We need to make a confession before you read this column. … We both love Christmas movies. Not the glut of Hallmark made-for-television films, but rather the nostalgic Christmas movies of the 1940s made in-and-around World War II. Some are Christmas-themed while others are simply set during the holidays or have a major plot point centered around Christmas. They may be comedies, fantasies, dramas such as “Christmas Eve” (1947), featuring George Raft and Randolph Scott, or even film noirs like “Christmas Holiday” (1944), with dancer Gene Kelly as a despicable scoundrel.
Nota bene: you may want to watch a rarely seen Dickensian drama “Beyond Tomorrow” (1940), also called “Beyond Christmas,” available on Turner Classic Movies and Amazon Prime this year.
Take One
“Christmas in Connecticut” (1945) is a wonderful, light-hearted comedy that has elements of the classic screwball comedies of the 1930s. The film stars the remarkable Barbara Stanwyck as Elizabeth Lane, a food editor for a high-end magazine, who writes about the scrumptious meals she prepares in her Connecticut farmhouse for her husband, baby, and friends. Her blustery publisher, Alexander Yardley, played by the always-entertaining Sydney Greenstreet, volunteers Mrs. Lane to take in a recuperating war hero (Dennis Morgan) for the holidays. There is one small problem: there is no Connecticut farmhouse, no husband, no baby, and she can’t cook. Let the fun begin as Stanwyck resolves one crisis after another while falling in love with her houseguest. I have to admit we watch this film every Christmas. Do not substitute the 1992 remake directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger for the original.
Maybe it’s the lawyer in me, but the story plot in “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947) is compelling, and the outcome satisfying beyond a reasonable doubt. Edmund Gwenn won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Kris Kringle, a Macy’s department store Santa who believes he is Santa Claus. Kringle is put on trial to be committed to a mental institution unless attorney Fred Gailey (John Payne, in the best performance of his career) can prove to the judge that first there is a Santa Claus and second that Kringle is the one and only Santa Claus. He also must prove his case to his girlfriend, a realistic business executive, Maureen O’Hara (radiant as always), and her skeptical 6-year-old daughter played by a precocious Natlie Wood. This film should “appeal” to everyone in your family.
Take Two
Nearly every year when I’m asked to write about Christmas films, I end up writing about the same one: Mitchell Leisen’s “Remember the Night” from 1940. Starring Barbara Stanwyck (can you tell we’re from the same family!) as a New York jewel thief nabbed on Christmas Eve. The clever district attorney (a dashing Fred MacMurray) prosecuting her case arranges her release from custody and realizing she’s homeless, invites her to his family farm in Indiana for the holiday. The script, sentimental and often hysterical, was penned by none other than the brilliant producer/writer/director Preston Sturges. It’s chock-full of memorable moments: MacMurray attempting to milk a cow, a fiery escape from a small-town justice of the peace, a revealing midnight kiss at a barn dance while the New Year is rung in to “Auld Lang Syne” and Sterling Holloway (the original voice of Winnie the Pooh) singing “The End of a Perfect Day” by a Christmas Eve firelight. The ending is railroaded by a Hayes Code mandated plot twist, but that’s a small price to pay for something this rich. We watch it every year in our household, perched around the Christmas tree, and life just doesn’t get any better than this.
Although calling it a Christmas movie may be a bit of a stretch, Hollywood titan Leo McCarey’s “Going My Way” winner of seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and the top grossing picture of 1944, absolutely surges with the spirit of the holidays. It features Bing Crosby in the defining Oscar-winning role of his career as Father Chuck O’Malley, a St. Louis-based parish priest, uprooted to New York City to take over the post of Father Fitzgibbon (an equally excellent Barry Fitzgerald in another Oscar-winning role). Father Fitzgibbon’s parish is slowly losing touch with the modern world, particularly a rowdy gang of street urchins that he can no longer control. Enter Father O’Malley with a progressive attitude that may be familiar to this generation who saw a similar transfer of power on a much larger scale in the rise of Pope Francis. Along the way, we’re treated to several absolute delights from the church’s choir, including a beautiful performance of the Oscar winning song “Swinging on a Star,” “Silent Night” (there you go, it’s Christmas!), and one of the finest Irish ballads ever composed (Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral). Keeping a dry eye is next to impossible in the film’s final scene, among the most warm-hearted moments ever committed to celluloid.
This column is written jointly by a baby boomer Denny Parish, and a millennial, Carson Parish, who also happen to be father and son.
