As an unabashed fan of Christmas movies, I feel compelled to share my Top 15 list.
A bias: Even if some of my choices are not schmaltzy shows, I’m good with the concept of schmaltz. We live in a world so laced with coldness and cynicism that if we get overly sappy come Christmas time, so be it.
With that, my top 15, in descending order:
15. ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ (1965)
I’m including this as a tribute to my youth, which is so far in the past that a warning on my rearview mirror says: “Objects may appear so far away as to be indecipherable.” But, as a kid in the 1960s, this movie and “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer” (which usually was broadcast late on the first Sunday after Thanksgiving) were the cinematic markers that Christmas was coming. I always found the jerky animation in “Rudolph” off-putting, so it didn’t make today’s list. But “Charlie Brown” debuted a song that’s among my favorites: “Christmas Time Is Here.” And the scene where the on-stage Linus, blanket in hand, tells the Christmas story from Luke 2:8-14 shames the commercialized version of the season with splendor.
14. ‘A Christmas Story’ (1983)
Ralphie, an Indiana boy in the late 1930s or early ’40s, pines for a “Red Ryder air rifle” for Christmas — while trying to avoid a couple of bullies. I admit for years I poo-pooed this movie, having seen only bits and pieces, and never giving it a serious evaluation because of an eccentric streak — see the table lamp shaped like a woman’s leg — that seemed to distract, not add, to the story. But when I finally gave it my full attention, I was surprised at how engaging I found it. The first-person narration reminded me of a TV series, “Wonder Years,” that I thoroughly enjoyed. And the realism offered in the depiction of the travails of childhood, including Ralphie’s desires to impress his teacher with his writing, won me over, allowing me to excuse a few unusually dark scenes, including Ralphie’s visit to a strangely sinister Santa Claus.
13. ‘A Christmas Carol’ (2009)
There are more movie renditions of Charles Dickens’ iconic story than Priuses in Eugene, but this 3D animation with Jim Carrey as Scrooge is my second-favorite version. Carrey gives the lead character breadth, depth and believability; you feel Scrooge’s bitterness and London’s cold. The special effects involving the ghostly visits are loud, dark and, at times, downright frightening; for a Disney production, director Robert Zemeckis has created something that feels, at times, like Stephen King stuff. I wouldn’t recommend the movie for children. That said, I credit Zemeckis for starkly conveying the tumult of a miser confronting his selfish past and the terror of considering redemption an impossibility. But the ending is upbeat, even if you stagger to it as if having just gotten off a terrifying roller-coaster ride. (If you want a kid-friendly version, I recommend “The Muppet Christmas Carol” from 1992).
12. ‘Holiday Inn’ (1942)
Some will argue that this isn’t truly a Christmas movie, but plenty of holiday favorites, including “It’s a Wonderful Life,” have only cursory references to the season. And, goodness, this movie — the oldest on my list — debuts Irving Berlin’s song “White Christmas,” sung by Bing Crosby. Sounds Christmasy to me. I get a bit tired of all the singing and dancing, but the “White Christmas” bookends are enough to draw me to this film every year, usually between Christmas and New Year’s.
11. ‘Elf’ (2003)
Will Ferrell is hilarious as Buddy, a human raised by elves at the North Pole, who travels to New York in search of his father. Without a comedian of Ferrell’s stature to drive it, “Elf” might be flatter than a blow-up lawn Santa the morning after. And even with Ferrell, I don’t consider “Elf” a holiday classic. But it’s a fun frolic about an oversized elf trying to survive American culture and find himself. Even if the Christmas-spirit-to-power-Santa’s-sleigh theme pushes even my limits of schmaltz, the movie offers plenty of laughs, if not deep lessons.
10. ‘Christmas in Connecticut’ (1945)
Contrived and corny, yes. But that’s the very thing that makes this so likeable. In post-World-War-II America, Elizabeth Lane is a popular home-and-food magazine columnist whose culinary and homemaking skills don’t exactly live up to her reputation; in short, she’s a phony. And that becomes a problem when a fresh-from-a-life-raft sailor shows up for Christmas at her, ahem, “country farm.” The movie zips along like good live theater — and offers not only hilarious hijinks but a fun and happy ending.
9. ‘An American Christmas Carol’ (1979)
This made-for-TV adaption is my favorite telling of the Dickens story. It stars Henry Winkler — yeah, The Fonz from “Happy Days” — as Benedict Slade, a Depression-era orphan who grows up to be a Scrooge-esque miser. If you haven’t even heard of the film, I wouldn’t be surprised; this is a fly-under-the-radar movie that came and went like a late-winter snowfall. But there’s an authenticity to the movie that drives it. These are bleak times in America, and Slade is intent on making them even bleaker for the poor — even as he lines his own pockets. If you can get beyond the so-so make up job to age Winkler — he comes across as a blend of “Back to the Future’s” Doc and a late-night Joe Biden — you find a well-told story. The most poignant scene involves a block of wood, a knife and imagination — and makes me misty-eyed every time.
8. ‘The Holiday’ (2006)
When two women struggle with fallout from romantic crashes an ocean apart, the strangers decide on a home-swap with each other over the holidays to recover. The result is a well-written, well-acted story that I find surprisingly engaging. Part of that is due to a star-heavy cast that includes Kate Winslow, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black. But a larger part is a story about love, loyalty and human kindness. It is enriched with sentimentality by two little girls in London (belonging to Law’s character) and by a legendary and lonely screenwriter, Arthur, who lives in Los Angeles and is befriended by Winslow’s character. These three characters put a decided shine on what might otherwise be a humdrum holiday flick.
