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The
Best Holiday Films
by Thomas
C.
Baggaley
You've finished
the last of all that Christmas shopping. The kids are home from
school for a few weeks. Perhaps family has come in from out of
town. It's the week of Christmas and you're finally ready to
really get into that Christmas spirit. Chances are that part
of your Christmas tradition includes taking in a movie or television
special to help bring in some of that holiday cheer. You may
have some traditional favorites you see year after year. Or you
may be looking for that new gem of a film that will help to enhance
your Christmas experience and remind you what this is all about.
With this in mind, I solicited the help of family, friends and
acquaintances, both inside and outside of the filmmaking profession,
asking them what their favorite Christmas-time films are. From
their suggestions and some of my own personal favorites, I gleaned
the following list. It includes classic favorites and new films
you may not have even heard of. Bonus points were given if an
LDS film professional was involved in its production, although
the films were never actually ranked and the list is not in any
particular order.
It's a Wonderful
Life (1946) - Any list of holiday films has to be headed
up by the Frank Capra classsic, starring Jimmy Stewart. It
seemed like every person I talked to mentioned this one.
You may be aware that this film was considered a financial
flop
in 1946, and although it received five Academy Award nominations,
including for best picture and for Jimmy Stewart as best
actor in a leading role, it didn't win a single Oscar. (The
winner
in both of these top categories that year was "The Best
Years of our Lives", which starred Fredric March.) It
wasn't until the 1960's that it took its place as a holiday
classic, following repeated television showings. However,
you probably didn't know that some of the music for the film
was
written by Academy Award-winning LDS film composer Leigh
Harline (although he was not listed in the film's credits).
Among Harline's
other films were Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio and
a couple of early church productions: Man's Search for Happiness and In
This Holy Place. You also may not have known that Jimmy
Stewart's personal copy of It's a Wonderful Life was
donated to Brigham Young University in 1983 along with many
of his other works. Mr. Krueger's
Christmas (1980) - Sticking with a Jimmy Stewart theme,
for years this film has been a huge part of my own holiday
tradition. As a youth, I felt a trip to see the lights at Temple
Square wasn't complete without stopping in at the visitor's
center to catch a showing of this film, which was directed
by Academy Award-winning LDS filmmaker Kieth Merrill and featured
music by the Tabernacle Choir.
A Christmas
Carol (various versions) - There have been so many different
versions and variations on the classic Dickens tale - I've
counted at least 43 myself - that I'm tempted to just suggest
you go to the source text itself and read it this year, but
this article is about films and TV specials, not books, and
besides, some of these adaptations have been excellent. Everyone
has their favorites. The Alistair Sim version (1951) is commonly
considered THE classic adaptation, although you should make
sure to try and see it in the original black and white, not
the colorized version. Other oft-mentioned versions include
the ones starring George C. Scott (1984) and Patrick Stewart
(1999). Among my favorites are musical adaptations Scrooge (1970
- starring Albert Finney) and The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992),
both of which have excellent music. Plus, I love fun level
of irreverence with which Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Rizzo
and company approach this overworked although invariably heart-touching
story.
If you're looking
for a film that will help put the whole season in perspective,
I have a couple of suggestions:
Ben Hur (1959)
- This film seems to be more popular as an Easter-time film along
with The Ten Commandments (1956), but this "story
of the Christ" is really a perfect fit for the Christmas
season. Not only is this a story about the message of forgiveness
and love that the Christ child would bring, but the character
of Balthasar, who is supposed to be one of the wise men who visited
the young child, reminds us at various points in the film of
Christ's words: "For this purpose came I into the world..."
The Testaments
of One Fold and One Shepherd (2000) - Again, perhaps you
haven't considered this excellent church-produced film (written
and directed by Kieth Merrill) as a Christmas film, but I love
the opening sequence, which depicts events at the birth of
Christ, especially among the Nephites and Lamanites, and it
really does help to put this whole Christmas season in perspective.
If you can make it to the one or two locations where it is
being shown, this is an excellent Christmas-time activity.
Some lesser
known flicks to check out...
Christmas
Mission (1999) - This very well-done short film on the
LDS mission experience is certainly not as well-known as Richard
Dutcher's God's Army, but it has already found a place
in the Christmas traditions of many LDS families. If you haven't
seen it yet, you ought to give it a try this year.
One Magic
Christmas (1985) - stars Mary Steenburgen, Gary Basaraba
and Deen Stanton as Gideon, the angel who must show a mother
the true meaning of Christmas. It's not just presents and materialistic
things, but the people she cares about.
Borrowed
Hearts (1997) - Roma Downey (from Touched by an Angel,
which is filmed in Utah) stars in this charming made-for-TV
movie of a single mother who reluctantly consents to help her
self-centered boss pretend he has a family in order to close
a business deal with a mysterious foreigner (played by Hector
Elizondo) who is more than he appears to be.
The Christmas
Box (1995) - TV adaptation of the popular story by LDS
author Richard Paul Evans starring Richard Thomas and Maureen
O'Hara.
A Christmas
Story (1983) - A lot of people make a point of seeing this
comedy each year in which a boy (played by Peter Billingsley)
tries to convince his parents, teachers, and Santa that a Red
Ryder BB gun really is the perfect gift.
As for more
of the classics...
White Christmas (1954)
- Admittedly, most of the Irving Berlin musicals were simply
a collection of his songs tied together by a very loose story,
and this is no exception, but the singing and dancing is great,
and Danny Kaye is my favorite comic actor of all time. Plus,
the fifth billed actor is Oscar-winner Dean Jagger, who was a
convert to the church and whose performance as General Thomas
F. Waverly in this film was excellent. Jagger also played Brigham
Young in "Brigham Young - Frontiersman" (1940).
Miracle
on 34th Street (1947) and The Bishop's Wife (1947)
- 1946 and 1947 seem to have been a good years for Christmas
films. I've already mentioned It's a Wonderful Life from
1946, of course, but these films - both from 1947 - are wonderful,
touching holiday favorites. Both films have had remakes in
recent years, but the newer versions pale in comparison to
the old black and white classics.
How the
Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) - Speaking of films to have
been recently remade, as popular as the Jim Carrey version
(2000) of this story was, you can't beat the original animated
adaptation of the Dr. Seuss story. Boris Karloff's narration
is a classic.
A Charlie
Brown Christmas (1965) - Growing up, a holiday just wasn't
a holiday if you hadn't seen the associated Charlie Brown special.
Snoopy and the gang provide a nice insight into the holiday
season.
Rudolph
the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) - There were a whole smattering
of animated Christmas specials from this time period - all
basically the same story done by the same production team.
Most of them you can miss. This was the best of the bunch.
Why? More than the familiar Burl Ives songs or the story, it's
Yukon Cornelius that makes the difference for me.
Finally, some
others which bear mentioning: The Christmas Gift (1986)
- starring John Denver, The Fourth Wise Man (1985) - adaptation
of the excellent Henry van Dyke story starring Martin Sheen and
Alan Arkin, The Santa Clause II (2002) - LDS screenwriters
Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio are among those credited with the screenplay
for this fun, new Christmas film, and you've got to applaud Disney
for finally figuring out that a film about Santa Claus should
be rated G, even if it is a live-action film, Nora's Christmas
Gift - produced by the church starring Celeste Holm, A
Celebration of Christmas (1991) - originally on PBS featuring
BYU musical ensembles, Luke II and The Lamb of God -
deeply touching church productions about the birth and life of
Christ shown at many visitors centers during the holiday season.
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