Top 25 Favorite Holiday Movies

With the holidays approaching, I thought I'd take the time to compile a list of my 25 favorite holiday movies.  Some may be a stretch as to whether or not they can actually be classified as a "holiday" movie, but they are great to watch this time of year anyway!

 

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

I love this movie so much.  It's got to be one of the happiest movies ever made, and no Christmas is complete without it. 

 

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Frank Capra movies pretty much represent the best of humankind, and this one is no exception.  It's the story of a man who realizes the value of his life when he is given the rare gift of seeing what the world would be like without him.  It makes you step back and appreciate what you've been given and the people around you, just in time for Christmas. 

A Christmas Carol (1938)

This is my favorite film version of Charles Dickens' classic novel. 

The Bishop's Wife (1947)

This is one of my very favorite movies of all time.  Originally a novel by Robert Nathan, it tells the story of an angel who visits a bishop and his wife in answer to his prayer for help amidst the church's financial problems.  The angel Cary Grant brings everything together in time for Christmas and reminds the whole family what they have to be thankful for.  It's a completely charming and wonderful story. 

 

Prancer (1989)

My mother and I watch this one every year, and the end makes us cry every time.  It's a heartwarming tale of a little girl's unwavering faith amidst her family's personal and financial troubles. 

White Christmas (1954)

This is actually loosely based on Holiday Inn, the film in which audiences first heard Bing Crosby sing Irving Berlin's White Christmas.  Two pairs of performers combine their talents to save an inn in Vermont and fall in love in the process.  As a big fan of Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, I love to see them together in this movie. 

Holiday Inn (1942)

I actually like this one better than White Christmas.  There is a fairly typical love triangle, but the musical numbers are wonderful, and Fred Astaire's dancing makes any movie worth watching at least once. 

The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)

A group of nuns and a priest work together to keep their school going when it appears their building is about to be condemned, and there is no money to fix it.  Friendly rivalry over teaching situations occurs between Sister Benedict (Ingrid Bergman) and Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby), but they both have the students' best interests at heart.  Part of the film takes place at Christmastime, and the theme of spreading good will makes it a classic just right for the holidays.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966 cartoon)

In my opinion, this beats the Jim Carrey movie every time. 

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

This is a fun movie about a columnist (she writes about cooking and household matters) who has pretended to her readers and her boss that she is the perfect housewife.  Trouble begins when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her lovely fictional home in the country for a traditional Christmas dinner.  I love to watch Barbara Stanwyck in lighter roles, and she is great in this one!

Holiday Affair (1949)

This is a lovely film starring Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh.  She is a widow with a son who lost her husband to the war, and he is a sales clerk.  The romance begins when she accidentally causes him to lose his job.  There is something about this movie that is bittersweet, and it is fairly predictable, but nonetheless a joy to watch. 

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

I include Meet Me in St. Louis in my top 10 favorite movies of all time.  The plot is so simple:  a midwestern family looking forward to the World's Fair during the holidays.  Yet it is timeless.  The themes of family and home are so apparent throughout, especially when the father's job threatens to send them to New York.  The costumes and sets are lush and beautiful, and the musical numbers sung by Judy Garland are some of the best performances of her career.  There is still no one who sings Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas like Judy. 

In the Good Old Summertime (1949)

This is another Christmas classic starring Judy Garland.  There are fewer songs in this one, and they aren't as good as the Meet Me in St. Louis songs, and that is because June Allyson was initially cast to play the part, and singing was not her strong point.  To me, Judy is always a joy to watch in any movie.  This one also stars Van Johnson, Spring Byington, Buster Keaton, and S.Z. Sakall, and was one of the films that inspired Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail. 

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

This is another film on which You've Got Mail is based, although not a musical like In the Good Old Summertime.  Starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, it's the story of two competing shop employees who are unknowingly exchanging love letters with each other during the holidays.  Depending on my mood, sometimes I actually prefer this version over You've Got Mail. 

