15 BEST HOLIDAY CLASSIC CHRISTMAS MOVIES
In the mood for the very best Classic Holiday Christmas Movies to Watch to put you in the holiday spirit, I have rounded out a list of the TOP 15 Very Best Old Classic (and I do mean Old Classics) Christmas Movies to Watch this holiday season.
I remember watching old classic Christmas movies with my grandmother when I was a child. She sat in this beautifully embroidered chair (like Queen Victoria) and I would sit on her embroidered stool next to her. I love these memories so much! Some of these movies hold a very dear corner of my heart.
15 BEST HOLIDAY CLASSIC CHRISTMAS MOVIES
Where to begin with so many fabulous old classic Christmas Movies to watch. I say, as I suggest in my Best Family Thanksgiving Movies, is, to begin with, Miracle on 34th Street - AND THE CLASSIC, from 1934, not the remake (although that is lovely too).
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET
Miracle on 34th Street (70th Anniversary)
I had this one on my Best Family Thanksgiving Movies to watch because it begins with the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. So if you didn’t have an opportunity to watch it over Thanksgiving break, now is a perfect time too!
Perennial holiday film classic relates the tale of "Kris Kringle," a Macy's department store Santa Claus (Edmund Gwenn, in an Academy Award-winning performance) claiming to be the genuine article--much to the consternation of pragmatic store event director Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara) who is raising her daughter (Natalie Wood) not to believe in fantasy. But when the gift-giver is declared insane, a good-hearted lawyer (John Payne) fights to prove that the man truly is jolly old St. Nicholas.
The next Holiday Classic Christmas movies to watch would be Irving Berlin's White Christmas and Holiday Inn (75th Anniversary Edition) I remember sitting on my grandmother’s stool and singing along with all the songs with her in White Christmas and Holiday Inn. She loved these old classic so much.
WHITE CHRISTMAS AND HOLIDAY INN
White Christmas (ANNIVERSARY 4 disc special)
Celebrate 60 years of the treasured musical classic Irving Berlin's White Christmas with the spectacular new Diamond Anniversary Edition. Starring legendary performers Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen and featuring unforgettable music by Irving Berlin, the beloved holiday film offers timeless entertainment for all ages.
Holiday Inn (75th Anniversary Edition)
Irving Berlin’s musical trip through the calendar features the Oscar-winning film debut of "White Christmas." Retired crooner Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby) can’t shake the show biz bug and turns his New England farm into a resort, but soon finds himself competing with hoofer Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire) for the lovely Linda (Marjorie Reynolds). Virginia Dale, Louise Beavers co-star. The soundtrack includes "Happy Holiday," "Easter Parade," "Song of Freedom." Also includes an all-new 2016 Broadway production of "Holiday Inn."
Next down the list of the Best Holiday Old Classic Christmas Movies to Watch is Meet Me in St. Louis! I adore Judy Garland, as in LOVE and ADORE and know every song she has ever recorded!
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS
One of MY absolute FAVORITE movies of all time! I adore Judy Garland and literally know every song she ever sang in all her movies! Be ready to be annoyed if you watch a Judy Garland movie with me! LOL
Early-1900s St. Louis and its World's Fair is the setting for this beloved M-G-M musical directed by Vincente Minnelli. Judy Garland is at her charming best as Esther Smith, a young woman whose romance with the boy next door (Tom Drake) is endangered when her father announces the family is moving to New York. Leon Ames, Mary Astor, Margaret O'Brien also star in this adaptation of Sally Benson’s short stories. Songs include "The Trolley Song," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and the title tune.
IT HAPPENED ON 5TH AVENUE
No one is inside that boarded-up mansion on Manhattan's ritzy 5th Avenue, right? Wrong. Its secret inhabitants include a philosophizing hobo and some GI families who are unable to find apartments during the post-World War II housing crunch. They set up residence in the posh brownstone while the owner, the second richest man in the world, winters in Virginia. Except the owner isn't in Virginia. He's there in disguise... and discovering a lot about how the average Joe and Jane think and live. It Happened on 5th Avenue. And it happens with a talented cast and an Oscar-nominated tale set during the holidays. Make yourself at home and discover why this is a yuletide delight to discover.
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
I’m adding It’s a Wonderful Life to the list of the Best Holiday Old Classic Movies to watch because - it is the one old classic movie that MUST be watched! I was 18 when someone first introduced this movie to me and I can’t believe I never watched this as a child - OR if I did, it didn’t leave a memory for me. Force your kiddos to watch this - you will thank me later!
Frank Capra’s perennial holiday classic is one of the most beloved films of all time and the quintessential "Capraesque" comedy/drama. James Stewart is Bedford Falls banker George Bailey, who is driven by circumstances one Christmas Eve to consider suicide, only to be shown by neophyte angel Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) what a difference his life has made. The tremendous supporting cast includes Donna Reed, Thomas Mitchell, Lionel Barrymore, Ward Bond, Beulah Bondi.
