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TOP CHRISTMAS MOVIES
Barry Norman presents a magical guide to the all-time top 10 christmas films this Christmas Day - and you can decide the winner. |
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HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS ( 2000)
Jim Carrey is perfectly cast as the grumpy green anti-hero who later mends his ways. Based on a book by Dr Suess, it was originally made as a cartoon in 1957 and narrated by Walter Matthau. Director Ron Howard's Technicolor vision stays true to the spirit of the book while letting Carrey run riot in some truly remarkable make up.
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IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE - (1946)
Frank Capra's delightful Christmas fable may well be the ultimate feel good movie. Oscar nominated as best picture, it also won a nomination for star James Stewart. Originally it was called 'The Greatest Gift', no doubt alluding to Stewart's realisation that life is worth living after all following the intervention of Clarence the Angel, played by Henry Travers. It was later remade for TV in the 70s with both Stewart and Travers' parts being played by women.
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MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET - (1947)
Won an Oscar for best screenplay and best original story, as well as a Best Supporting Actor award for Welsh born Edmund Gwenn. Is Kris Kringle (Gwenn), hired to play Santa Claus in Macy's Department Store, actually the real thing, or is he just another loony? Lawyer Henry Payne is determined to prove his sanity. Along the way, Kringle teaches valuable lessons about the spirit of Christmas, making this a heart-warming tale which subtly references the story of Christ.
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MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1994)
With Richard Attenborough coming over all cuddly in the role of Kringle, teen movie supreme John Hughes directs a remake of the 1947 classic along with original writer George Seaton. Slightly saccharin, but little Mara Wilson (of Mathilda and Mrs Doubtfire fame) is too cute for words as the little Sarah Walker, who needs her faith in the Christmas spirit rekindled.
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SANTA CLAUS: THE MOVIE (1985)
Attempting to recast Santa for the post superhero generation, this was directed by Jeannot Szwarc, who would later go on to direct Ally McBeal. Dudley Moore stars as a disgruntled elf who leaves Santa's happy grotto to work for evil tycoon Jon Lithgow. Cameo parts for It Ain't Half Hot Mum regulars Don Estelle and Melvyn Hayes and a score by the estimable Henry Mancini fail to rescue a badly plotted and poorly executed movie.
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THE SANTA CLAUSE (1994)
Tim Allen, of Home Improvements fame, made his big screen debut as a man who inadvertently kills Santa and, thanks to the Clause of the title, is forced to take on the job himself. Much hilarity ensues, with Allen putting on weight and sprouting a beard, much to the consternation of his psychiatrist (an echo of Miracle on 34th Street) and taking over the business at the North Pole. It was sufficiently successful to to spawn a sequel in 2002.
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TRADING PLACES (1983)
John Landis, best known for horror flicks such as An American Werewolf in London and who also directed Michael Jackson's Thriller video, directs Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd in this hilarious role reversal comedy of. Jamie Lee Curtis plays a tart with a heart, while Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy are the wily old codgers whose wager sets the whole thing off. Murphy is superb as the street hustler Billy Ray Valentine, newly elevated to riches as a stock broker while Aykroyd's morally bankrupt yuppie millionaire is forced onto the skids. Needless to say, they eventually team up to give the codgers there just desserts.
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HOLIDAY INN (1942 )
Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby star in this vehicle for the songs of Irving Berlin, most notable the daddy of all Christmas tunes, White Christmas, which won an Oscar. Marjorie Reynolds plays a role originally earmarked for Mary Martin, mother of Larry Hagman, although her singing voice was dubbed by Martha Mears, who performed similar duties for Veronica Lake, Rita Hayworth and Lucille Ball, always uncredited.
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WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954)
A revamp of Holiday Inn, updated to a post war setting but retaining many of the original songs but not Astaire. Berlin's music is again the real star - White Christmas was by this time the most popular secular Christmas song ever written, although Berlin was less than pleased at Elvis Presley's version, which he felt had been revamped a bit too much. Berlin and wife Eileen had long had bittersweet feelings towards Christmas - their only son, Irving Jnr, had died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome on Christmas day 1928. The Berlins would lay a wreath on his grave every Christmas day, a tradition his heirs carry on to this day. The film also stars Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney, who's son, George, has yet to make a festive film of his own.
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SCROOGE (1970)
A musical updating of Dickens' Christmas Carol, with Albert Finney in the title role and David Lean's old cinematographer Ronald Neame in the director's chair. Although Finney excels in the role of the famed miser, he was actually third choice for the role - both Richard Harris and Rex Harrison had turned it down. The song 'Thank You Very Much' was nominated for an Academy Award, as were the original score, art direction and remarkable costume design.
