Now that the Holidays are upon us, I thought it would be a good time to do our annual Best Christmas Movies of all time list. This year I decided to break the genre down into 4 separate categories: Best Christmas Movies of All Time, Animated Classics, Guilty Pleasures, and The Worst of the Worst. Today we present for your reading pleasure, the Best Christmas Movies of All Time.
The Best Christmas Movies of All Time
It's A Wonderful Life [1946]Frank Capra's story of the life of everyman George Bailey, as told to his guardian angel Clarence Oddbody, who has been recruited to save him in his moment of need.
Did You Know: A clerical error at National Telefilm Associates prevented the copyright from being renewed properly in 1974. Many television stations began airing the film without paying royalties, and the film saw it's biggest popularity. In 1993, a supreme court ruling decided that the film was still under copyright, and as a result, the film is no longer shown as much on television (NBC is currently licensed to show the film on U.S. network television, and only shows it traditionally twice during the holidays, with one showing primarily on Christmas Eve from 8-11 Eastern time). Contrary to its widespread acclaim in recent years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not give an award to It's a Wonderful Life for any of it Oscar nominations. Best Actor, Best Editing, Best Director, and Best Picture were lost all to The Best Years of Our Lives, William Wyler's adaptation of the Post-WWII MacKinlay Kantor novel.
The Academy Award winning story of a gentle old man, working as a Santa Claus at Macy's department store in New York City, who contends that he is the real deal. The film was colorized twice, remade for television in 1955, 1959, 1973 and was remade into a 1994 feature film by Ls Mayfield.
Did You Know: Despite the fact that the film is set during Christmas, studio head Darryl F. Zanuck insisted that it be released in May because he argued that more people went to the movies during the summer. So the studio began scrambling to promote it while keeping the fact that it was a Christmas movie a secret.
Bob Clark's film based on the short stories and semi-fictional anecdotes of author Jean Shepherd. Since the aforementioned It's A Wonderful Life copyright case, A Christmas Story has taken over the title of being the most played Christmas movie on television. TBS runs a 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story every year starting at 8:00pm on Christmas Eve.
Did You Know: Jack Nicholson was considered for the role of the Old Man. A movie sequel involving Ralphie and his family, called It Runs in the Family (which has also been since marketed as My Summer Story) was made in 1994, featuring an almost entirely different cast. A series of television movies involving the Parker family, also from Shepherd stories, was made by PBS, including Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss, The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, and The Phantom of the Open Hearth.
Joe Dante's story about a young man who receives a strange creature named Gizmo as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive monsters.
Did You Know: Howie Mandel provided the voice of Gizmo. Home Alone director Chris Columbus wrote the original screenplay as a "writing sample" before Steven Spielberg took interest, bought and produced the project. A subplot involving Mrs. Deagle's attempts to buy some homes in Kingston Falls to build a nuclear plant was filmed but cut. A similar plot involving greedy developers buying properties for a golf course turned up in Columbus's 1985 screenplay The Goonies. Coincidence? We think not.
A comedy based on Charles Dickens' classic story, A Christmas Carol starring Bill Murray as a selfish, cynical television programming executive who is visited by three ghosts.
Did You Know: The film's tagline was a Ghostbusters reference: "Bill Murray is back among the ghosts. Only this time, it's three against one."
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation [1989]
The third film in the National Lampoon Vacation series starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo.
Did You Know: This was the last film in the Vacation series that John Hughes would write, and may-be not so coincidentally the last National Lampoon movie that was good. Clark's boss, Frank Shirley, is played by actor Brian Doyle-Murray, the older brother of comedian Bill Murray. Doyle-Murray was previously seen in Vacation as the watermelon spitting campground manager.
Home Alone [1990]
Written by John Hughes, directed by Christopher Columbus, Home Alone featured Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to France for a Christmas vacation. While initially relishing his time alone, he is later threatened with two house burglars, whom he outwits by rigging the house with booby traps.
Did You Know: The concept for this movie originated during the filming of a scene in Uncle Buck (1989) in which Macaulay Culkin plays a character who interrogates a would-be-babysitter through a letterbox. Although the part was written especially for Macaulay Culkin by John Hughes, several hundred other boys were auditioned by director Chris Columbus just because he wanted to confirm that Culkin was right for the part. The role of Uncle Frank was written for Kelsey Grammer. Robert De Niro turned down the role of Harry, which was played in the film by Joe Pesci.
