Christmas (Some) Favorites
by cozoshea | created - 27 Dec 2010 | updated - 24 Dec 2017 | PublicLittle known or forgotten movies with some of the best Christmas plots/stories/scenes ever.
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1. Come to the Stable (1949)
Approved | 94 min | Comedy, Drama
Two nuns arrive unannounced in the small New England town of Bethlehem, where they recruit various townspeople to help them build a children's hospital.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Loretta Young, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, Elsa Lanchester
Votes: 1,608
2. Going My Way (1944)
Passed | 126 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
When young Father O'Malley arrives at St. Dominic's, old Father Fitzgibbon doesn't think much of the church's newest member.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh, James Brown
Votes: 13,459 | Gross: $16.30M
3. Christmas Eve (1947)
Passed | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
To save her fortune from a designing nephew, Matilda Reed must locate her three long-lost adopted sons in time for a Christmas Eve reunion.
Director: Edwin L. Marin | Stars: George Raft, George Brent, Randolph Scott, Joan Blondell
Votes: 829
Three adopted sons (George Raft, Randolph Scott, & George Brent)must come home before midnight on Christmas Eve in order to save their mother's (Ann Harding) home from her greedy natural (Reginal Denny) nephew.
4. It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)
Passed | 116 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Two homeless men move into a mansion while its owners are wintering in the South.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Don DeFore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles, Victor Moore
Votes: 6,299
5. The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941)
Not Rated | 112 min | Comedy, Romance
An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in with a Midwestern family.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley, Richard Travis
Votes: 8,976
6. The Little Princess (1939)
Approved | 93 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A little girl is left by her father in an exclusive seminary for girls, when her father fights in the Second Boer War. Later, when he is presumed dead she is forced to become a servant.
Directors: Walter Lang, William A. Seiter | Stars: Shirley Temple, Richard Greene, Anita Louise, Ian Hunter
Votes: 6,740
7. A Christmas Carol (1938)
Passed | 69 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
An elderly miser learns the error of his ways on Christmas Eve.
Director: Edwin L. Marin | Stars: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Terry Kilburn
Votes: 8,752
8. Heidi (1937)
Passed | 88 min | Drama, Family, Musical
A plucky little orphan girl gets dumped abruptly into her gruff, hermit grandfather's care, then later gets retaken and delivered as a companion for an injured girl.
Director: Allan Dwan | Stars: Shirley Temple, Jean Hersholt, Arthur Treacher, Helen Westley
Votes: 4,945
9. Tenth Avenue Angel (1948)
Passed | 74 min | Drama
While a man was in prison, a little girl who is very close to him was told that he was traveling the world. What will happen if she discovers the truth?
Director: Roy Rowland | Stars: Margaret O'Brien, Angela Lansbury, George Murphy, Phyllis Thaxter
Votes: 926
10. The Great Rupert (1950)
Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Family
A little squirrel with lots of charm accidentally helps two poor, down-but-NOT-out families overcome their obstacles.
Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: Jimmy Durante, Terry Moore, Tom Drake, Frank Orth
Votes: 1,575
11. Holiday (1938)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
A young man in love with a girl from a rich family finds his unorthodox plan to go on holiday for the early years of his life met with skepticism by everyone except for his fiancée's eccentric sister and long-suffering brother.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Doris Nolan, Lew Ayres
Votes: 18,257
More a New Year's Eve movie but still joyous (and what a party!).
12. Beyond Tomorrow (1940)
Approved | 84 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
The ghosts of three elderly industrialists killed in an airplane crash return to Earth to help reunite a young couple they initially brought together.
Director: A. Edward Sutherland | Stars: Harry Carey, C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Winninger, Alex Melesh
Votes: 2,334
Original title 'Beyond Tomorrow'
13. The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
Approved | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Music
A New York City swindler has until Christmas to come up with the $10,000 he owes a gangster, prompting him to go into scamming overdrive.
Directors: Sidney Lanfield, Frank Tashlin | Stars: Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, Lloyd Nolan, Jane Darwell
Votes: 2,260
Introduces the song 'Silver Bells'
14. We're No Angels (1955)
Not Rated | 106 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
Three Devil's Island escapees hide out in the house of a kindly merchant and repay his kindness by helping him and his family out of several crises.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray, Joan Bennett
Votes: 10,778
15. Lady for a Day (1933)
Passed | 96 min | Comedy, Drama
A gangster tries to make Apple Annie, the Times Square apple seller, a lady for a day.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Warren William, May Robson, Guy Kibbee, Glenda Farrell
Votes: 4,660
(re-made as 'Pocket Full Of Miracles' [1961])
16. All I Want for Christmas (1991)
G | 92 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
A brother and sister attempt to bring their divorced parents back together for Christmas.
Director: Robert Lieberman | Stars: Harley Jane Kozak, Jamey Sheridan, Ethan Embry, Kevin Nealon
Votes: 5,595 | Gross: $14.81M
17. This Christmas (2007)
PG-13 | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A Christmastime drama centered around the Whitfield family's first holiday together in four years.
Director: Preston A. Whitmore II | Stars: Regina King, Columbus Short, Delroy Lindo, Idris Elba
Votes: 10,449 | Gross: $49.12M
18. Life with Mikey (1993)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Family
A once-popular actor who now runs a talent agency specializing in child acts is trying to discover the next star. He gets more than he bargained for when he recruits a child pickpocket.
