50 plus Best Christmas Movies
by kevandasc | created - 12 Jan 2021 | updated - 20 Dec 2022 | Publicone for every week.
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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: 499,011
2. 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
3. Scrooged (1988)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A selfish, cynical television executive is haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover
Votes: 116,419 | Gross: $60.33M
4. A Christmas Carol (1951)
TV-PG | 86 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Ebenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeonly, miserly businessman, has no time for sentimentality and largely views Christmas as a waste of time. However, this Christmas Eve, he will be visited by three spirits who will show him the error of his ways.
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst | Stars: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns
Votes: 25,724
best version
5. Christmas Vacation (1989)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy
The Griswold family's plans for a big family Christmas predictably turn into a big disaster.
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik | Stars: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki
Votes: 220,090 | Gross: $71.32M
6. 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: 310,758 | Gross: $173.40M
7. Fred Claus (2007)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Fred Claus, Santa's bitter older brother, is forced to move to the North Pole to help Santa and the elves prepare for Christmas in exchange for cash.
Director: David Dobkin | Stars: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins
Votes: 47,797 | Gross: $72.01M
8. Die Hard (1988)
R | 132 min | Action, Thriller
A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
Votes: 945,327 | Gross: $83.01M
set at holidays time
9. Trading Places (1983)
R | 116 min | Comedy
A snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche
Votes: 165,739 | Gross: $90.40M
also set at Christmas but not a Christmas movie
10. The Santa Clause (1994)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
When a man inadvertently makes Santa fall off his roof on Christmas Eve, he finds himself magically recruited to take his place.
Director: John Pasquin | Stars: Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Eric Lloyd
Votes: 133,405 | Gross: $144.83M
11. The Santa Clause 2 (2002)
G | 104 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Scott Calvin has been a humble Santa Claus for eight years, but it might come to an end if he doesn't find a Mrs. Claus.
Director: Michael Lembeck | Stars: Tim Allen, Spencer Breslin, Elizabeth Mitchell, Eric Lloyd
Votes: 63,895 | Gross: $139.24M
12. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006)
G | 92 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
Santa, a.k.a. Scott Calvin, is faced with double-duty: how to keep his new family happy and how to stop Jack Frost from taking over Christmas.
Director: Michael Lembeck | Stars: Tim Allen, Martin Short, Elizabeth Mitchell, Eric Lloyd
Votes: 42,655 | Gross: $84.50M
13. 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: 168,603 | Gross: $20.61M
14. Jingle All the Way (1996)
PG | 89 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A father vows to get his son a Turbo Man action figure for Christmas. However, every store is sold out, and he must travel all over town and compete with everybody else in order to find one.
Director: Brian Levant | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson
Votes: 116,130 | Gross: $60.57M
15. 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: 54,904 | Gross: $2.65M
16. Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
PG | 114 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
A lawyer and a little girl must prove that a man claiming to be Santa Claus is the real thing.
Director: Les Mayfield | Stars: Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott, J.T. Walsh
Votes: 43,871 | Gross: $17.19M
17. 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: 20,899
18. Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
PG | 99 min | Comedy, Family
With their daughter, Blair, away in Peru, Luther and Nora Krank decide to skip Christmas all together until she decides to come home, causing an uproar when they have to celebrate it at the last minute.
Director: Joe Roth | Stars: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, M. Emmet Walsh
Votes: 57,580 | Gross: $73.78M
19. Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
PG | 107 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
The legend of Santa Claus is put in jeopardy when an unscrupulous toy manufacturer attempts to take over Christmas.
Director: Jeannot Szwarc | Stars: Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, David Huddleston, Burgess Meredith
Votes: 15,599 | Gross: $23.72M
20. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
Approved | 101 min | Comedy, Romance
A food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas.
Director: Peter Godfrey | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardiner
Votes: 12,022
21. Home Alone (1990)
PG | 103 min | Comedy, Family
An eight-year-old troublemaker, mistakenly left home alone, must defend his home against a pair of burglars on Christmas Eve.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard
Votes: 652,678 | Gross: $285.76M
22. 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: 59,013
23. 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: 44,087
24. A Flintstone Christmas (1977 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 60 min | Animation, Family
When Santa has an accident at Fred's house on Christmas Eve, Fred and Barney have to continue his run for him.
