{"id":2941,"date":"2013-12-25T00:25:15","date_gmt":"2013-12-25T08:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/noelophile.com\/?p=2941"},"modified":"2013-12-23T18:34:49","modified_gmt":"2013-12-24T02:34:49","slug":"noelophiles-favorite-classic-christmas-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/?p=2941","title":{"rendered":"Noelophile\u2122’s Favorite Classic Christmas Movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Christmas<\/a><\/p>\n

OK, you already know all about It’s a Wonderful Life<\/em> and Miracle on 34th Street<\/em>.\u00a0 Want to see some other great classic Christmas movies?\u00a0 You might like:<\/p>\n

“Holiday Inn”, with Bing Crosby<\/strong><\/p>\n

A fun evocation of Christmas the way it probably never<\/em> was, in the 1940’s!<\/p>\n

Sure, you’re going to have to suspend disbelief (would the two main-character vaudevillians really<\/em> want a permanent relationship with a woman that fickle?\u00a0 And even if they did, and one of them “won” her, would the trio still be even on speaking terms?\u00a0 Here, they all seem to remain great friends throughout!).<\/p>\n

But, after all, it is<\/em> a Christmas fantasy–and the plot line gives ol’ Bing a great lead-in to sing that all-time, warmly-imagined Christmas classic–with a Christmas tree to help him out!<\/p>\n

\"cropped<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Christmas in Connecticut”, with Barbara Stanwyck.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a good feminist, my first reaction to this one is, “Thank goodness things have changed!”<\/p>\n

This classic 1945 “oh-what-a-tangled-web-we-weave” comedy manages to be a lot of fun, though.<\/p>\n

Let’s see if I can keep all the subterfuge straight here.\u00a0 A hospitalized veteran is on strict orders–no solid food.\u00a0 To get a thick steak, he turns on the charm for a nurse–who begins hearing wedding bells in the distance.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a single and completely undomestic magazine columnist passes herself off, every month, as “Mrs. Lane”, the go-to authority on cooking and home economics.\u00a0 Then, fate throws veteran and columnist together–at a Connecticut farmhouse owned by the columnist’s would-be fiance.\u00a0 Their meeting happens just as the columnist’s boss invites himself to visit her and her “husband”, for Christmas.\u00a0 (Yes, it’s convoluted–and enough to leave any twenty-first century career woman shuddering with “was-that-really-how-it-was” horror.)<\/p>\n

But, it also manages to be a great time–and worth seeing just for S.Z. Sakall’s hilarious and down-to-earth “Felix”, who plays the role of favorite uncle\/benevolent meddler to the hilt.\u00a0 His pithy comments at one “luncheon” scene are classic!<\/p>\n

\"Dickensian<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Scrooge” with Albert Finney
\n<\/strong>
\nAn imaginative, musical retelling of Dickens’ masterpiece.\u00a0 The cast has lots of fun with the Victorian world at Christmastime, as local boys taunt Albert Finney’s sour-faced Scrooge and an exuberant Spirit of Christmas Present shows him the error of his ways over a Christmas drink.<\/p>\n

Scrooge’s journey to a merrier Christmas–and life–is stage-managed with the help of rousing songs like “I Like Life” and “December the Twenty-Fifth”.\u00a0 Be warned, though–like any good Christmas Carol, <\/em>this one may have you reaching for tissues, especially during the courtship sequence or the later scenes with the Cratchits.\u00a0\u00a0 And I’ve always found the first “Thank You Very Much” number to be a little chilling–but it’s very effective, and Scrooge’s naive reaction provides excellent dark humor.<\/p>\n

There’s also one, very well-imagined scene during the Ghost of Christmas Future’s visit that I wouldn’t dare spoil here by telling you!\u00a0 Suffice it to say that no other Carol<\/em> interpretation I’ve seen has ever explored this aspect of Scrooge’s possible future–and it winds up being a lot of fun!<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas–grab the popcorn and enjoy!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OK, you already know all about It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.\u00a0 Want to see some other great classic Christmas movies?\u00a0 You might like: “Holiday Inn”, with Bing Crosby A fun evocation of Christmas the way it … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[191],"tags":[511,510,512,513,509,508],"class_list":["post-2941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies-we-like","tag-christmas-in-connecticut-with-barbara-stanwyck","tag-holiday-inn-with-bing-crosby","tag-scrooge","tag-scrooge-with-albert-finney","tag-christmas-movies","tag-classic-christmas-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2941"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2948,"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2941\/revisions\/2948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelophile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}