REMEMBER THE NIGHT, HOLIDAY AFFAIR,
CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT AND THE BISHOP’S WIFE
A breezy mix of comedy, drama, and romance stars Barbara Stanwyck as a woman picked up in New York for shoplifting right before Christmas. No-nonsense D.A. Fred MacMurray agrees to have fellow Hoosier Stanwyck released in his custody so they can go home to Indiana for the holidays, and love blooms along the way. With Beulah Bondi, Willard Robertson; scripted by Preston Sturges.
Department store clerk Steve Mason (Robert Mitchum) let war widow and comparison shopper Connie Ennis (Janet Leigh) off the hook for returning a pricey train set and got pink-slipped as a result. He, however, is determined to make a Christmas gift of the toy to her young son...and go to war with her sort-of steady (Wendell Corey) for her attentions. The yuletide-flavored romance that became a latter-day holiday favorite co-stars Henry Morgan, Henry O’Neill, Esther Dale.
Wonderful holiday farce stars Barbara Stanwyck as a journalist out to make points with editor Sydney Greenstreet by inviting a war hero (Dennis Morgan) home for a family Christmas dinner. Now all she's gotta do is cobble together a family! Reginald Gardiner, S.Z. Sakall, Una O'Connor co-star.
Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus
n the fall of 1897, New York Sun editor Francis Church (Charles Bronson) was tasked with responding to a letter from 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon (Katharine Isabelle), who--at the encouragement of her father (Richard Thomas)--queried the paper whether there was a Santa Claus. His thoughtful response would be repeated and celebrated for over a century to come, and its creation inspired this engaging family holiday drama. Edward Asner, Tamsin Kelsey also star. 95 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English.
A Movies Unlimited favorite, this delightful holiday comedy stars Cary Grant as Dudley, a suave angel sent to Earth to come to the aid of young bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven). But is Dudley there to help Henry raise money for the construction of a new cathedral or to smooth over the clergyman's relationship with his loving, but neglected, wife Julia (Loretta Young)? Monty Woolley, James Gleason also star.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Lastly, I am listing THREE different A Christmas Carol movies to stream. There happen to be so many different versions made of A Christmas Carol it can be difficult to decide which one is the best version and which one to watch first or not at all. Naturally, the version you adore the most is subjective. I love the original because it is spooky and authentic. But I also very much like updated versions of A Christmas Carol as well. Let me know which is your favorite!
A Christmas Carol (aka Scrooge) (1951)
Stingy businessman Ebenezer Scrooge is known as the meanest miser in Victorian London. He overworks and underpays his humble clerk, Bob Cratchit, whose little son, Tiny Tim, is crippled and may soon die. He also has nothing to do with his nephew, Fred, because his birth cost the life of his beloved sister. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge has a haunting nightmare from being visited by the ghost of his business partner, Jacob Marley. He is visited by three ghosts and is given one last chance to change his ways and save himself from the grim fate that befell Marley.
A Christmas Carol (1984)
Academy Award winner George C. Scott gives a powerful performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in this truly heartwarming telling of Charles Dickens' beloved drama. At first, miserable, greedy old Scrooge can't tolerate the revelry of Christmas, much less comprehend its meaning. But visits from his former business partner's ghost and three cautionary specters from the past, present, and future force the man to soul-search. Grappling with his own losses, Scrooge recognizes the repercussions of heartlessness in this classic, timeless story that also stars Susannah York and David Warner.
A Christmas Carol (1938)
On Christmas Eve, an old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the spirit of his former partner, Jacob Marley. The deceased partner was in his lifetime as mean and miserly as Scrooge is now, and he warns him to change his ways or face the consequences in the afterlife. Scrooge dismisses the apparition but the first of the three ghosts, the Ghost of Christmas Past, visits as promised. Scrooge sees those events in his past life, both happy and sad, that forged his character. The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, shows him how many currently celebrate Christmas. The Ghost of Christmas yet to Come shows him how he will be remembered once he is gone. To his delight, the spirits complete their visits in one night giving him the opportunity to mend his ways.
A CHRISTMAS STORY
I’m adding this last movie to my list, last, because while it may be a classic to some, it’s not really classic to me. BUT, it’s a classic nonetheless! So many people love and adore A Christmas Story because they grew up watching it!
Peace. Harmony. Comfort and Joy...Maybe Next Year. The Christmas spirit isn't served up with more heartfelt warmth or observant hilarity than in this beloved adaptation of Jean Shepherd's holiday story. In 1940s Indiana, nine-year-old Ralphie dreams of his ideal Christmas gift: a genuine Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Air Rifle. But when his gruff dad and doting mom regularly respond with "You'll shoot your eye out!" Ralphie mounts a full-scale, hint-dropping, Santa-begging campaign. In this tale, you'll be caught up in all kinds of childhood calamities from snowsuit paralysis to the yellow-eyed Scotty Farkus affair to the dreaded tongue-on-a-frozen-flagpole gambit. We triple-dog-dare you to unwrap a more comical Yuletide classic!