Directors: Sid Marcus, Charles Nichols, Alex Lovy, Gerry Chiniquy, Hawley Pratt | Stars: Mel Blanc, Lucille Bliss, Henry Corden, Virginia Gregg
Votes: 996
25. March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934)
Passed | 77 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Opposing the evil Barnaby, Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try and fail to pay-off Mother Peep's mortgage and mislead his attempts to marry Little Bo. Enraged, Barnaby's Bogeymen are set on Toyland.
Directors: Gus Meins, Charley Rogers | Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Virginia Karns, Charlotte Henry
Votes: 7,560
26. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Not Rated | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut
Votes: 38,450 | Gross: $0.20M
27. Love Actually (2003)
R | 135 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.
Director: Richard Curtis | Stars: Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney
Votes: 531,429 | Gross: $59.70M
28. The Ref (1994)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A cat burglar is forced to take a bickering, dysfunctional family hostage on Christmas Eve.
Director: Ted Demme | Stars: Denis Leary, Judy Davis, Kevin Spacey, Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.
Votes: 26,549 | Gross: $11.44M
29. 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: 51,123 | Gross: $30.00M
30. The Nativity Story (2006)
PG | 101 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A drama that focuses on the period in Mary and Joseph's life where they journeyed to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.
Director: Catherine Hardwicke | Stars: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Oscar Isaac, Hiam Abbass
Votes: 12,356 | Gross: $37.63M
31. The Night Before (II) (2015)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Fantasy
On Christmas Eve, three lifelong friends spend the night in New York City looking for the Holy Grail of Christmas parties.
Director: Jonathan Levine | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Jillian Bell, Lizzy Caplan
Votes: 82,619 | Gross: $43.04M
32. The Preacher's Wife (1996)
PG | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
An angel comes to Earth to help a preacher save his church and his family.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney B. Vance, Gregory Hines
Votes: 13,727 | Gross: $48.10M
remake of the Bishops Wife
33. Happy Christmas (2014)
R | 82 min | Comedy, Drama
After a break up, Jenny moves in with writer Kelly, her filmmaker husband, and their child. Despite a rocky start, Jenny's influence helps Kelly realize that an evolution in her life, career and relationship is necessary for her happiness.
Director: Joe Swanberg | Stars: Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Mark Webber, Lena Dunham
Votes: 8,863 | Gross: $0.03M
34. Surviving Christmas (2004)
PG-13 | 91 min | Comedy, Romance
A lonely, obnoxious young millionaire pays a family to spend Christmas with him.
Director: Mike Mitchell | Stars: Ben Affleck, Christina Applegate, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara
Votes: 27,750 | Gross: $11.66M
35. Serendipity (2001)
PG-13 | 90 min | Comedy, Romance
A couple search for each other years after the night they first met, fell in love, and separated, convinced that one day they'd end up together.
Director: Peter Chelsom | Stars: John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale, Jeremy Piven, Bridget Moynahan
Votes: 121,332 | Gross: $50.29M
36. Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus (1991 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 95 min | Drama
Inspired by the famous 1897 editorial that has become a holiday staple, Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus tells the story of young Virginia O'Hanlan and the newspaper man who answered her question.
Director: Charles Jarrott | Stars: Richard Thomas, Edward Asner, Charles Bronson, Massimo Bonetti
Votes: 988
37. Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999 Video)
Not Rated | 66 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
Three tales of Christmas past about Donald's nephews reliving the day on repeat, Max Goof's belief in Santa being challenged, and Mickey and Minnie making ends meet.
Directors: Jun Falkenstein, Alex Mann, Bradley Raymond, Toby Shelton, Bill Speers | Stars: Kelsey Grammer, Wayne Allwine, Russi Taylor, Tony Anselmo
Votes: 10,395
38. Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
TV-G | 96 min | Biography, Drama, History
Beginning before the Nativity and extending through the Crucifixion and Resurrection, this mini-series brings to life all of the sweeping drama in the life of Jesus, as told by the Gospels.
