A Holiday Tour de Force: Discovering Overlooked Christmas Pictures
Something that bothers me about a lot of modern Christmas features is their overly self-consciousness – the gaudy decor, the checklist music choices, and the clichéd dialogue about the essence of the festive period. Perhaps because the style was not yet hardened into routine, movies from the 1940s often tackle the holidays from far more imaginative and far less anxious viewpoints.
It Happened on Fifth Avenue
An delightful discovery from delving into 1940s holiday fare is It Happened on Fifth Avenue, a 1947 semi-romantic comedy with a brilliant premise: a jovial hobo takes up residence in a unoccupied Fifth Avenue townhouse each year. One winter, he invites strangers to stay with him, including a veteran and a runaway who happens to be the heiress of the property's rich landlord. Filmmaker Roy Del Ruth gives the movie with a surrogate family coziness that most contemporary seasonal movies have to labor to achieve. It expertly occupies the space between a thoughtful story on shelter and a whimsical city fantasy.
The Tokyo Godfathers
Satoshi Kon's 2003 animated film Tokyo Godfathers is a fun, poignant, and deeply moving interpretation on the Christmas narrative. Loosely based on a John Wayne film, it centers on a group of displaced souls – an alcoholic, a transgender woman, and a teenage runaway – who discover an left-behind newborn on Christmas Eve. Their journey to locate the infant's parents sets off a chain of hijinks involving yakuza, newcomers, and apparently magical coincidences. The animation doubles down on the enchantment of coincidence frequently found in holiday tales, presenting it with a stylish visual style that avoids cloying feeling.
The John Doe Story
Although Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life deservedly earns much acclaim, his other film Meet John Doe is a notable seasonal film in its own right. With Gary Cooper as a charismatic everyman and Barbara Stanwyck as a clever reporter, the story starts with a fictional note from a man promising to jump from a ledge on December 24th in frustration. The people's reaction leads the journalist to hire a man to portray the mythical "John Doe," who then becomes a country-wide icon for neighborliness. The movie serves as both an uplifting fable and a pointed skewering of ultra-rich media magnates trying to exploit popular goodwill for their own ends.
Silent Partner
While seasonal horror films are now commonplace, the festive suspense film remains a somewhat rare subgenre. This makes the 1978 gem The Silent Partner a unique surprise. Featuring a superbly vile Christopher Plummer as a criminal Santa Claus and Elliott Gould as a clever bank clerk, the movie pits two types of morally ambiguous characters against each other in a stylish and unpredictable yarn. Mostly unseen upon its first release, it merits new attention for those who like their holiday stories with a dark atmosphere.
The Almost Christmas
For those who like their Christmas get-togethers dysfunctional, Almost Christmas is a hoot. Boasting a stellar cast that includes Danny Glover, Mo'Nique, and JB Smoove, the story delves into the tensions of a family compelled to share five days under one home during the holidays. Private issues come to the surface, resulting in situations of over-the-top comedy, including a showdown where a shotgun is pulled out. Naturally, the film reaches a touching conclusion, offering all the entertainment of a family catastrophe without any of the actual cleanup.
Go
The director's 1999 film Go is a Christmas-adjacent tale that serves as a teen-oriented interpretation on crisscrossing plots. While some of its edginess may feel dated upon rewatch, the movie still contains plenty aspects to enjoy. These include a composed turn from Sarah Polley to a standout scene by Timothy Olyphant as a laid-back drug dealer who fittingly dons a Santa hat. It represents a specific style of 1990s film energy set against a holiday scene.
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
The famed director's wartime film The Miracle of Morgan's Creek forgoes conventional Christmas cheer in favor for cheeky fun. The movie is about Betty Hutton's character, who ends up expecting after a wild night but cannot remember the soldier responsible. A lot of the fun comes from her condition and the attempts of Eddie Bracken's simping Norval Jones to help her. Although not immediately a Christmas film at the outset, the plot climaxes on the festive day, making clear that Sturges has refashioned a clever interpretation of the Christmas story, loaded with his signature sharp style.
The Film Better Off Dead
This 1985 teen comedy with John Cusack, Better Off Dead, is a prime artifact of its decade. Cusack's
