A truly great Christmas movie should channel the mood of the holiday season. From silly Santas to shoot-outs in the snow, here’s our pick of some of the most popular Christmas films ever.
Each of our listed films has a Trivia Question with Answers at the end – Good Luck.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
1: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
A disarmingly sweet musical led by outstanding performances from Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien – the film offers a holiday treat for all ages.
Set in St. Louis, we follow the Smith family in the days leading up to the 1904 World’s Fair. The two eldest daughters grapple with life, love, and their dread of the family’s impending move to New York City. Meet Me in St. Louis contains a number of hit songs, from the upbeat Trolley Song to the beau-tiful but sombre Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Q1: This film was a box-office smash, grossing more money than any prior MGM release in 20 years with the exception of which film?
2: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
What other film could top a list of the greatest Christmas movies of all time? Frank Capra’s enduring classic stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, the unwitting saviour of Bedford Falls, a man whose goodness and generosity has touched more people than he realizes. In fact, as one bleak Christmas looms, he doesn’t realise it at all and is ready to commit suicide – until an angel named Clarence (Hen-ry Travers) arrives to show him the error of his ways.
Q2: What object does George promise to give Mary?
3: Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
This story of a girl (Natalie Wood) whose mother (Maureen O’Hara) unwittingly hires someone who may be the actual Kris Kringle as a department-store Santa at Macy’s Department Store. What follows is part fantasy, part romance (as O’Hara’s character starts to fall for a charming neighbour), part in-dictment of commercialism, part defence of letting children be children as long as they can, and part legal thriller (well, sort of). Mostly, the film, written and directed by George Seaton, is an irresistible bit of Christmas whimsy made unforgettable by Edmund Gwenn’s turn as the man who might be Santa.
The story inspired several remakes, including a big-screen version released in 1994 that starred Rich-ard Attenborough in the Kris Kringle role.
Q3: How old was Natalie Wood when she made this film?
4: A Christmas Carol (1951)
Widely considered the best adaptation of Charles Dickens’ timeless classic and is perhaps the most faithful film version – and Alastair Sim’s performance as Scrooge is perfection.
Dickens’ timeless tale depicts the life of Ebenezer Scrooge (Sim), a rich, self-obsessed miser. On Christmas Eve he is given one last chance for redemption when the ghost of his equally miserly busi-ness partner, Jacob Marley, comes back to warn him of the potentially devastating consequences of his cruel behaviour. After receiving visits from the spirits of Christmas past, present, and future, Scrooge is persuaded to change. One of the first people to benefit from Scrooge’s newfound gener-osity is his underpaid employee, Bob Cratchit. At his family’s Christmas dinner, Cratchit’s ill son, Tiny Tim, delivers perhaps the film’s most memorable line, “God bless us, everyone.”
The modestly budgeted film, quickly became a holiday classic. There were numerous film versions of the story released before this one, and further versions followed it, but this adaptation, grounded by Sim’s memorable interpretation of Scrooge, set the standard.
Q4: Who is the antagonist of A Christmas Carol?
5: White Christmas (1954)
It may be too sweet for some, but this unabashedly sentimental holiday favourite is too cheerful to re-sist. Starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen, it’s got a corny story line, predictable plot twists and it plays outrageously for sentiment and patriotism (not your usual Christmas theme)!
Clooney is lovely in the rather thankless role of the practical sister and was at the peak of her genius as a pop singer, Vera-Ellen does her usually charming thing, and Crosby…the master implants his genius in virtually every frame. In supporting roles, veteran character actor Dean Jagger is splendid as the general. The singing and dancing are first-rate (even without Astaire), and the songs by Irving Berlin are among his very best. One that never ceases to charm is the trifle, Snow, sung by our four stars in the dining car of the railroad train bound from Florida to Vermont. And of course everyone sings White Christmas, as thick snowfall at last blankets Vermont. What a magical moment, among many in this thoroughly delightful, if flawed, jewel.
Q5: Which dancer from the film went on to win an Oscar in the original West Side Story?
6: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)
Marketing man Neal (Steve Martin) is in a last ditch dash to get home for Thanksgiving. He makes his flight, which is then delayed and diverted to Wichita. In flight, he reluctantly befriends Del (John Candy), an enormous slob who proceeds to follow Neal – via an assortment of transport – like a bad smell.
A warm, mature offering from Hughes, with Martin’s restraint a perfect counterpoint to Candy’s enormous (and enormously amusing) fooling around.
Q6: How long did it take John Hughes to write the first draft of the screenplay?
