such great reviews and partly because I'm a sucker for Christmas romance movies.
Blizzard is another Christmas movie on my wish list; it's supposed to be a warm, family movie, and I love that sort of stuff. Update: Watched Blizzard, and just want to say, it's one of the best Christmas movies I've seen in a long time. Thanks so much to the reader who recommended it. If you haven't seen it, don't miss it! LeVar Burton directed, Christopher Plummer makes a great Santa Claus, Cree Summers is the voice for Aphrodite, Zoe Warner does a great acting job, and the script is terrific. (Yes, I really liked it!)

Christmas DVD's you might want to own......

Christmas Movie Mystery?

We recently received the following note:

To a fellow Christmasmoviephile,

I love them too—I saw one made-for-TV movie in late 70’s to early 80’s that starred Jewish actors in the roles of Jewish characters from a local synagogue taking the Christians’ places on Christmas Eve. One story in the movie is a nurse who returns this night to the profession after some major trauma, and two who take over the local Irish pub and can’t figure out what has been left out of the Irish stew, as an example of the situations in which they find themselves. Ring any bells? I have been searching for anyone besides myself who saw it, as I can’t remember title or actors, it was the situations that touched me most.

Update: Thanks to reader P.A.P., we may have solved the above mystery. She wrote: "I think that movie might be the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie from 1977 called "Have I Got A Christmas For You". It starred Milton Berle, Steve Allen and Jim Backus among others." We looked it up, and it sure sounds right. The cast was huge; in addition to those mentioned by our correspondent, actors included the lovely Adrienne Barbeau, Harold Gould, and Wolfman Jack.

And here's a note from a different reader:

Perhaps you or someone else can help identify this movie/show. I remember it came on TV possibly back in the 70's and was a cartoon about a little girl who writes a letter to Santa but it blows out of the window. The rest of the movie is about her dog and his friends chasing this letter all over town trying to get it back for her.

I don't recognize this film, but it sounds intriguing. If a reader has an idea as to the titles of the movies described, please let us know at djmcadam@gmail.com - thanks!

Here's a link to an online DVD store that we usually go to when we're searching for movies on DVD.