One of the greatest blessings of the Christmas season is family time. With wintry winds blowing outside, it’s a great time to gather at home to enjoy some classic offerings from the golden era of Hollywood.
For most, It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street are the pictures that immediately come to mind when classic Christmas movies are discussed, but there are so many other worthy holiday pictures from the 1940s and ’50s to enjoy.
As you decide what to watch this holiday season, you may want to keep these titles in mind. All are available on DVD/Blu-Ray and/or via one of the major streaming services, and most will also show up on various cable networks this month. They’re guarenteed to warm your heart and bring a smile to your face, something we can all use.
The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
This film tells the story of an angel who helps a bishop with his problems, only to find himself in a precarious situation. Bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven) is so focused on securing the funding to build a new cathedral that he is neglecting his wife, Julia (Loretta Young), and their child.
An angel named Dudley (Cary Grant) arrives to guide Henry (who is the only person who knows Dudley is an angel) through his difficulties, but Dudley finds himself falling in love with Julia, which naturally is upsetting to Henry.
So we’re left with a very unusual love triangle. How will it resolve itself? Will Dudley, his mission completed, decide to remain on Earth? Can Henry compete for his wife’s affections with a very handsome and charming angel? You’ll have to watch this holiday classic to find out.
The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
This enjoyable comedy is set in New York City during the holiday season and, like the musical Guys and Dolls, is based on the works of author Damon Runyon. Bob Hope plays the title character, an inept racetrack tout who gets on the wrong side of a gangster and has to come up with $10,000 before Christmas.
The Kid hatches a scheme to house some elderly ladies in the gangster’s currently closed casino and thereby gain a city license that allows him to raise a small army of lovable mugs to accept money on the street for charity (though the Kid plans to use the funds raised to pay off his debt and save his own neck). The questionable Santas do raise the money, though not before the Kid gets on the wrong side of yet another gangster. And as you might guess, all turns out well in the end.
The Lemon Drop Kid is an enjoyable holiday trifle that has enough broad comedy to please the entire family. And here’s a bit of trivia: The popular song “Silver Bells” was written for this picture; Hope and costar Marilyn Maxwell perform a lovely rendition of this holiday favorite.
Meet Me in St. Louis (1947)
This family favorite is a nostalgic look at a year in the life of the Smiths, a middle-class (well, perhaps upper middle class) Midwestern family living in St. Louis just after the turn of the century and just before the opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, more commonly known today as the St. Louis World’s Fair.
The scenes that take place at Christmastime account for just a small portion of the film’s nearly two-hour running time, but they’re so moving and memorable that this beloved movie has come to be associated with the holiday season. It’s a safe bet that the beloved if bittersweet Christmas song “Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas,” which Judy Garland sings beautifully in the film, had a good deal to do with that.
This is a can’t-miss family pleaser, with Garland as second daughter Esther, Mary Astor as the Smith clan’s loving mother, and Margaret O’Brien as kid sister “Tootie” among the standouts in the cast.
Remember the Night (1940)
This little-known film has become a favorite among Christmas movie aficionados, though it won’t be of much interest to (and might not be appropriate for) younger kids. Like It’s a Wonderful Life, Remember the Night is at once dark and light, sad and funny, edgy and heartwarming.
Fred MacMurray plays John Sargent, a Manhattan DA who seeks a stay in his prosecution of Lee Leander (Barbara Stanwyck), a shoplifter who’s been caught stealing some jewelry. Sargent fears that, with Christmas just around the corner, the jury will feel sympathetic toward Leander and let her off too easily. But having been granted his stay, Sargent then feels remorse at the thought of Leander being stuck in jail for the holiday so he makes arrangements for her bail.
Leander thinks perhaps the DA has bailed her out for less than chivalrous reasons, but when the pair discovers that they’re both from Indiana, he offers her a ride home for the holiday. The problem is that, while a warm fire and loving family await him, the home Leander left behind is not nearly so welcoming, and when she shows up at her unforgiving mother’s door for the first time in years, she is rejected out of hand.
But she continues on to spend Christmas with Sargent and his family, and redemption seems at hand. The pair fall in love (of course), but Leander still faces charges back in New York for shoplifting. Will she face the music, or escape while she can?
Ably directed by Mitchell Liesen, Remember the Night was the last movie the great Preston Sturges wrote before he took on directing duties as well. If you’ve never seen it, you’re not alone, but you should rectify that sooner than later. Remember the Night is a celebration of the love, encouragement and acceptance a family can provide.
Holiday Affair (1949)
In the late 1940s, Robert Mitchum was known almost entirely for playing tough guys in westerns, war pictures and films noir. Romantic comedies were definitely not considered his forte, but a modest NYC-set picture he made with Janet Leigh has become a favorite among fans of classic Christmas pictures.
Leigh plays a single mother whose world is disrupted by an encounter with a war veteran (Mitchum) who’s something of a drifter. Leigh has a boyfriend (Wendell Corey) who’s a perfectly nice sort, but it’ll be clear immediately to rom-com fans that he hasn’t a ghost of a chance against the new hunk in his gal’s life.
It’s fun to see Mitchum playing against type, and Leigh is lovely and engaging as ever. Holiday Affair‘s charms are modest but undeniable, and if you’ve never seen it, we recommend adding it to your holiday movie slate.
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
This romantic comedy stands as one of director Ernst Lubitsch’s finest achievements. This wonderful film inspired two remakes (In the Good Old Summertime and You’ve Got Mail), but, as enjoyable as both of those pictures are, the original can’t be beat.
James Stewart plays Alfred Kralik, the most successful clerk at Budapest gift emporium Matuschek and Company. Kralik is so devoted to his work that he hasn’t time for a social life, but he does have a pen pal, a woman he’s never met in person, who provides a spark of romance in his life.
Kralik also has something of an adversary in Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan), a new employee who grates on his nerves to no end. She is, Kralik’s convinced, the polar opposite of his wonderful postal friend.
You may have already guessed the twist that brings this picture to comedic (and romantic) life, but thanks to the deft touch of Lubitsch, one of the greatest directors in classic cinema, you’ll be delighted and enthralled as you watch this classic comedy unfold. Be sure to point out Frank Morgan, the wizard in The Wizard of Oz, to the kids; he plays Hugo Matuschek, the owner of Matuschek and Co. and Alfred and Klara’s boss.
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