Classic Christmas movies
by joe_e-22088 | created - 30 Oct 2017 | updated - 23 Dec 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
PG | 130 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 498,923
2. The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
Unrated | 126 min | Drama
At a big city Catholic school, Father O'Malley and Sister Benedict indulge in friendly rivalry, and succeed in extending the school through the gift of a building.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers, William Gargan
Votes: 9,364 | Gross: $21.30M
3. The Polar Express (2004)
G | 100 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
On Christmas Eve, a young boy embarks on a magical adventure to the North Pole on the Polar Express, while learning about friendship, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Tom Hanks, Chris Coppola, Michael Jeter, Leslie Zemeckis
Votes: 241,204 | Gross: $183.37M
4. A Christmas Carol (2009)
PG | 96 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
An animated retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel about a Victorian-era miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Steve Valentine
Votes: 129,470 | Gross: $137.86M
5. Frosty the Snowman (1969 TV Short)
TV-G | 25 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A living snowman and a little girl struggle to elude a greedy magician who is after the snowman's magic hat.
Directors: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr. | Stars: Jackie Vernon, Billy De Wolfe, Jimmy Durante, Paul Frees
Votes: 21,461
6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 26 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
A grumpy hermit hatches a plan to steal Christmas from the Whos of Whoville.
Directors: Chuck Jones, Ben Washam | Stars: Boris Karloff, June Foray, Dal McKennon
Votes: 59,000
7. A Christmas Story (1983)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Family
In the 1940s, a young boy named Ralphie Parker attempts to convince his parents, teacher, and Santa Claus that a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun really is the perfect Christmas gift.
Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Scott Schwartz
Votes: 168,590 | Gross: $20.61M
8. A Christmas Story 2 (2012 Video)
PG | 85 min | Comedy, Family
Six years later, Ralphie has his eyes fixed on a car. But trouble is sure to follow.
Director: Brian Levant | Stars: Daniel Stern, Braeden Lemasters, Stacey Travis, Valin Shinyei
Votes: 2,993
9. 3 Godfathers (1948)
Passed | 106 min | Drama, Western
Three outlaws on the run risk their freedom and their lives to return a newborn to civilization.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, Harry Carey Jr., Ward Bond
Votes: 10,606
10. 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
11. One Christmas (1994 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Family
A young man is sent to visit his estranged father for Christmas in 1930 in New Orleans. Based on an autobiograhical short story by Truman Capote.
Director: Tony Bill | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Winkler, Swoosie Kurtz, T.J. Lowther
Votes: 770
12. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Not Rated | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
After a divorced New York mother hires a nice old man to play Santa Claus at Macy's, she is startled by his claim to be the genuine article. When his sanity is questioned, a lawyer defends him in court by arguing that he's not mistaken.
Director: George Seaton | Stars: Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Gene Lockhart
Votes: 54,900 | Gross: $2.65M
13. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965 TV Movie)
TV-G | 25 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
Depressed at the commercialism he sees around him, Charlie Brown tries to find a deeper meaning to Christmas.
Director: Bill Melendez | Stars: Ann Altieri, Chris Doran, Sally Dryer, Bill Melendez
Votes: 44,081
14. The Little Drummer Boy (1968 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 25 min | Animation, Drama, Family
An orphan drummer boy who hates humanity finds his life changed forever when he meets three wise men en route to Bethlehem.
Directors: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr., Takeo Nakamura | Stars: José Ferrer, Paul Frees, June Foray, Ted Eccles
Votes: 6,392
15. The Bishop's Wife (1947)
G | 109 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A debonair angel comes to Earth to help an Episcopalian bishop and his wife in their quest to raise money for the new church.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven, Monty Woolley
Votes: 20,895
16. 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
17. I'll Be Seeing You (1944)
Approved | 85 min | Drama, Family, Romance
A soldier suffering from combat fatigue meets a young woman on Christmas furlough from prison and their mutual loneliness blossoms into romance.
