Top Twelve Heart-Warming Christmas / Holiday Movies

Most people think the song “White Christmas” came from the film White Christmas. You’re forgiven if you are among those people, but you would be wrong. It was originally performed in the far superior Holiday Inn. The two films have almost identical storylines with their “Let’s put on a show” themes, but Holiday Inn stars Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire while White Christmas stars Bing and Danny Kaye. I don’t want to knock the Kaye-man, he lived for years in my hometown of Seattle, WA, but he is no Fred Astaire. No one really is. Holiday Inn rarely gets shown these days as because it is a balck and white film (There was a colorized version commissioned in 2008), but it’s definitely worth a DVD rental if you can’t TiVo it in your area.

If the poster wasn’t clear enough, I’m talking about the version with Alastair Sim. I couldn’t tell you if this was the best version ever or not. I do know it was the one I grew up on and I’ve always loved it.

If you’ve been alive for more than a decade I’m sure you know the plot of Dickens’s venerable ghost story featuring the Christmas-hating Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge thinks Christmas is a waste of time and gives the mob unreasonable expectations for happiness in their meaningless lives. The story takes its turn as Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future over the holiday and ends up understanding the true meaning of Christmas. If only that could happen to the folks in Washington, DC when they go home this year we might all have a Happy New Year.

Want to watch it for yourself? Go ahead, the full movie is directly below thanks to YouTube.

When this film, based on a story by the great Jean Shepherd, came out in 1983 it did not do well at the box-office. Since then multiple pays on TV have made it one of the most beloved films of all time. So much so, that TBS runs a 24 hour Christmas Story marathon over Christmas every year.

Starring the late, great Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon and Peter Billingsley who has gone on to work with Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn as a frequent collaborator, both as a producer on films like Iron Man, The Break-Up and Four Christmases. He also directed the nearly unwatchable Couples Retreat, but I won’t hold that against him.

There’s really nothing much else to say. It’s a wonderful film. If you’re not bawling your eyes out by the time they sing “Auld Lang Syne” and Zuzu says “Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.” someone better check you for a pulse. You’re probably dead. This is also the film from which Sesame Street pals, Burt and Ernie take their names.

Oh, and guess what, you can watch it right now… in HD… directly below. Hit the fullscreen button and enjoy!

So there you have it… I hope you may have found a few you hadn’t heard of before and can now enjoy this holiday season as well as a few you intend to revisit.

If you haven’t checked out Brad’s list of Top Ten Christmas Films you can get that here. Have a Happy Holidays and share your holiday favorites in the comments below.

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