Stars: Robert Powell, Olivia Hussey, Laurence Olivier, James Mason
Votes: 24,836
from the first Christmas to the 1st Easter
39. A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)
R | 104 min | Comedy
As their own mothers drop in unexpectedly, our three under-appreciated and over-burdened moms rebel against the challenges and expectations of the Super Bowl for mothers: Christmas.
Directors: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore | Stars: Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Jay Hernandez
Votes: 57,709 | Gross: $72.11M
40. The Grinch (2018)
PG | 85 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
A grumpy Grinch plots to ruin Christmas for the village of Whoville.
Directors: Yarrow Cheney, Scott Mosier | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Cameron Seely, Rashida Jones, Pharrell Williams
Votes: 91,111 | Gross: $270.62M
41. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
On the outskirts of Whoville lives a green, revenge-seeking Grinch who plans to ruin Christmas for all of the citizens of the town.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen, Kelley, Jeffrey Tambor
Votes: 291,449 | Gross: $260.04M
42. 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: 8,749
43. Scrooge (1935)
PG | 78 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Ebenezer Scrooge is a mean old miser who wants nothing to do with Christmas. The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come visit Scrooge on Christmas Eve, taking him on a journey into the very spirit and magic of Christmas itself.
Director: Henry Edwards | Stars: Seymour Hicks, Donald Calthrop, Robert Cochran, Mary Glynne
Votes: 2,643
44. Deck the Halls (2006)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Family
Two neighbors have it out after one of them decorates his house for the holidays so brightly that it can be seen from space.
Director: John Whitesell | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Danny DeVito, Kristin Chenoweth, Kristin Davis
Votes: 33,160 | Gross: $35.09M
45. Noelle (2019)
G | 100 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Santa's daughter must take over the family business when her father retires and her brother, who is supposed to inherit the Santa role, gets cold feet.
Director: Marc Lawrence | Stars: Anna Kendrick, Shirley MacLaine, Bill Hader, Kingsley Ben-Adir
Votes: 27,049
46. Mixed Nuts (1994)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
The events focus around a crisis hotline business on one crazy night during the Christmas holidays.
Director: Nora Ephron | Stars: Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Robert Klein, Anthony LaPaglia
Votes: 13,522 | Gross: $6.80M
47. The Family Man (2000)
PG-13 | 125 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A fast-lane investment broker, offered the opportunity to see how the other half lives, wakes up to find that his sports car and girlfriend have become a mini-van and wife.
Director: Brett Ratner | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Téa Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven
Votes: 119,356 | Gross: $75.79M
48. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
PG | 120 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
One year after Kevin McCallister was left home alone and had to defeat a pair of bumbling burglars, he accidentally finds himself stranded in New York City - and the same criminals are not far behind.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara
Votes: 402,424 | Gross: $173.59M
49. Four Christmases (2008)
PG-13 | 88 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A couple struggles to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas.
Director: Seth Gordon | Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn, Mary Steenburgen, Robert Duvall
Votes: 80,827 | Gross: $120.15M
50. 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
51. Remember the Night (1939)
Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Love blooms between a sympathetic attorney and the comely shoplifter he has taken home for the Christmas holiday.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson
Votes: 7,189 | Gross: $0.17M
52. Bad Santa (2003)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, John Ritter
Votes: 155,153 | Gross: $60.06M
53. Office Christmas Party (2016)
R | 105 min | Comedy
When his uptight CEO sister threatens to shut down his branch, the branch manager throws an epic Christmas party in order to land a big client and save the day, but the party gets way out of hand...
Directors: Josh Gordon, Will Speck | Stars: Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, T.J. Miller, Jennifer Aniston
Votes: 88,194 | Gross: $54.77M
54. They Live by Night (1948)
Passed | 95 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Romance
An escaped convict injured during a robbery falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health, but their relationship seems doomed from the beginning.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Cathy O'Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen
Votes: 9,355
set at Christmastime but not a traditional Christmas movie
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