7. ‘White Christmas’ (1954)
No matter how many times I watch this one, I’m touched by the opening scene with Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas” from a World War II-ruined village in Europe. Maybe it’s because the movie was released the year I was born, and I’m taken by the passage of time. Or because I’ve interviewed dozens of soldiers and sense their ache for home. Or because I’m an unabashed sentimentalist. But the theme of soldiers trying to find their homes — including a once-revered general who disappears into the obscurity of running a country inn — grabs me far more than the film’s two romances, and all the singing and dancing. Throw in a snow side theme, and I fall hard for this movie every December.
6. ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ (1994)
An old man named Kriss Kringle fills in for a drunk Santa in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and people love him, but conflict ensues when he insists he is the real deal, causing them to question his sanity. Remakes rarely capture the essence of the original; either they try too hard to be politically correct or overburden the story with special effects so that essence gets lost in translation. But this film comes close to replicating the magic of the 1947 version. (See next entry.) Richard Attenborough is a delightful Santa and Samantha Kreiger an engaging Susan. Fun fact: Kreiger is deaf and, during the filming, didn’t realize that Attenborough knew sign language, so her reaction to his signing back to her in the what-would-you-like-for-Christmas scene is authentic — and priceless.
5. ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ (1947)
No offense to the romantic twosome played by Maureen O’Hara and John Payne, but the more captivating story here is between Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn, who won an Academy Award for his performance) and a little girl (Natalie Wood) who’s been raised by a cynical mother to not believe in anything you can’t see or touch. Kringle goes to court to prove his authenticity as Santa Claus, and the whole too-adult-to-believe theme resounds with magical fervor. Beyond that, “Miracle” offers an ahead-of-its-time theme of the commercialism of Christmas, drawing us back to the idea that people are more important than stuff.
4. ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ (1989)
To show just how deeply this movie has embedded itself in my soul, two days ago, when my neighbor Brad got his Christmas lights up, I yelled to him, “Looking good, Griswold!” And more than once, when books I’ve written triggered meager sales, I’ve known what it feels like to think I was getting a big year-end bonus only to find I’d been given a yearlong membership in the Jelly of the Month Club. But as I watch this one, the travails of Clark Griswold and his family enduring too-long visits from extended family at Christmas abide. The not-so-silent hero in this picture is Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie, who arrives with his family, and dog Snot, in a motor home that seemingly came over on the Mayflower. He delivers one great one-liner after another, from “I wanna get you something real nice, Clark” to “Clark, I’d like to try to fumigate this here chair. It’s a good quality item.”
3. ‘Home Alone’ (1990)
I was 36 when this movie came out, old enough to know better. But despite the McCallister family coming off as spoiled brats who vent an unwarranted amount of anger at 8-year-old Kevin, I’m smitten with this movie. John Williams’ film score, especially the Oscar-nominated “Somewhere in My Memory,” pulls me into the season every year. The relationship between Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) and an elderly neighbor is sweet, climaxing in the reconciliation of the man and his family. And a polka band musician (John Candy) who helps Kevin’s mother get back to Chicago infuses the story with splendid humor. I could do without half of the Kevin-vs.-the-burglars scenes. What’s more, Kevin’s parents lack authenticity. But despite such, it somehow blends into a sweet movie that never fails to heighten my holidays.
2. ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ (2000)
If Jim Carrey’s portrayal of Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” is dark, his portrayal of the Grinch is whimsical, wonderful and, ultimately, warm. The belief by Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) that he’s redeemable reminds us of the power of relationship in such turnarounds. But the movie’s silent heroes are Dr. Seuss, on whose 1957 children’s book the film is based; Ron Howard, who directed it; and Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman, whose screenplay does wonders in marrying the whimsical spirit of Seuss with modern-day special effects. (See Martha May Whovier, the wealthy socialite who has feelings for the Grinch, fire a “light gun” to affix her strings of Christmas lights to her house.) Narrator Anthony Hopkins enriches the film with words he recorded in a single day, the result being a movie that’s as funny as it is thought-provoking.
1. ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1946)
That this is my favorite Christmas movie won’t surprise readers who’ve read my stuff for any length of time; I’m forever referencing the movie. In fact, I wrote a book about it (“52 Little Lessons From It’s a Wonderful Life,” 2012) that led to my wife and I getting to be part of the annual It’s a Wonderful Life Festival in Seneca Falls, N.Y.
Thinking himself a failure, George Bailey is offered a chance to go back and see how life in the small town of Bedford Falls would have been like without him. What he learns is that the things he pined for — adventure, travel, significance in the eyes of others — don’t compare to the satisfaction of making a difference in the lives of others.
That lesson hits home most poignantly on Christmas Eve when his friends and family rally to remind him that, as Clarence the Angel taught him: “Each man’s life touches so many others. When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
Though the movie has its share of shmaltz — “To my big brother George, the richest man in town!” — it also has a message that endures.
A Eugene bank used to make viewing the film part of its orientation for new employees. It wanted them to understand the importance of integrity, honesty and other-oriented living.
Good for the bank. You could argue it is a lesson more necessary now than in the post-World War II years when the movie was done.