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lazypadawanHollywood has cranked out scores of Christmas movies over the years, ranging from movie adapations of "A Christmas Carol" to "Bad Santa" to this year's remake of the 1974 horror flick "Black Christmas." Unfortunately, most Christmas movies stink. For every perennial classic there are dozens of crud, like that Ben Affleck flop from a couple of years ago.
But there are three that stand the test of time, capture the Christmas spirit, and vie for "the greatest."
Miracle On 34th Street--From 1947, we have the incredible tale of a department store Santa who claims he truly is the Jolly Old Elf. The courtroom scene where Santa is judged to be Santa is one of my favorite silver screen depictions of lawyering. In the mix there's Macy's rivalry with Gimbel's, which has been long settled by the fact you can shop at a Macy's today while I think Gimbel's closed back in the 1980s. The cast includes Maureen O'Hara, a very young Natalie Wood, and William "Fred Mertz" Frawley. There have been scores of remakes but none of them are anywhere near as good.
A Christmas Story--Of the three contenders, this is the only one that was released within my lifetime and it also bears the distinction of the only one that was shot in color. That ought to tell you how rare great Christmas movies are. The odd thing is when this was first released in December 1983, it didn't make a big splash at the box office. Nobody ran out saying, "Wow, that was one hell of a Christmas movie!" I didn't even see it in the theater. But I remember some kids at school who did see were laughing about the film and quoting it. The film picked up steam over the years via home video and cable over the years and now, it's a bona fide classic. TBS runs 24 hour marathons of the film every year.
It's A Wonderful Life--Allegedly, when this first came out in 1946, it wasn't a big hit. I don't know if that's true or not. But it's not only considered the best Christmas movie by a lot of critics and film fans, it's often cited as one of the best films overall of the past 100 years. The movie's rep suffered when a copyright loophole resulted in every channel and its dog running the film ad nauseum during the Christmas season. But now, NBC owns the broadcast rights and people are able to enjoy it for what it is. I used to find the film schmaltzy, but now I understand why it is so popular. Mr. Potter is also one of filmdom's best villains. Often imitated but never duplicated.
I'd have to say of the lot, I'd give the edge to It's A Wonderful Life. Though A Christmas Story is definitely the funniest.
But there are three that stand the test of time, capture the Christmas spirit, and vie for "the greatest."
Miracle On 34th Street--From 1947, we have the incredible tale of a department store Santa who claims he truly is the Jolly Old Elf. The courtroom scene where Santa is judged to be Santa is one of my favorite silver screen depictions of lawyering. In the mix there's Macy's rivalry with Gimbel's, which has been long settled by the fact you can shop at a Macy's today while I think Gimbel's closed back in the 1980s. The cast includes Maureen O'Hara, a very young Natalie Wood, and William "Fred Mertz" Frawley. There have been scores of remakes but none of them are anywhere near as good.
A Christmas Story--Of the three contenders, this is the only one that was released within my lifetime and it also bears the distinction of the only one that was shot in color. That ought to tell you how rare great Christmas movies are. The odd thing is when this was first released in December 1983, it didn't make a big splash at the box office. Nobody ran out saying, "Wow, that was one hell of a Christmas movie!" I didn't even see it in the theater. But I remember some kids at school who did see were laughing about the film and quoting it. The film picked up steam over the years via home video and cable over the years and now, it's a bona fide classic. TBS runs 24 hour marathons of the film every year.
It's A Wonderful Life--Allegedly, when this first came out in 1946, it wasn't a big hit. I don't know if that's true or not. But it's not only considered the best Christmas movie by a lot of critics and film fans, it's often cited as one of the best films overall of the past 100 years. The movie's rep suffered when a copyright loophole resulted in every channel and its dog running the film ad nauseum during the Christmas season. But now, NBC owns the broadcast rights and people are able to enjoy it for what it is. I used to find the film schmaltzy, but now I understand why it is so popular. Mr. Potter is also one of filmdom's best villains. Often imitated but never duplicated.
I'd have to say of the lot, I'd give the edge to It's A Wonderful Life. Though A Christmas Story is definitely the funniest.
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Date: 2006-12-25 12:57 am (UTC)"YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT, YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT!"
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Date: 2006-12-25 04:14 am (UTC)A Christmas Story gets my vote!
Date: 2006-12-26 02:31 pm (UTC)Hope you all had a nice Chrimbo!! :)
"Rarely have the words flowed from my penny pencil with such feverish fluidity."
Re: A Christmas Story gets my vote!
Date: 2006-12-28 03:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-26 03:27 pm (UTC)