Musique - "The Wish that I Wish Tonight" by Dennis Morgan
Oh yes, we all know and love White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life, but there are plenty more amazing classic Christmas films to enjoy. (And by classic, I personally mean anything made prior to 1970.) Here are ten of my favorites that you may not have watched—and some you may not have even heard of. P.S. There be spoilers, so read my synopses at thine own risk.
I feel like this is the most widely known of the films on this list, but I figured many people may still not have seen this 1942 movie. It technically takes place throughout a couple of years, but there are three different Christmases shown and it features the first of three appearances of Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas" in films. This movie centers around performers Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby), Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire), and Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale). There are love triangles and misunderstandings and schemes, along with several amazing musical numbers (although please, for the love of God, just fast forward through the truly racist Lincoln's birthday scenes where Jim and Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds) wear black face). The portrayal of the housekeeper, Mamie and her children is problematic, but I do so love Louise Beavers in any role she plays. This film is also available on multiple streaming platforms.
Technically this is a short film, but it's worth a watch. It's a modern day (as in 1945 modern day) retelling of the birth of Jesus, set in a motel along a deserted stretch of highway, complete with José (Anthony Caruso) and Maria (Lynn Baggett), a couple who need a place to stay for the night. Maria is about to give birth to a child we can only guess they will name Jesus. The motel owner, Nick Catapoli (J. Carrol Naish), remembers the meaning of Christmas when everyone at the motel pitches in. It always makes me cry. You can watch this short in full on YouTube.
OMG, this 1947 movie is so, so bad. I'm honestly surprised that they got so many famous actors to be in it. But I just can't NOT watch it every Christmas season. I know Christmas movies aren't known for their realistic plots, but this one is so f'ing crazy I just can't understand why they made it. Basically, an old, eccentric millionaire, Matilda Reed (played by a then 45-year-old Ann Harding) is at risk for having her fortune taken away from her on the grounds of being mentally unfit. But somehow, if she can convince her three adopted sons (who all call her "Aunt Matilda" for some reason) to come home on Christmas Eve, the judge won't give control of her money to her nephew Phillip (Reginald Denny). Oh, and by the way, even though they apparently love Aunt Matilda so much, these three sons of hers haven't bothered to even drop her so much as a postcard in the years since they left home, so she has no idea where they are. The three sons are played by big Hollywood stars of the time, George Brent, George Raft (I looooove me some George Raft), and Randolph Scott, and their individual storylines are so ridiculous and convoluted. Seriously—there are Nazis and an illegal adoption ring. There are so many plot holes and this movie raises so many questions, but I will still watch it, if just for George Raft and Joan Blondell, two of my absolute favorites. You can pretty much only watch this on AppleTV and DirectTV.
This is another excellent Monty Woolley Christmas film, also starring Bette Davis (in an almost un-Bette Davis like role). Monty Woolley's role of difficult and demanding Sheridan Whiteside was based on Algonquin Round Table member, Alexander Woollcott, and the premise was inspired by the thought of what a terrible houseguest he'd be if he had to stay for a long period of time. Whiteside and his secretary, Maggie Cutler (Bette Davis) have to stay with the Stanley family in Ohio over Christmas after he breaks his hip falling down their icy steps. He is rude, sarcastic, and overbearing—and Monty Woolley does an excellent job at portraying such an a-hole so that you still love him. I love Bette Davis in the role of the secretary who falls for a local writer, Bert Jefferson. And I especially love Ann Sheridan as the glamorous actress, Lorraine Sheldon, that Whiteside invites to Ohio so she'll steal Jefferson away from Maggie. This is an example of one of those classic films that has the rapid-fire and witty dialogue that old Hollywood is famous for. There's an excellent YouTube compilation of Whiteside's best insults that cracks me up every time. As far as I can tell, this movie is only available on HBO Max.
Another film on this list that you probably have heard of, if only because it was the precursor to 1998's You've Got Mail. It's set in a little gift shop in Budapest and stars James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan as fellow shop employees Alfred and Klara, who can't seem to stand each other. They both correspond with unknown pen pals, never knowing until the end that they're writing to each other. This main storyline is pretty much the only similarity to You've Got Mail, and I definitely prefer The Shop Around the Corner (and not only for a deliciously handsome young Jimmy Stewart). There are multiple steaming platforms that offer this movie.
