A Holiday Celebration: Discovering Overlooked Holiday Pictures

One thing that bothers concerning numerous present-day Christmas movies is their overly meta-commentary – the over-the-top decorations, the formulaic music choices, and the canned speeches about the real spirit of the holidays. Perhaps because the style was not yet ossified into tradition, films from the 1940s often tackle Yuletide from far more creative and far less neurotic perspectives.

The Fifth Avenue Happening

A delightful find from exploring 1940s seasonal films is It Happened on Fifth Avenue, a 1947 lighthearted comedy with a great premise: a cheerful drifter takes up residence in a empty Fifth Avenue estate each year. That season, he invites strangers to reside with him, among them a ex-soldier and a young woman who is secretly the heiress of the home's wealthy proprietor. Filmmaker Roy Del Ruth infuses the film with a makeshift family heart that most contemporary Christmas films have to labor to achieve. It expertly occupies the space between a thoughtful commentary on affordable living and a charming metropolitan romance.

The Tokyo Godfathers

Satoshi Kon's 2003 animated film Tokyo Godfathers is a fun, poignant, and deeply moving take on the Christmas story. Inspired by a John Wayne movie, it tells the story of a triumvirate of homeless souls – an alcoholic, a trans woman, and a adolescent throwaway – who find an discarded baby on a snowy December night. Their quest to find the baby's family sets off a sequence of unexpected events involving yakuza, foreigners, and seemingly magical connections. The animation doubles down on the enchantment of coincidence typically found in seasonal stories, presenting it with a cinematic aesthetic that steers clear of cloying sentiment.

The John Doe Story

Although Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life deservedly gets much praise, his lesser-known picture Meet John Doe is a notable holiday tale in its own right. With Gary Cooper as a charismatic drifter and Barbara Stanwyck as a resourceful journalist, the movie begins with a fictional missive from a man threatening to jump from a building on December 24th in frustration. The public's reaction leads the journalist to hire a man to impersonate the fictional "John Doe," who subsequently becomes a national icon for neighborliness. The film acts as both an heartwarming tale and a brutal skewering of wealthy publishers seeking to use grassroots sentiment for personal ambitions.

Silent Partner

While holiday slasher movies are now commonplace, the festive suspense film remains a relatively underpopulated category. This makes the 1978 feature The Silent Partner a unique discovery. Featuring a wonderfully sinister Christopher Plummer as a bank-robbing Santa Claus and Elliott Gould as a unassuming bank teller, the film pits two kinds of morally ambiguous individuals against each other in a stylish and twisty tale. Mainly unseen upon its initial release, it is worthy of new attention for those who prefer their Christmas films with a chilling tone.

Almost Christmas

For those who like their family gatherings dysfunctional, Almost Christmas is a hoot. Featuring a stellar ensemble that features Danny Glover, Mo'Nique, and JB Smoove, the film examines the dynamics of a clan gathered to endure five days under one roof during the holidays. Hidden issues bubble to the forefront, resulting in situations of over-the-top comedy, such as a dinner where a weapon is pulled out. Of course, the story arrives at a heartwarming resolution, giving all the entertainment of a family mess without any of the real-life aftermath.

Go Movie

Doug Liman's 1999 movie Go is a Christmas-set story that functions as a teen-oriented riff on woven stories. Although some of its edginess may feel of its time upon rewatch, the film nevertheless contains plenty aspects to savor. These are a engaging performance from Sarah Polley to a memorable scene by Timothy Olyphant as a charming supplier who amusingly wears a Santa hat. It represents a very style of late-90s cinematic attitude set against a festive setting.

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

The satirist's wartime farce The Miracle of Morgan's Creek rejects conventional seasonal warmth in return for cheeky humor. The film is about Betty Hutton's character, who ends up expecting after a drunken night but cannot identify the father involved. The bulk of the humor stems from her predicament and the devotion of Eddie Bracken's hapless Norval Jones to rescue her. Although not obviously a holiday movie at the start, the plot culminates on the holiday, showing that Sturges has crafted a clever interpretation of the birth narrative, loaded with his characteristic witty style.

Better Off Dead Movie

This 1985 teen comedy with John Cusack, Better Off Dead, is a textbook specimen of its era. Cusack's