Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Five Favourite Classic Christmas Movies




For today's Five Favourites over at Moxie Wife I decided to share my top five favourite classic movies!

Of course, I didn't list It's a Wonderful Life because I feel that one goes without saying, but I do watch old movies all the time and have loved them forever so I thought I'd extol my other faves this holiday season so they can bring some Christmas magic your way!

1.




Holiday Inn

Some say Holiday Inn is another version of White Christmas. And some people are just plain wrong. There are many similarities, but where White Christmas oozes sophistication, Holiday Inn is more homey and comedic - of course, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire are amazing to watch together.


Fred Astaire plays a charming but entertaining jerk, and his dancing adds magic to every scene. Bing is the best and seems to have chemistry with every actor he is cast with, this movie is no exception! He croons delightfully through the different holiday songs, throws in a well timed joke, and basically makes you fall in love with him every time. The movie somehow weaves together songs from other holidays while still feeling like a "Christmas" movie. I watch it every year and it makes me happy with each viewing.

Sidenote: I think I pretended to run an Inn every Christmas as a kid...I've watched these movies A LOT.


2.





The Bishop's Wife

A charming, romantic, tale of an angel coming to earth to help a bishop remember that love begins at home. Cary Grant is perfectly debonair as the angel of any woman's dreams who reminds Loretta Young what she loves most about her husband, played wonderfully by David Niven.



So, yes its theologically inaccurate. But just ignore the theological errors and focus on Cary Grant's awesome debounair-ness. He makes it really easy to forget theological inaccuracies, but don't tell anyone I said that! Loretta Young is so sweet, David Niven is so stuck-up, and the skating scene is one of my favourites from any movie. And the boys choir just means Christmas to me!

3.



The Shop Around the Corner

This movie is the same basic story as You've Got Mail, BUT its still one of my favourite holiday movies, most likely because of Jimmy Stewart, but also from the quirky supporting cast. There is also the wonderful Christmas feel of a time gone by, the hustle and bustle of preparing for Christmas around the shop, and I love its emphsis on the community that's built from the people who work at the shop.




One of my all-time favourite movies of which I know all the songs and dialogue by heart. This is a wonderful Judy Garland musical, all the songs are a treat, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" became famous from this movie. Another great aspect of the story of Judy Garland as a teenage daughter in turn of the century St. Louis, is that it is such a great family movie that actually portrays a real family! A family who doesn't always get along, who tease each other, it even features children of a wide age difference, but who care deeply about their home and each other. Judy Garland is at her best, the costumes are a hoot, and the production is perfect. A wonderful family story perfect for Christmas. Love.



5.




White Christmas


To me, this movie is perfect. Bing Crosby singing. Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen in the best dresses by Edith Head. Danny Kaye hilarity. Gorgeous set design and the perfect mix of music and snappy dialogue. I just adore it all. I love the storyline, and its perfect mix of holiday and romance. It defines the classic movie to me. Its not Christmas till I sit down and watch this one,  pure happiness!



Now, what are your fave Christmas movies?



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28 comments:

  1. I just love watching classic movies also. Ever since I was a little girl I liked watching old movies! I have to say that I haven't watched any of the movies that you listed. I am going to give it a try!

    Thanks for the post!

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  2. Favorite Five Favorites! Love this list! Now I want to sit down and have a marathon of all five these fun movies! These are definitely some favorites of mine that I, unfortunately, haven't seen in a while! Love, love, love!

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  3. Love these, but what about The Bells of St. Mary's?!

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  4. Great favorites, Christy! Somehow our family missed out on watching White Christmas when I was growing up, but I remember seeing shots of the final scene in random previews, and I so wanted to see it b/c of the glamorous red dresses the girls were wearing (I watch it every year now). And The Shop Around the Corner is just plain awesome. :)

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  5. Ooo, yes, great list thanks for sharing it! I was raised on most of these old movies...a lot of old movies actually. It seems Holiday Inn often gets overlooked, love it, but White Christmas was a standard in my house. My mom has 3 sisters who did their own version of Bing and Danny Kaye's "Sisters" every year, tons of fun that one!

    You hit the best ones. I'd add a newer favorite of mine, Christmas Story (not A Christmas Story) this one is out of Finland. It is a Santa story, we don't do Santa at our house but I still found it a delight to watch. Oh and it is in Finnish so...subtitles.

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  6. You should check out the musical "She Loves Me" it's based on Shop Around the Corner!

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  7. Great list! I've never thought of 'Shop Around the Corner' as a Christmas movie, but you are so right!!

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  8. I knew we could be bestest friends. What a fabulously terrific movie list! LOVE classics - my dad always picked a new one for family night when I was growing up, and now I intend to keep the love alive in our house. =)
    I do have one of these I haven't seen yet, so Merry Christmas to me - I shall now have to go watch "The Shop Around the Corner"

    And I am with Kendra - how bout The Bells of St. Mary's?

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  10. Check out A Child's Christmas in Wales - http://youtu.be/GrLDaAG7j_o

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  11. I watch White Christmas and Holiday Inn every year. I know all the words to WC and you've just made it better now that I know that the dresses were Edith Head's designs. Makes sense. I've always loved the dresses. Even my husband has made comments on a few of them, saying how much he likes them!!

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  12. Good list. Check this site to watch classic movies online: Public Domain Movies Online

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  13. I still need to watch The Bishop's Wife and Shop Around the Corner but the rest are my favorites! We always watch A Christmas Carol because it's my mom's childhood favourite, so that one is a family classic as well. I loved the old Miracle on 34th St as a kid too.

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