Holiday Viewing Recommendations

[scotrace]

Certain films and television specials deserve viewing at least once every holiday season. I hope you'll join me with your favorites here.
Last night kicked the season off for me with an all-time favorite: The Bishop's Wife (1947). David Niven, Monty Woolley, Loretta Young (who never looked lovelier than in this film), and Cary Grant as a remarkably convincing angel sent from heaven to intervene in the lives of mortals.
Niven plays a Bishop obsessed with raising several million dollars to build a new, spectacular church. Formerly a rather fun fellow, he is now so consumed with this project that he neglects all else around him, becoming a bit hard and cold to his wife (Young) and young daughter.
Enter the Angel Dudley (Cary Grant). He brings comfort and instant calm to those he meets, reassuring them that their lives have meaning.
He also manages to sweep the Good Bisop's wife off her feet, demonstrating to her husband that small things bring her great joy. He takes her out to a French restaurant for lunch, stops their cab for an impromptu ice skate, and takes her to visit a friend, professor Wutheridge (Woolley) who she has not seen in some time. The professor is not a religious man, yet is so taken with Dudley's quiet demeanor and comfort that he finds a new mission for his own life, and we eventually find him attending services.
David Niven gives us a wonderful performance outside his usual charming and witty roles. He also perfectly delivers one of the best comedic moments on film as he finds himself challenged by seating arrangements...
This is a sentimental, wonderful movie and Grant is surprisingly believable as a holy presence, never more so than when serenely directing a boy's choir, or stepping out into traffic knowing that he is safe, utterly protected and shielded by a pure faith.
The Bishop's Wife. A great kickoff to your holiday DVD collection.

 

[Godfrey Park]

My list

I agree with Scotrace, 'The Bishop's Wife' is a great Christmas movie that deserves to be seen every year. Naturally, it wouldn't be the holidays without a viewing of 'It's a Wonderful Life', 'A Christmas Carol' and 'A Charlie Brown Christmas', but I also watch 'Meet John Doe' with Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward Arnold every year. I try to catch 'Holiday Affair' with Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, and Wendell Corey on TCM during December and then fit these movies in as I have time:

Christmas in Connecticut
Miracle of Morgan's Creek
The Shop Around the Corner
Holiday Inn

 

[jake_fink]

Apart from the real chestnuts I love Holiday Inn for fluffy fun (I don't know where is con-NECK-ti-cut), and The Holly and the Ivy for some good old holiday angst.

 

[Novella]

I haven't caught it on TV the past few years, but I always loved watching the Just Shoot Me episode "How the Finch Stole Christmas." It plays on Christmas classics, like the Grinch, Charlie Browns' Christmas special, and others in clever ways.

Also this classic:

 

[Fletch]

1940
You will believe a couple of White Celtic Protestants as Hungarians, even without doing stupid accents. And they work for the Wizard of Oz!

1942
Bone up on your period references for this one. They fly fast, as does all dialog in a George Kaufman opus. Laugh-o-tainment and to burn.

1945
Babs as a Type A career girl playing housewife. Dennis Morgan as the world's least salty CPO. Sydney Greenstreet eats everything in sight and Cuddles Szakall cooks it.

 

[Godfrey Park]

1942
Bone up on your period references for this one. They fly fast, as does all dialog in a George Kaufman opus. Laugh-o-tainment and to burn.

I can't believe I forgot all about this one! Monty Woolley displays an incredibly acid tongue to everyone. And you are so right, the period references fly fast and furious all throughout the movie.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

I made it a holiday tradition for myself to watch The 25 Days Of Christmas on ABC Family (once Fox Family). I really enjoy the RANKIN BASS specials like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' To Town, The Year Without a Santa Claus, Frosty The Snowman, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, and so on.

They have a great line up if you have ABC Family.

Here's this year's line up. The 25 Days of Christmas

They've also made it a yearly thing to make a Made for TV Movie. I do not know if they will be this year but the movies they make are always good from the ones I've seen so far.