Another charming, if far-fetched, 1947 Christmas movie. This one is centered around homeless Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor Moore) who secretly moves into the New York mansion owned by millionaire Michael J. O'Connor (Charlie Ruggles) every winter when O'Connor heads to Virginia for the season. McKeever befriends recently evicted war vet Jim Bullock (Don DeFore) and invites him to stay with him at the mansion. Then O'Connor's teenage daughter Trudy (Gale Storm) shows up, pretending to be a runaway so she can stay with them (because she totally has the hots for Jim and finds this whole situation quite amusing). And then even more people show up, including future "Gilligan's Island" Skipper, Alan Hale, Jr. Eventually, even O'Connor himself and his ex-wife, Mary (Ann Harding, who this time is playing her own age) show up, pretending to be homeless and in need of shelter so that they can meet this Jim person that their daughter is so in love with. It's ridiculous, yet awesome and heart warming. There are multiple places to stream this excellent film.
I honestly never thought Robert Mitchum was attractive until I saw this 1949 movie. Now I see the appeal! This movie is about a comparison shopper, Connie Ennis (Janet Leigh), who gets department store clerk, Steve Mason (Mitchum) fired. The two keep running into each other and there's a definite attraction. However, she already has a persistent admirer, Carl Davis (Wendell Corey), who desperately wants to marry her. Connie is hesitant to remarry after her husband Guy was killed in the war, especially because of how it might affect her young son, Timmy (Gordon Gebert). It's a predictable love triangle situation, but there are some really kooky bits and I thoroughly enjoy it. You can watch it on several different streaming platforms.
Barbara Stanwyck is a GODDESS and a true Christmas film vet (her 1941 film Meet John Doe didn't make this list because I feel like it's too damn depressing, but it does take place at Christmas, as does the next film on this list). This film pairs her with Fred MacMurray four years before their most famous pairing in Double Indemnity. They make quite a different couple in this movie! Stanwyck plays Lee Leander, a shoplifting jewel thief caught and brought before court right before Christmas. MacMurray is prosecuting attorney John Sargent who has the trial postponed until after Christmas so he can get out of there and go visit his mother on her Indiana farm. But he feels bad for putting Lee back in jail during the holidays, so bails her out and offers to drive her to her mother's house (also in Indiana) on his way. Turns out her mother is an asshole, so John offers to take Lee to his own family home for Christmas. Needless to say, the two fall in love, which causes some problems, given that he has to try to put her back in jail when they get back to New York. Content warning: John's butler, Rufus (Fred "Snowflake" Toones), was written to be a terribly racist stereotype and it's offensive and cringeworthy to watch Fred MacMurray pretend to be Rufus on the phone and to call him dumb multiple times. Despite that portrayal of a Black servant, the movie is incredibly enjoyable. I particularly like when Lee and John get arrested for trespassing and Lee gives the fake name of Mary Smith and says her occupation is bubble dancer. When the justice of the peace mutters, "Whatever that is," I crack up every time. You can watch this film on a handful of streaming platforms.
And now we come to my most favorite Christmas film of all time, 1945's Christmas in Connecticut, starring my fave, Barbara Stanwyck. This one is about writer Elizabeth Lane (Stanwyck), who pretends to be a Connecticut farm wife, mother, and cook and writes popular articles for the magazine Smart Housekeeping. In reality, she's a single woman living in a New York apartment who relies upon her friend and restaurant owner, Felix Bassenak (S.Z. Sakall) for any kind of edible food and the cooking content for her articles. Complications arise when the would-be fiancée of wounded Navy hero Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) writes the owner of the magazine, Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet) and asks if Jones can come stay on Elizabeth Lane's famous Connecticut farm for Christmas (apparently she feels that if he spends Christmas in a "real homey home", he'll want to marry her). To avoid catastrophe (hearing Felix mispronounce "catastrophe" the whole movie is incredibly hilarious), Elizabeth decides to marry her long-time friend and man-she-definitely-doesn't-want-to-marry, John Sloan (Reginald Gardiner) because he owns a farm in Connecticut and they can host the sailor and Mr. Yardley, who invites himself along, so that neither she nor her editor, Dudley Beecham (Robert Shayne) will get in trouble for making up the whole Elizabeth Lane column. Clearly, Elizabeth and Jefferson are going to fall for each other—thankfully she and Sloan keep getting interrupted before they can actually have their marriage ceremony. You know what's going to happen in the end, but it's still an enjoyable romp and Dennis Morgan is oh-so dreamy. There are a ton of streaming services that offer this movie.
