There are many words used about our tried-and-true Christmas movies â emotional and moving and family-sweet among them â but one you hear less often is among the most crucial: repeat. Our favorite holly-bedecked films become our favorites through their annual December return, each year, to our cable channels and DVRs. Soon we can say all the lines along with the characters we love, from âBah! Humbug!â to âYouâll shoot your eye out!â Thank their staying power, a staying power non-holiday movies canât rightly claim, for their places in our hearts. Thank them also for being good, and fun, and, yes, moving. Here are a few of our chestnut-scented favorites.
âItâs a Wonderful Lifeâ: The town of Bedford Falls has entered myth, as has the townâs most famous resident, the noble-of-spirit George Bailey. From Georgeâs sweet picket fence-adjacent stroll with Donna Reed to the tear-provoking closing scene where all the townspeople turn up to help an old pal, âWonderfulâ is wonderful, top to bottom. And Mr. Bailey, as played by the truly inimitable Jimmy Stewart, was a paragon for the changing world of 1946. And today, too, of course.
âMiracle on 34th Streetâ: Coming not long after âItâs a Wonderful Lifeâ was this snappy ân sappy life-affirmer (âsappy,â of course, being a very good thing). A wee Natalie Wood and her mom, the always glamorous Maureen OâHara, meet the real Santa Claus at Macyâs in New York. But is he the actual Kris Kringle? No spoilers here, although weâre pretty sure there isnât a person born after 1947 who doesnât know the sparkly, cheerful reveal.
âWhite Christmasâ: Itâs a flick with a famous song for a title, though the stays-with-you-for-days âSistersâ is also a wonderful ditty. The film stars Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as World War II vets looking to pay tribute to their former commanding officer; Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen are the sisters who sing âSistersâ and fall in love with the gents (and vice versa). The sweet song for the general near the end makes this 1954 charmer solid gold. But, really, so does everything else in the movie, including the cozy Vermont setting.
âA Christmas Storyâ: A tongue isnât normally the first thing one thinks about when one thinks of the holidays, but given that a tongue stuck to an icy pole on a dare is without a doubt this flickâs most famous scene, we had to reference it first. The movie hails from 1983 but itâs a sepia-toned look-back at a mid-century, all-Americana Christmas. Will Ralphie Parker ever get his dream gift, a Red Ryder BB Gun? Millions re-watch every year, just to see.
âScroogedâ: A certain tale about a certain miser and his glorious change of heart gets re-imagined just about every year, so it can be hard to land on a favorite version of âA Christmas Carol.â George C. Scott? The Muppets? Theyâre all twinkly. But this 1988 laffer starring Bill Murray has a Christmas Past whoâs a cabbie, Carol Kane as a semi-not-nice fairy, and Mary Lou Retton as Tiny Tim. Surely Charles Dickens couldnât have foreseen his tale flowering in quite this funny manner, but it works.
