The Silver Screen Oasis

Halloween is successfully under our belts and it's time to look ahead. I could use some Christmas cheer as the countdown to the end of the year begins. What are your favorite movies with a Christmas theme (you can even include TV specials if you're so inclined). Do you prefer something sentimental or silly? And for bonus points, who is the best big-screen Santa of all time?

Hi, Chris.
Dicken's 'Christmas Carol'. The one I liked best was the cartoon with Mr. Magoo. Next, the one with Reginald Owen and Gene Lockhart. When I picture Santa, he looks like Edmund Gwenn. Monty Wooley would look the part, also. Good topic....Mel

As to the best Santa, Edmund Gwenn in "Miracle on 34th Street."

I like the standards. "It's A Wonderful Life." The aforementioned "Miracle..", but mostly I like the shows.

Christmas isn't complete without "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Linus's telling of the Christmas story is still very moving.

Favorite cartoon is "Bedtime for Sniffles."

I like the Dickens' A Christmas Tale starring Alistair Sim. CTV here in Canada shows that one on or near Christmas Eve every year and I make it a point to watch it in its entirety or at least a good chunk of it.

Hey, who's this new Bogie character? I don't think I ever saw him register. Someone better check his credentials at the front gate. Make sure he has his cyber pass!

cinemalover wrote:Hey, who's this new Bogie character? I don't think I ever saw him register. Someone better check his credentials at the front gate. Make sure he has his cyber pass!

Ah shush!

It's just me SPTO

Thanks for the inspiration on nickname tho Chris.

There's lots of films I like, but my personal fave is A Tuna Christmas. If you have never seen this play, check it out--it's hilarious! The play features two guys who play twenty-odd characters in the small backwards town of Tuna, TX. There was an original show called Greater Tuna, but the Christmas play far surpasses it. You can get it on DVD. Here is a bit more info:

http://tinyurl.com/2zvd45

Here are a couple of youtube clips of Greater Tuna:

Well now.. let me think. Favorite Christmas movie. Hmmmmm. Wait! Who's that hanging on the upper left of this message? Could it be? Why, yes! It is! It is! It's Ebenezer!

I also have to add It's A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story and Miracle on 34th Street.

Of course, I'll watch any version of A Christmas Carol.

Gwenn is my favorite Santa, but I like David Huddleston, too.

I guess I have to say that my favorite is White Christmas. When I'm channel surfing during holiday time, and I spot A Christmas Story, I have to stop and watch, sometimes all the way through, sometimes just for a few minutes. But that movie is a string of skits that can be viewed individually and enjoyed unto themselves. Receiving the lamp, dressing to walk to school, visiting Santa, opening the presents, just so many wonderful memories we all share. Not necessarily the same, but similar. We all have an aunt like that, and us older folks either dressed in those immovable snowsuits, or dressed our kids in them.

Last year I purchased White Christmas, and received Holiday Inn as a gift, and watched them both this past August during that horrible hot weather. They actually helped for a short time. I love the color and all the musical numbers in White Christmas, and the end always brings a tear to my eye, both because of the General, and seeing the snow, and recalling first snowfalls from my youth. Holiday Inn is just such fun, I can't imagine anyone not liking it.

Funny thing is though, my favorite Santa Claus is actually Tim Allen in his movies about Santa. I think I prefer him in Santa Clause II but both are pretty good, and so is the Santa in The Polar Express.

So how's that for starting to get in the mood?

Anne

A lot of great movies have been mentioned. It's A Wonderful Life was always my favorite Christmas-themed movie, but I sure have a soft spot for the seminal TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! The voice cast on this is fabulous and the animation is unique and memorable. Great story.

I can't believe I forgot to add The Bishop's Wife.

I happened to catch The Preacher's Wife and it reminded me that my favorite Cary Grant movie was among my favorites for Christmas. Not that crazy about TPW, but I'm sure it has its fans.

Favorite Christmas movie of all time? For me it's REMEMBER THE NIGHT, the 1940 Mitchell Leisen film with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. A hard-bitten comedy / drama about a shoplifter (Stanwyck) who's busted on Christmas Eve and is bailed out by the DA (MacMurray). A dicey proposition arises when he takes her home with him to Indiana to visit the folks, saving her from spending the holidays in the slammer; her trial is postponed until after the holidays. What could have been a mawkish mess in less creative hands (Preston Sturges wrote the screenplay) emerges as a tough-minded romantic story that doesn't opt for a simple solution. It's a Paramount picture and TCM ran it last year. It's a remarkable film and long overdue for a DVD release.
I have a tie for second place: MIRACLE ON 34th STREET (1947) and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946).