Director: James Lapine | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christina Vidal, Nathan Lane, Cyndi Lauper
Votes: 6,568 | Gross: $12.44M
19. Christmas Eve (1986 TV Movie)
93 min | Drama
A well-to-do elderly woman who befriends the homeless and volunteers her time with children learns that she has an incurable illness. She desperately wants to reunited her three grown ... See full summary »
Director: Stuart Cooper | Stars: Loretta Young, Arthur Hill, Ron Leibman, Trevor Howard
Votes: 459
A last Christmas Eve wish by dying Grandmother Loretta Young - reuniting her son with his estranged children.
20. Last Holiday (2006)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Upon learning of a terminal illness, a shy woman decides to sell all her possessions and live it up at a posh Central European hotel.
Director: Wayne Wang | Stars: Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Timothy Hutton, Giancarlo Esposito
Votes: 36,278 | Gross: $38.36M
21. O. Henry's Full House (1952)
Approved | 117 min | Comedy, Drama
John Steinbeck introduces a quintet of five of O. Henry's most celebrated stories from his New York Period (1902-1910) in this anthology film.
Directors: Henry Hathaway, Howard Hawks, Henry King, Henry Koster, Jean Negulesco | Stars: Fred Allen, Anne Baxter, Jeanne Crain, Farley Granger
Votes: 3,065
Five of O. Henry's best are in 'Full House' (with a stewpot of Hollywood stars) including these seasonal favorites:
"The Gift of the Magi"
"The Last Leaf"
"The Cop and the Anthem"
22. The Ultimate Gift (2006)
PG | 114 min | Drama, Family, Romance
A deceased billionaire leaves his spoiled adult grandson a series of odd tasks to perform in order to receive "the ultimate gift," with the resentful grandson having no idea what that might be.
Director: Michael O. Sajbel | Stars: Drew Fuller, James Garner, Abigail Breslin, Bill Cobbs
Votes: 20,445 | Gross: $3.44M
Sweet, tender movie, with favorites James Garner, Bill Cobbs and Brian Denehy. Has a sequel/prequel that I have not yet seen.
23. Star in the Night (1945)
Not Rated | 22 min | Short, Drama, Family
Three cowboys riding across the desert with gifts for no particular recipient see a distant bright light, and find it comes from the Star Auto Court sign where the owners and guests work together to help a young expectant couple.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: J. Carrol Naish, Donald Woods, Rosina Galli, Richard Erdman
Votes: 1,218
with J. Carrol Naish - This modern version of the Christmas story adds elements of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." On Christmas eve somewhere in the US southwest, three cowboys are riding through the desert night with items they purchased at a general store. They see a bright light just above the horizon and decide to find out where the it is coming from.
24. Christmas Angel (2012 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Family
Christmas wishes made before a long-abandoned house that start coming true lead an elementary-school girl to discover a reclusive woman living inside.
Director: Brian Herzlinger | Stars: Della Reese, Teri Polo, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Kevin Sorbo
Votes: 1,290
'Make a wish, throw a rock, break a window, and your wish will come true.' Not really, but you can see what happens if you just believe.
25. The Christmas Choir (2008 TV Movie)
TV-G | 90 min | Drama
A workaholic accountant is inspired to start a choir at a homeless shelter, allowing him to find a purpose to his life and discover the power of music, while providing the choir members with a chance at a new, better life.
Director: Peter Svatek | Stars: Jason Gedrick, Tyrone Benskin, Michael Sarrazin, Marianne Farley
Votes: 673
26. Call Me Claus (2001 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 90 min | Comedy, Family
Lucy's a producer on a home shopping channel. She hires the real Santa as Santa. He has to find his replacement as the real Santa in 4 weeks. Lucy is unknowingly the only candidate left.
Director: Peter Werner | Stars: Whoopi Goldberg, Nigel Hawthorne, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Victor Garber
Votes: 2,828
27. Scrooge (1970)
G | 113 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
A musical retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel about an old bitter miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Albert Finney, Alec Guinness, Edith Evans, Kenneth More
Votes: 12,587 | Gross: $3.70M
A musical retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel about an old bitter miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.
28. The Man Who Saved Christmas (2002 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Family
A.C. Gilbert figures out a way to keep Christmas alive after the war threatens to take it away in his name.
Director: Sturla Gunnarsson | Stars: Jason Alexander, Kelly Rowan, Ari Cohen, C. David Johnson
Votes: 562
29. Carol for Another Christmas (1964 TV Movie)
84 min | Drama, Fantasy
Daniel Grudge, a wealthy industrialist and fierce isolationist long embittered by the loss of his son in World War II, is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve who lead him to reconsider his attitude toward his fellow man.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Percy Rodrigues, Sterling Hayden, Ben Gazzara, Barbara Ann Teer
Votes: 1,455
Wasn't so sure about this one except that the one thing it had going for it was Rod Serling and his work is quality.
Whenever I really want hope for today's world, I inevitably wind up watching this.
Prophetic!
30. Mr. Krueger's Christmas (1980 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 26 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
An elderly widower relies on his daydreams and faith to get through a lonely Christmas.
Director: Kieth Merrill | Stars: James Stewart, The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Beverly Rowland, Kamee Aliessa
Votes: 1,158
31. Holiday Inn (1942)
Passed | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
At an inn which is open only on holidays, a crooner and a hoofer vie for the affections of a beautiful up-and-coming performer.
Directors: Mark Sandrich, Robert Allen | Stars: Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale
Votes: 17,631 | Gross: $8.18M
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