Little Women (1994)

Usually when there are multiple versions of a film, I prefer the older ones, but this is probably the only occasion where I actually prefer the most recent rendition.  Next to To Kill a Mockingbird, this is probably my favorite film adaptation of a novel.  It is cast so perfectly, and it really brings the beloved novel to life with beautiful costumes, scenery, and music. 

Since You Went Away (1944)

This is another one that always makes me cry.  One of Claudette Colbert's best performances, she plays a woman dealing with issues on the homefront while her husband is away at war.  Its impressive cast also includes Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones, Robert Walker, Shirley Temple, Lionel Barrymore, Monty Woolley, Hattie McDaniel, and Agnes Moorehead. 

You've Got Mail (1998)

Romantic comedies are always great at Christmas, and in my book, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks definitely get added to the list of timeless Hollywood screen pairings. 

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Another Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan classic that some people prefer over You've Got Mail.  I love them both! 

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

I have to admit, I wasn't really familiar with this until recently, but I loved it.  It's simple, and it captures the true meaning on Christmas. 

 

The Holiday 2006)

I just find this movie fun to watch.  For one, there are many classic movie references, but I think I also like the idea of the two main characters escaping their daily lives and having adventures. 

 

 

Remember the Night (1940)

 

I just watched this movie for the first time, and it was fun to watch Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in a completely different setting from Double Indemnity.  This is a charming movie about a shoplifter whose case in court has been postponed until after Christmas, during which time she would have spent in jail if Fred MacMurray's character hadn't taken pity on her and eventually invited her to spend Christmas with his family.  And I bet you can guess the rest! 

 

 

Meet John Doe (1941)

 

This movie makes my list because it ends on Christmas Eve, but also because Frank Capra films are great for the holidays in that they make you feel warm and fuzzy and positive about the human race!

 

 

It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)

 

I just watched this for the first time last night, and it was a really cute movie.  A hobo moves into a millionaire's empty home during the holidays, and eventually he makes some friends that move in with him (ex-servicemen and their families who can't find apartments in NY).  The catch is that the millionaire and his family gradually come back and pretend not to be themselves, by request of the daughter who has fallen in love with one of the men living there.  By the end of the film, the millionaire has learned a few life lessons from his humble houseguests just in time for Christmas. 

 

 

The Preacher's Wife (1996)

 

A modern remake of The Bishop's Wife, this is a pretty enjoyable movie too.  Whitney Houston shines and is absolutely beautiful, and who wouldn't love to have Denzel Washington visit as an angel?! 

 

 

Love Actually (2003)

 

This movie actually took some time to grow on me.  There are parts of it that are a little crude, and given the nature of this blog, I'm sure it's clear that I mostly prefer classic, black and white movies.  However, there are also parts of it that are so touching and human that I began to love it! 

 

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

 

 



 



Rare Books by R.A. Dick/Josephine Leslie Part 1: Duet for Two Hands

A few years back I read the book, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (published in 1945), which is of course also a 1947 movie starring Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders, and a young Natalie Wood.  The book and the movie are favorites of mine in both mediums, and I did at one point search for more books by the same author with no success.  I did however learn that R.A. Dick was a pseudonym for Josephine Leslie, but I have not yet discovered the reason for her writing under a different name.  In fact, there isn't much information about her online at all. 

In my quest for rare books, I came across this wonderful website called Bookfinder.com.  It doesn't sell books, but it is rather a search engine where one can type in information about a book, and a list of various booksellers all over the world that have the particular book will come up with the price plus shipping next to it.  I found it to be an excellent resource!  It was very handy for me because I was able to determine whether or not certain rare books were even available online at all without having to painstakingly check several different sites, many of which I of course wasn't even aware existed. 

Curiousity led me to type R.A. Dick into Bookfinder.com.  Much to my surprise and joy, I found that three of her books were available from different booksellers and at reasonable prices!  Although, they were out of print, and the number of copies were very limited (only one or two).  Furthermore, these particular books are quite rare and can apparently only be found in a few libraries throughout the world.  I was even unable to find a synopsis for all but one of the three books online, so except for that one, I had no idea what the books were about when I purchased them. 