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SCROOGE (1951)
Alastair Sim plays perhaps the definitive portrait of the title character in this remarkable faithful adaption of Dickens' classic, released in the US as A Christmas Carol. Director Brian Desmond Hurst steers clear of the usual sentimentality, while Michael Horden and Jack Warner (best known as Dixon of Dock Green) are two of the better known members of the excellent supporting cast.
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SCROOGED (1988)
Director Richard Donner was better known for his action films, but here turns his talents to comedy in this 80s updating of the Dickens tale. Bill Murray stars as a loathsome television executive who fires everybody after an ill-starred production of A Christmas Carol bombs, only to be shown the error of his ways by the ghost of Christmas Past, played by David Johansen, best known as rubber lipped singer with glam punk band The New York Dolls.
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THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (1992)
Michael Caine may get top billing, but he comes second to the horde of furry favourites in Brian Henson's zany adaption of Dickens' classic. Kermit the Frog plays the Bob Cratchit role, with the usual fine supporting cast of Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy and the rest.
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MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1983)
Yet another adaption from Dickens, this time with Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck and pals. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Film.
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HOME ALONE (1990)
A massive box office success which launched the career of Macauly Culkin into the stratosphere, Home Alone was the lucrative baby of director Chris Columbus (currently busy at Hogwarts) and writer John Hughes. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern play the hapless burglars kept at bay by Culkin's endlessly inventive japes after he's inadvertently left at home by his parents during the Christmas holiday.
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THE SNOWMAN (1982)
Directed by Dianne Jackson from the book by Raymond Briggs, who also gave us Fungus the Bogeyman and the harrowing graphic novel about nuclear war, When the Wind Blows. A Christmas TV staple, The Snowman is best known for the song Walking in the Air. Although Aled Jones released a hit version of the song, it's sung in the film by Peter Auty. The original music was composed by Howard Blake, who would eventually get an OBE in 1984. David Bowie (who memorably duetted with Bing Crosby on a frankly bizarre version of Little Drummer Boy) narrated the film when it was re-released.
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JINGLE ALL THE WAY (1996)
Arnold Schwarzenneger makes another foray away from the mindless violence for which we all know and love him in this comedy directed by Brian Levant, also responsible for The Flintstones Movie. In a neat satire of the frenzied shopping days leading up to Christmas, Arnie's son wants Turbo Man for Christmas, and the big man won't stop until he's got one, even if it means wrestling it from the grasp of fellow shoppers. Jake Lloyd, who plays his son, would later go on to play the young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode 1.
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THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993)
A deliciously dark and twisted animated Christmas fable from Tim Burton, with songs and score by regular collaborator Danny Elfman. Jack Skellington is mayor of Halloween Town, who decides to bring some Christmas cheer to his creepy township by kidnapping Santa and creating his own warped vision of yuletide fun, complete with snakes and shrunken heads. The animation took over 100 animators two years to complete, and the result, while as darkly idiosyncratic as most of Burton's work, is truly stunning, if a tad gruesome for younger viewers.
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NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989)
Another John Hughes creation, this also features music by Twin Peaks composer Angelo Badalmenti. Chevy Chase is the harassed dad taking his family on a festive break, with results as typically chaotic as the rest of the films in the Lampoon series.
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BABES IN TOYLAND (1961)
Disney classic which features Ray Bolger, better known as the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, as the villainous Barnaby, who plans to steal Mary Contrary's heart away from Tom Piper. Adapted from Victor Herbert's 1903 operetta, this was also made into a film in 1934 with Laurel and Hardy, but this version features some great musical numbers as well as typically extravagant production design.
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A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983)
A family film from the director of the decidedly adult Porky's, Bob Clark, this is a delightful evocation of 1940s America seen through the eyes of a nine year old boy and his efforts to get his mother to buy him a BB gun for Christmas. The sharp script comes courtesy of humorist Jean Shepherd, previously best known as a writer for Playboy.
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THE BISHOP'S WIFE (1947)
Cary Grant is perfectly cast as a smooth angel who comes to the aid of the titular Bishop, played by David Niven, when he prays for help in building a new cathedral. Unfortunately, Niven fails to see Grant's divine origins, and thinks he has designs on his wife, played by Loretta Young. Cue much bumbling farce. The film had a troubled genesis - original director William A Seiter was sacked halfway through, pouring one million dollars down the drain, before Henry Koster eventually put it to bed. The great Billy Wilder was an un-credited writer brought in to polish up the script.
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ERNEST SAVES CHRISTMAS (1988)
Another in Jon Varney's ongoing series of Ernest films, this zany comedy finds Santa in retirement and replaced by a kids television host. Ernest must come to the rescue, along the way finding time to utter his catchphrase, 'Know what I mean.'
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| DON'T MISS |
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Doves
Special guests on Dermot's show this week
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Christmas Movies Home