Directors: William Dieterle, George Cukor | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Joseph Cotten, Shirley Temple, Spring Byington
Votes: 2,523
18. 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: 8,972
19. 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: 2,333
20. The Cheaters (1945)
Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An eccentric wealthy family facing bankruptcy schemes to steal an inheritance, but an alcoholic ex-actor they take in for Christmas charity complicates their plan.
Director: Joseph Kane | Stars: Joseph Schildkraut, Billie Burke, Eugene Pallette, Ona Munson
Votes: 910
21. 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
22. The Miracle of the Bells (1948)
Approved | 120 min | Drama
A press agent brings a dead actress home for burial. To promote her one film, he asks churches to ring bells for 3 days, hoping to get the studio head to release it.
Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Alida Valli, Frank Sinatra, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 1,126
23. Christmas Holiday (1944)
Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A young femme fatale-type woman realizes that the man she married is an incorrigible wastrel.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Deanna Durbin, Gene Kelly, Richard Whorf, Dean Harens
Votes: 1,646
24. 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
25. 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: 1,217
26. 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: 18,233
27. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
PG | 129 min | Drama, Family, Romance
Encouraged by her idealistic if luckless father, a bright and imaginative young woman comes of age in a Brooklyn tenement during the early 1900s.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, James Dunn, Lloyd Nolan
Votes: 8,406
28. 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
29. Pluto's Christmas Tree (1952)
G | 7 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
The tree that Mickey and Pluto chop down to bring home for Christmas is the tree that Chip 'n Dale live in.
Director: Jack Hannah | Stars: Ruth Clifford, Pinto Colvig, Dessie Flynn, James MacDonald
Votes: 3,472
30. The Holly and the Ivy (1952)
Approved | 80 min | Drama
A heartwarming tale of an English minister and his family reunited at Christmas time. Their story includes a remembrance of their World War II trials.
Director: George More O'Ferrall | Stars: Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson, Margaret Leighton, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 1,998
31. 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: 2,257
32. 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: 10,773
33. White Christmas (1954)
Not Rated | 120 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen
Votes: 51,117 | Gross: $30.00M
34. Elf (2003)
PG | 97 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
Raised as an oversized elf, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter Hobbs, who doesn't know he exists and is in desperate need of some Christmas spirit.
Director: Jon Favreau | Stars: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Zooey Deschanel
Votes: 310,707 | Gross: $173.40M
35. Indiscreet (1958)
Approved | 100 min | Comedy, Romance
An actress who has given up on love meets a suave banker and begins a flirtation with him--although he's already married.
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Cecil Parker, Phyllis Calvert
Votes: 10,217
36. How to Steal a Million (1966)
Approved | 123 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
The daughter of an art forger teams up with a burglar to steal one of her father's forgeries and protect his secret.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Eli Wallach, Hugh Griffith
Votes: 29,850
37. Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Not Rated | 130 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A middle-aged playboy becomes fascinated by the daughter of a private detective who has been hired to entrap him with the wife of a client.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, John McGiver
Votes: 17,048
38. A String of Blue Beads (1953 TV Movie)
27 min | Drama
A young man with everything to live for is crushed to learn of the death of his fiancée in a fire on Christmas Eve. For three years he wallows in self-pity until a young girl reminds him of the true meaning of Christmas.
Director: Alan Dinehart | Stars: Louis Jourdan, Ellen Cobb-Hill, Margaret Hamilton, Elaine Lynn
Votes: 262
39. Holiday Affair (1949)
Approved | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A young widow is torn between a boring attorney and a romantic ne'er-do-well.
Director: Don Hartman | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey, Gordon Gebert
Votes: 7,048
40. 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
41. Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945)
Passed | 105 min | Drama, Family
A Norwegian farmer lovingly raises his daughter in rural World War II-era Benson Junction, Wisconsin.
Director: Roy Rowland | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Margaret O'Brien, James Craig, Frances Gifford
Votes: 2,345
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