The first book I read is called Duet For Two Hands.  The copy I have is a first edition, copyrighted in 1960, and it came without the dust cover.  I'm not entirely sure, but there might not have been any other editions published.  The book did contain about three typos that I can remember. It tells the story of Cynthia Halliday, a former pianist whose career was ruined by a failed debut performance due to complications with what I assumed to be a multiple personality.  The author never calls it that specifically (the synopsis inside the book calls it an "alter ego," but I don't believe that term was actually used in the text of the book), but Cynthia has a twin named Constancia with whom she shares a body.  The two are complete opposites in character, and sometimes Constancia almost acts as Cynthia's conscience.  The people in Cynthia's life know nothing of Constancia, but they talk to each other in their minds, and at any given time, one can go into a "trance" while the other takes over the body. 

Because Cynthia and Constancia are opposites in personality, they are both needed to make an exceptional pianist.  Cynthia provided the heart and soul of the performance while Constancia memorized the music, provided control, and kept wrong notes and mistakes out of Cynthia's sometimes overly passionate playing. Without Cynthia, Constancia gave rather perfect but musically dull performances.  At the time of the failed performance that rendered Cynthia disgraced within the musical world, Constancia and Cynthia's piano teacher felt that she wasn't yet ready to give the performance and that she needed another year of study.  The performance failed because Constancia, in protest of the too early performance, went into a trance, leaving Cynthia unable to remember the correct notes. 

This disastrous piano performance was eleven years prior to where the story is at the beginning of the book.  In that time Cynthia married, had a son, divorced, and completely gave up all thoughts of music and the piano.  Constancia remained in a trance for the eleven years, but at the beginning of the book, she has just returned because she thinks that Cynthia has become selfish and has made a mess of her life.  Constancia proceeds to intervene in all areas of Cynthia's life, and their vastly different personalities and habits cause them to eventually make a schedule that allows them to share their body equally. 

Without revealing the particular details of the book, ultimately Constancia's presence serves to reveal to Cynthia where she has gone wrong in her life since her embarrassing piano performance and sets her on the right track again. 

I found this book to be very engaging and enjoyable to read.  Many of the awkard scenarios, where Constancia and Cynthia were both awake and happened to come into contact with some of Cynthia's friends, were quite comical, and there is something of a love story involved as Constancia tries to get Cynthia to reunite with her ex-husband and their son. 

After having read The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, which is a paranormal romance, the somewhat supernatural nature of this book did not surprise me.  While I am sure that multiple personality disorder is quite legitimate, this book at one point indicated that our main character might actually have two separate brains.  A woman haunted by something is certainly a theme in the books of R.A. Dick, whether it be Mrs. Muir's ghost, Cynthia's inward twin, or a woman named Danielle haunted by Satan in The Devil and Mrs. Devine, the next book by R.A. Dick I plan to read!  More on that later! 

Duet For Two Hands also brought to mind the movies that I have seen in the past with similar themes of multiple personality disorder, twins at odds, or various other mental illnesses.  I have read that due to the work of Sigmund Freud, stories about mental illness became popular in the first half of the 20th century.  Here are some examples:

The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
Psycho (1960, the same year as Duet For Two Hands)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931, 1941)
The Snake Pit (1948)
Spellbound (1945)
The Dark Mirror (1946)
A Stolen Life (1946)
Dead Ringer (1964)
Mirage (1965)
Marnie (1964)
Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

This is obviously a very short list, and some are about amnesia or twin rivalry instead of multiple personality disorder, but all are great movies and worth seeing! 

The New and Improved Shell Angel

 

I've been told by friends and family members that the shell angels in the last post look like either pregnant angels or turkeys, so I've made a new one with a different skirt!

Here she is!

The skirt is more textured this time, and the way the shell is shaped, it looks like there is more of a waist, so hopefully that will rid her of the pregnant look.  She still has the "elements of Swarovski crystal" necklace, but it's not showing up too well in the picture. 

That's all for now!  I hope whoever might be reading this has a good weekend!