7: Die Hard (1988)
Its many imitators (and sequels) have never come close to matching the taut thrills of the definitive holiday action classic. It stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman and Alexander Godunov. Based on the 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp, Die Hard follows New York City police de-tective John McClane (Willis) who is caught up in a terrorist takeover of a Los Angeles skyscraper while visiting his estranged wife.
In the wake of its release, Die Hard has been critically re-evaluated and is now considered to be one of the greatest action films ever made. It also has retroactively been called one of the best Christmas films, since the film’s events take place on a Christmas Eve.
Here are 8 Christmas motifs that make Die Hard a Christmas film.
The basic narrative situation of Die Hard is a man returning to his family for Christmas.
His wife is called Holly.
It takes place on Christmas Eve.
The chief villain Hans Gruber explicitly invokes the Christmas spirit: “It’s Christmas, Theo, it’s a time for miracles.”
Gruber is a classic bad capitalist villain: he’s there to steal money. Just as Old Man Potter does in It’s a Wonderful Life.
The soundtrack features Christmas tunes new and old: Run DMC’s Christmas in Hollis and Frank Sinatra’s rendition of Let it Snow.
Santa Claus makes an appearance (in the form of a dead terrorist).
Q7: Which Christmas song plays during the end credits of Die Hard?
8: Home Alone (1990)
An eight-year-old troublemaker must protect his house from a pair of burglars when he is accidentally left home alone by his family during Christmas vacation.
Kevin and his family are all set to go to Paris to spend Christmas vacation with various relatives, a trip that has no appeal for Kevin at all. He in fact wishes that all of his family would simply disappear, a wish which comes true in a manner of speaking when they leave for France without him. Initially de-lighted by the prospect of spending the festive period doing as he wishes Kevin soon runs into prob-lems when two burglars decide to set their sights on his home.
Hughes’ most successful screenplay and the film, which made Macaulay Culkin a household name, is a festive tale from a disgruntled child’s perspective. Hughes manages to capture Kevin’s feelings of precociousness and childish dreaming with a deft ability. We follow Kevin as he goes from delight at having the house to himself (and believing that his dreams really have come true) to defending his ter-ritory against the burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern). The majority of comedy comes from the boo-by traps the inventive Kevin creates which ruin each burglary attempt with fine slapstick humour.
Q8: Who was the original composer for the film?
9: Elf (2003)
A movie full of Yuletide cheer, Elf is a spirited, good-natured family comedy, and it benefits greatly from Will Ferrell’s funny and charming performance as one of Santa’s biggest helpers.
Directed by Jon Favreau, and starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel and Mary Steen-burgen.
Ferrell gives an inspired lunacy turn as a man who was raised by elves at the North Pole and discov-ers to his dismay he’s actually human sparking his quest to be re-united with his long-lost father (Caan in an inspired bit of casting), who works as a children’s book publisher in New York City, just in time for Christmas. Hysterically funny thanks to the goofy yet sweet and wonderful turn by Ferrell with a great cast especially the beguilingly pretty Daschanel as his fellow Santa’s Little Helper at Gimbels’ who he falls in love with.
Q9: In Elf, what is considered the first rule of The Code of Elves?
10: The Holiday (2006)
On the brink of Christmas, two strangers trade homes for the holidays and land smack in each other’s lifestyles. Amanda ends up in a sweet country cottage that looks as if it has been drawn by Beatrix Potter, while Iris moves into a Los Angeles mansion with a maid and a pool large enough for the Olympics.
An American woman (Cameron Diaz) and a Brit (Kate Winslet) swap houses for Christmas, both smarting from break-ups. While one gets Jude Law knocking on the door of a quaint Surrey cottage, the other finds Jack Black buzzing at the Hollywood mansion gates.
The film itself is amusing, often relying on Diaz’s trademark high-heeled pratfalls and Winslet’s love-lorn ‘Bridget Jones’-style routines. The romances are handled with precision and realism, and Law’s performance is a surprising stand-out (in his first romantic comedy).
The Holiday is a tale of two women, two houses, two love interests – Jude Law pairs with Ms. Diaz, Jack Black gets lucky with Ms. Winslet – but it’s also about movie love.
Q10: Which huge movie star appeared in a cameo scene in a DVD shop?
A1: Gone with the Wind (1939)
A2: The Moon
A3: Eight years old
A4: Ebenezer Scrooge
A5: George Chakiris
A6: Three days
A7: Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
A8: John Williams – of Star Wars fame
A9: Treat every day like it’s Christmas
A10: Dustin Hoffman
Source: rottentomatoes.com, vulture.com, timeout.com and en.wikipedia.org