It's December 1st to December 25th.

Don't forget this one!

or this one.

 

[flat-top]

I haven't caught it on TV the past few years, but I always loved watching the Just Shoot Me episode "How the Finch Stole Christmas." It plays on Christmas classics, like the Grinch, Charlie Browns' Christmas special, and others in clever ways.

Also this classic:

You can catch it on Fri 12/8 on CBS!

 

[flat-top]

And on Tues 11/28 you can see THIS:

 

[Quigley Brown]

Judy Garland sung a very memorable Christmas song in Meet Me In St. Louis.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

A Christmas Story - the story of a boy's quest for a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun - and just coincidentally, a guy bought the house used in the movie, restored it and it just opened as a museum this Thanksgiving weekend. Here's a link.

There's also a link to his shop which features those imported Golden Era fruhjeelee lamps as well...

 

[Lady Day]

"She thinks I'm cute!!"

and aint he?


LD

 

[Jack Scorpion]

Die Hard.

 

[The Wolf]

anyone remember this?

This is one I enjoyed: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032981/
Anyone else seen this?

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Gray Ghost]

I made it a holiday tradition for myself to watch The 25 Days Of Christmas on ABC Family (once Fox Family).

*****************

I do too, but I just don't see Harry Snotter or Potter being a Christmas show. They are having him lead out the season with all of his current films being shown. I guess I wll not be watching it on those days.

Another movie that has become a classic for me is National Lampoons Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase. I just love this move. I also watch Santa Clause 1 & 2 with Tim Allen. A Wonderful Life is a must see and any of the numerous Christmas Cartoons from the past. Another good one that is becoming a classic is Mr Saint Nick staring Kelsey Grammer. He should be tapped to play Bob Hope in a movie on Hope's life. He would be great and looks alot like him.

Gray Ghost

 

[GOK]

It's a Wonderful Life
The Bishop's Wife (excellent choice, Scott)
Miracle on 34th Street (Edmund Gwenn, not either of those abominations that were the alleged remakes)
Love Actually - I'm female, I'm supposed to like trashy chick flicks and this has all the right ingredients (Rickman, Firth and Grant!)

Gray - I love the Harry Potter films (prefer the books) but I agree with you; what have they got to do with Christmas, other than it being incidental to the story? It's akin to Barbie advent calenders, I tell you.

Has anyone seen Last Christmas, starring Ray Winstone? A lovely Chrimbo tale in which Wintone plays a dead father/trainee angel that has returned to help his son cope with beareavement. One could argue that it is sentimental claptrap....but perhaps no more so than anything else mentioned here (with the possible exception of Die Hard and TNBC!)!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ah! Love Actually!! Excellent choice -- and am I the only one who finds Bill Nighy strangely attractive?

I'll also second "The Man Who Came To Dinner." I was in a high school production of this a few decades ago, and ended up being the one who had to explain all the topical references to everyone else. And another thumbs-up for A Christmas Story -- we had a surprise showing of this last weekend, and when the opening title appeared on the screen, people cheered -- and were shouting out lines all thru the picture. A true cult classic.

One I haven't seen mentioned yet is "The Lemon Drop Kid" -- Bob Hope in a Damon Runyon story, and introducing "Silver Bells".

 

[GOK]

Ah! Love Actually!! Excellent choice -- and am I the only one who finds Bill Nighy strangely attractive?

Noooo, Billy Nighy is sex on a stick....but I have no idea why! I love that man! Have you seen Still Crazy, Lizzie? It's absolutely brilliant!

 

[BegintheBeguine]

dude, that guy gets HAMMERED

The Thin Man
I'm also with The Wolf: Remember the Night love that movie
On Her Majesty's Secret Service

 

[Avalon]

Most definitely A Christmas Story. It's not the holidays until I've seen it. This year I splurged and bought the 20th Anniversary 2-disc DVD set.