As the yuletide season draws closer it’s important to take some time away from the madness of shopping, wrapping, party-organising, and travel plans to get into the Christmas spirit. And what better way to do that then with a classic Christmas movie…
Christmas and Boxing Day might be the fun parts of the holidays, but the rest of it is nothing but a month of stress preparing for those two days! It’s no wonder musicians and producers flood us with yuletide albums and movies: we need something to get into that joyful “spirit of the season”. Every family has their favourite Christmas film that they sit down together and watch every year, but for those who like to mix it up, here are a few of our personal favourites!
For a Classic Christmas
There are some stories that inspire seasonal joy so well that they’ve been remade time and time again:
A Christmas Carol: Admittedly it’s weird to think that a story about a bitter old grouch could make a yuletide classic. Yet Charles Dickens’ novel about Ebenezer Scrooge – a man taught to feel compassion for his fellow man after being haunted by four ghosts – is probably one of the most remade stories in cinema! The first documented adaptation was Scrooge, or, Marley’s Ghost: a short film in 1901. Since then the sour old miser has been re-imagined on screen time and time again by Sir Seymour Hicks, Charles Rock, Reginald Owen, Alistair Sim, Albert Finney, Basil Rathbone, George C. Scott, Patrick Stewart, and Kelsey Grammer. 1988 saw the story re-imagined in a corporate yuppie setting with Scrooged starring Bill Murray, and despite its frightening content even Disney have adapted the tale with The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) starring Michael Caine as Scrooge and Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit. A Christmas Carol (2009) was a follow up, filmed entirely with motion-capture animation with Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman playing multiple roles – Carrey not only played Scrooge but all the spirits, and Oldman was Bob Cratchit as well as Marley’s ghost. This year the story is revisited from a different angle in The Man Who Invented Christmas, which chronicles the story of Dickens creating his famous novel, starring Dan Stevens as Dickens and Christopher Plummer as Scrooge. Whichever version you choose to watch, it’s impossible to go wrong with A Christmas Carol.
It’s a Wonderful Life: It may not have the years of adaptations that Dickens’ ghost story has, but Frank Capra’s 1946 comedy/drama continues to be a most celebrated classic. Based on the novel The Greatest Gift (1939) by Philip Van Doren Stern, the film tells the story of impeccable nice guy George Bailey (James Stewart) who remains selfless and giving throughout years of turns and bad luck, until he’s pushed to wishing he’d never been born one Christmas Eve. Upon hearing his wish, a novice angel named Clarence is sent to show George just how awful the world would be without him. Minus the fantasy element, this black and white gem is a romantic drama that tugs at the heartstrings of all with its relatable characters and identifiable dramas.
Miracle on 34th Street: This one is definitely for the eternal child in all of us who believes that Santa is real. The 1947 classic tells the story of a kindly old gent who is institutionalised after he claims to be Santa Claus, and a lawyer and little girl struggle to prove that he’s the real deal. A beautiful tale about innocence and the magic of heartfelt belief, Miracle on 34th Street was remade in 1994 starring Richard Attenborough and Mara Wilson, proving that a sweet story about faith and determination is just what’s needed to combat the stress and craziness of the season. If you want something lighter you might like to try Holiday Inn (1942) or White Christmas (1954).
For a Comedic Christmas
As laughter is the best medicine, what better way to ward off the yuletide blues than with something warm and funny?
Love Actually: Until moving out, I used to sit down religiously with my family and watch Love Actually every Christmas Eve. This film, about ten relationships happening during the holiday season, is one of my top 10 favourites of all time! Written and directed by Richard Curtis, it tells a bunch of different stories that are somehow all connected to one another by characters, settings and all manner of relationships. From the hilariously awkward courtship of the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) and his catering manager (Martine McCutcheon), to the heart-meltingly tragic love triangle between Sarah (Laura Linney), her office colleague, and her mentally ill brother, the film ticks all the boxes for sharing messages of love, kindness, truth, and compassion whilst delivering a multitude of laughs in the process. It’s clever, witty, sophisticated, and genuinely heartwarming. If you’re looking for something similar, but with less stories to remember, you could try The Holiday (2006) with Cameron Diaz and Jude Law.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: No holiday is complete without a slapstick comedy chronicling the stress of the holiday season. NL’s Christmas Vacation (1989) tells the story of Clark Griswold’s attempts to have a “fun old-fashioned family Christmas”, which quickly turns into a yuletide nightmare when everything that can go wrong does go wrong. It might sound awful, but schadenfreude –finding pleasure in someone else’s pain – is something that works well for comedies, especially if they’re set during the holiday season. Watching all these dramatic but hilarious things happening and preventing Clark’s happy family Christmas, makes our holidays seem less stressful and thus puts a smile on our faces. Just think, the season might be getting to you, but at least you’re not being held at gunpoint by a SWAT team!
Bad Santa: Is there a movie that delivers a happy message but is not all cute and family-friendly you ask? Yep, it’s called Bad Santa (2003). This black comedy tells the story of professional thieves Willie T. Stoke and Marcus Skidmore, who dress up as a department store Santa and elf each year to rob the malls. During a job Willie is approached by a young kid who thinks he’s the real Santa. After a series of chance meetings with him, Willie –in a very Scrooge-like way – decides to go on the straight and narrow before it’s too late. Bad Santa is the adult’s Christmas treat, filled with cussing, sex, and violence, but still retaining a sweet and tender message about Goodness.
If it’s been a particularly stressful season, you could also try Four Holidays (2008), Jingle All the Way (1996), Daddy’s Home 2 (2017), Deck the Halls (2006), Bad Santa 2 (2016), The Night Before (2015), or Bad Moms 2 (2017).
Coming up in Part 2 of 12 Films of Christmas: movies for a family Christmas and an unconventional Christmas.
What’s your favourite yuletide classic? Share it with us below!