Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Holiday Movie Favorites


There are so many things about the holidays I love; but there is one tradition that I look forward to each and every year.. the viewing of my favorite holiday movies.

The holiday movie season always kicks off with "Miracle on 34th Street." Not a remake.. but the original in black and white. The movie is just magical! As one of the original movie trailers touted: "It's romantic, it's exciting, it's charming!" After watching this movie year after year, you can't help but believe in Santa Claus!

It's available in a variety of formats but the digitally remastered DVD is the absolute best!

I typically watch "Miracle on 34th Street" the night before Thanksgiving. I have a couple favorite scenes: The first is the scene where Santa meets the little girl from Holland and speaks Dutch to the child to the amazement of her adoptive Mother. The look of the little girl when Santa speaks to her is precious! My second favorie scene is he closing scene when Susan runs into the house that she claims is "the" house that she's dreamed of. As the movie ends, you see Kris Kringles cane in the corner of the room... 'could it be?'



My next holiday favorite is Irving Berlin's "White Christmas." This 1954 movie is what I call the last of the big screen musicals. With painted backgrounds, faboulous music, and wonderful production numbers, I'm drawn to this movie year after year.

With a cast of Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera -Ellen, and Rosemary Clooney - you can't go wrong! I remember watching this movie when I was very young and 'revisiting' it as a young adult. This is one movie that can never be re-made! The current Broadway show of the same name is excellent; but it can't replace this movie classic. My favorite songs include (of course) White Christmas, Sisters, and Count Your Blessings.

This movie is always playing when I'm decorating the family room tree. It's a 'Friday after Thanksgiving' must have!

These movies are the essential holiday movies for any movie collection. Coming up next I'll share my favorite holiday television specials!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

White Christmas is one of my all time favorite movies, I still cry everytime I watch it. But you forgot Christmas Vacation, still makes me laugh. My sister used to tell me that the "house lighting" scene was based on my and my lighting of the house we grew up in. I am such a sucker for Christmas! Can I decorate now?

Anonymous said...

For me, It's a Wonderful Life is the movie that just isn't
Christmas until I see it. LOVE your blog!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic BLOG Kenn!
All great movies. Here's a couple more "gems" I discovered last year (in case someone needs more classic holiday-themed movies).

"The Man Who Came to Dinner" 1942
Bette Davis, Monty Wooley, Billie Burke, Ann Sheridan

"Christmas in Connecticut" 1945
Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet
(Barbara plays a "Martha" columnist-homemaker, fooling her readers, when in reality, she doesn't even know how to boil water) - great movie.

I own both DVDs - and they've become classic Christmas discs for me. They're available to rent from Netfilx too.

Mike