Edward Scissorhands [1990]
You know, the Tim Burton film starring Johnny Depp referencing the many themes of the Frankenstein. I should be more specific... You know, the one with the guy who has scissors for hands.
Did You Know: The first draft of the film was written as a musical. The idea for the movie was inspired by a drawing Tim Burton had done when he was a teenager. Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr. were considered for the role of Edward Scissorhands. Johnny Depp said only 169 words in this film. This was Vincent Price's last screen appearance and his last moment ever on screen is a death scene. Vincent Price actually fainted on the set as it was filmed and Tim Burton decided the take was fine and kept it for the morbidity of it.
The Nightmare Before Christmas [1993]
Directed by stop-motion animator Henry Selick, and not Tim Burton as most have come to believe (The film is loosely based on the drawings and a poem by Burton).
Did You Know: Tim Burton's original poem was inspired after seeing Halloween merchandise display in a store being taken down and replaced by a Christmas display. The juxtaposition of ghouls and goblins with Santa and his reindeer sparked his imagination. This was the first movie to ever be fully animated using the stop-motion technique. The animators received Oscar nominations for Best Visual Effects as a result, but lost to ILM who created the dinosaurs for Jurassic Park. ILM originally considered using stop-motion for the dinosaur effects, but went instead with the revolutionary CG process.
The Santa Clause [1994]
Tim Allen becomes contractually bound to become Santa Claus himself after the Christmas figure's tragic death.
Did You Know: When Scott and Charlie are leaving the North Pole in the sleigh and pass by the moon; the moon has a distinct Mickey Mouse logo on it.
You've Got Mail [1998]
A contemporary remake of the 1940 film The Shop Around the Corner, two e-maill-writing lovers are completely unaware that their sweetheart is in fact the competitor with whom they share a certain degree of animosity.
Did You Know: In the film, Joe Fox's grandfather mentions that long ago, he briefly shared a pen pal romance with the store's previous owner, Cecilia Kelly (Kathleen's mother), and that they only communicated through letters. This is a reference to the movie's predecessor, The Shop Around The Corner starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan.
Eyes Wide Shut [1999]
Stanley Kubrick's last film, based on the novella Traumnovelle (in English Dream Story) by Arthur Schnitzler.
Did You Know: Kubrick considered casting Steve Martin in the role of Dr. William Harford eventually given to Tom Cruise. Woody Allen claimed that Kubrick had considered him for the role of Victor Ziegler, but says that Kubrick "came to his senses". In The Bedroom and Little Children director Todd Field plays Nick Nightingale.
Go [1999]
Directed by Doug Liman, written by John August, Go features three pulp-fiction-esque intertwining plots that happen to involve one drug deal.
Did You Know: Writer John August had originally intended "Go" to be a short film. The original screenplay was made up basically of the "Ronna" part of the script. The other two sections were added to explain why Simon went to Las Vegas and who Adam & Zack are. Jay Mohr, who has a lead role in the movie, originally wanted to be the drug dealer and continued to push for the dealer after he learned he got the lead.
Elf [2003]
Directed by Jon Favreau, starring Will Farrell as a man raised as an Elf who is sent to New York City in search of his true identity.
Did You Know: When this screenplay first emerged in 1993, Jim Carrey was slated to play Buddy. Terry Zwigoff was offered a chance to direct the film, but turned it down. Zwigoff went on to direct Bad Santa. The Elf Costumes were also modeled after the Elves in Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Bad Santa [2003]
Billy Bob Thornton stars as a miserable conman, who along with his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve.
Did You Know: The word "fuck" and its variations are used 147 times while "shit" appears 34 times amid a total of 243 "profanities", thought to be a reccord for a Christmas film. Bill Murray was signed on as Willie but dropped out for Lost in Translation. Larry David was also considered for the role but never signed on.
Tomorrow we will return with Animated Christmas Classics, followed by Guilty Pleasures, and The Worst of the Worst Christmas Movies.