Our Favorite Things: Christmas Movies

Pam:  I enjoy “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” My husband and I saw it in the theater when it first came out and it’s now a family tradition to watch it on Christmas Eve.  Part of the reason is that my husband WAS Clark Griswold, just ask anybody.

I also like “A Christmas Story.”  I have a replica of the lamp at my house.
 
Brenda:  “Christmas Vacation” for me, too!  But I also love “It’s A Wonderful Life.” It’s just part of Christmas.
 

Judy:  “Christmas Vacation," because it always makes me laugh.”

Jeanne:  I don’t have a real favorite, but there are several I like, including “A Nightmare Before Christmas.”  I just saw “We’re No Angels” with Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Rey, Peter Ustinov, and Leo G. Carroll which is about three escaped prisoners who are trying to get aboard a ship away from Devil’s Island just before Christmas.  They decide to hide out in a shop owned by a sweet but hapless (and somewhat clueless) family and the prisoners take an interest in dealing out a bit of justice.  It’s never too saccharine and I found it pretty funny.  I like Humphrey Bogart, and he seems to be enjoying himself in this movie.  He didn’t do many comedies and sometimes seemed ill at ease in the ones he did, but he appeared to be having a good time in this one.

Laura:  I guess my first choice would be “Christmas Vacation,” but I also like “Elf.”  “A Christmas Story” is good, too.

Laurie:  My favorite Christmas movie is “Christmas in Connecticut,” the 1945 version. It stars Barbara Stanwyck as a newspaper columnist who writes about living on a farm with her husband and baby, and who provides very popular recipes.  In reality, she’s a single girl who lives in New York and she gets the recipes from a chef friend.  Trouble starts when her publisher wants to bring guests to her farmhouse.  It’s a wonderful romantic comedy with a great cast, including Dennis Morgan and Sydney Greenstreet. My daughter loves it now because her husband’s in the Navy and Dennis Morgan plays a sailor.

Selena: Oh, there are so many good ones!  It’s hard to choose, especially when it comes to old movies.  One of my favorites is The Shop Around the Corner with Margaret Sullavan and Jimmy Stewart.  It takes place in a store where Jimmy is the head clerk and Margaret is a new shop girl.  They hate each other, they think, but they’ve each been writing back and forth to a mystery person who seems just perfect.  It’s so romantic and it’s set at Christmas.  It was remade as a musical with Judy Garland and later as You’ve Got Mail—if you watch that movie, you’ll see that Meg Ryan’s store is named “The Shop Around the Corner.”  I also like The Bishop’s Wife with Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven.  Oh, and I can't leave out  Bachlelor Mother. I love it with Ginger Rogers and David Niven. I also like the remake with Debbie Renyolds and Eddie Fisher but it makes me sad to think she was pregnant with Carrie at the time and they seem so happy and then what happened later. But Bachelor Mother is one of the ones that i can watch anytime of the year and love.

Ashley: Okay, you may not think it’s a Christmas movie but my favorite is “Die Hard.”  It’s not a happy Christmas movie, but it does take place at Christmas!  I also love “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Christie H.:  I like “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  I like sappy stuff, and I like Jimmy Stewart.  I also like the Jim Carrey “Christmas Carol.”


Janice: My favorite is "White Christmas" It has it all!  Great entertainers like Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, wonderful music, classic songs, romance, and Christmas.