This has become an essential part of Christmas movie watching in the past four decades. For many years it was the film I watched on the afternoon of Christmas Eve while I wrapped gifts to put under the tree, but recently we have saved it to savor as our Christmas cinema list draws to a close. The story of George Bailey’s redemptive crisis on Christmas Eve blends elements of many different films and stories (Meet John Doe, Good Sam, The Bishop’s Wife, and A Christmas Carol) but Frank Capra’s direction and the sterling performances by James Stewart and a wide range of marvelous character actors makes this an always wonderful film that always reveals new riches of meaning on each viewing.

PLOT SUMMARY

George Bailey contemplates suicide believing that his life has been a failure and that everyone would have been better off had he never been born. His guardian angel shows him the difference his life has made for his family, friends and town, and George realizes that instead of a failure he has lived a wonderful life.

NEW YORK CONNECTION

The only New York connection is referential: several friends mention working briefly in New York City before returning to Bedford Falls.

CHRISTMAS CONNECTION

The story is set on Christmas Eve, and there is the best and most meaningful snow scene in all of our Christmas movies.

CHARACTER ACTORS

There are so many. Our favorites are Thomas Mitchell (Uncle Billy) and Beulah Bondi (Ma Bailey). Surprisingly, Mitchell does not appear in any other film on our Christmas watch list, though he has wonderful roles in many Capra films, such as Lost Horizon and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Beulah Bondi also plays the mother in Remember the Night, another of our Christmas favorites.

WHY WE LOVE THIS MOVIE

I first discovered this movie while in college, just a few years before it became a ubiquitous movie shown repeatedly on TV in the 1970s when the copyright lapsed and the film briefly entered the public domain. While at the University of Virginia in 1974, I had the opportunity to meet Frank Capra, who was a special guest lecturer there. I attended a reception for him in the Edgar Allen Poe room on the Lawn and asked Mr. Capra how he got such wonderfully large snowflakes in the bridge scene: a combination of Ivory Snow detergent and Kellogg’s Cornflakes.

This film, based on a short story by O. Henry, is one of five short films by five different directors released together under the title O. Henry’s Full House. All of the stories are set in New York City, but “The Gift of the Magi” is the only one set at Christmas. All of the stories feature O. Henry’s ironic surprise endings. This segment was directed by Henry King and stars Farley Granger and Jeanne Crain.

PLOT SUMMARY

Jim Young (Farley Granger) and his wife, Della (Jeanne Crain), live in near poverty in lower Manhattan, while dreaming of an extravagant Christmas and the beautiful gifts they would love to give each other. Jim’s prized possession is a pocket watch, and his wife longs to give him a platinum watch fob. Della prizes her long, flowing hair, and Jim would like to give her tortoise-shell combs. On Christmas Eve, Jim pawns his watch to buy the combs, and Della sells her hair to buy the watch fob. Rather than being devastated by the ironic twist of fate, they see the humor in the situation and optimistically celebrate their love.

NEW YORK CONNECTION

The story is set in the gritty streets of lower Manhattan, including the only shot of the city’s old elevated trains in our Christmas watchlist.

CHRISTMAS CONNECTION

The story is set on Christmas Eve, and there are naturally snowy streets and Santa ringing his bell seeking donations for the kettle.

CHARACTER ACTORS

Fred Kesley (the cop) appears in Christmas in Connecticut, Larceny Inc., The Man Who Came to Dinner and Never Say Goodbye. Fritz Feld (the hairdresser) has a sparkling role as the psychiatrist in Bringing Up Baby. Harry Hayden (the boss) played the banker in Good Sam.

ASTAIRE CONNECTION

I haven’t found any Astaire connections for this movie.

WHY WE LOVE THIS MOVIE

It’s a short, delightful story, but we especially like the scenery of old New York.

Although released in 1983, this Christmas classic is set in late 1930s or early 1940s (some sources say specifically 1940), so it fits with the nostalgic focus of most of the films on our holiday watchlist. Set in a small Midwestern town, it doesn’t fit with 2022’s theme of “Christmas in New York,” but it is one of the Christmas essentials, so we must watch it.

PLOT SUMMARY

Ralphie dreams of getting Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas, even though his mother, his teacher, and even the department store Santa insist “you’ll put your eye out.” The film strings together 10 different vignettes that capture family life in the 1930s, but Ralphie finally gets his gun.

NEW YORK CONNECTION

There’s not a single connection to New York.

CHRISTMAS CONNECTION

A Christmas parade, Santa ringing his bell, buying a Christmas tree, and all of the key nostalgic rituals are packed into a single movie.

CHARACTER ACTORS

Melinda Dillon also played a mother in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Darren McGavin is best known for his TV role in Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

ASTAIRE CONNECTION

I couldn’t find any connection to Fred Astaire, either.

WHY WE LOVE THIS MOVIE

I remember hearing Jean Shepherd’s late-night radio program in the early 1960s from New York’s WOR station. His low-key storytelling won me from the first time I heard it, and his jocular narration of this film is actually my favorite part of the movie.

This is one of a handful of movies that begin on Christmas Eve but conclude several months later (the others include Beyond Tomorrow and The Great Rupert. Holiday Inn starts on one Christmas Eve and runs through two full years. Remember the Night begins on Christmas Eve and concludes just after New Year’s. And, of course, A Christmas Carol starts on Christmas Eve and concludes on Christmas Day. This is the third film on our list starring James Stewart (the others are The Shop Around the Corner and It’s a Wonderful Life). There are several other acting connections with other movies on our Christmas watch list, which I’ll mention in the “Character Actor” section below.

PLOT SUMMARY

The beautiful young witch Gillian Holroyd (Kim Novak) is attracted by her upstairs neighbor, publisher Shepherd Henderson (James Stewart), and when she realizes that he is engaged to her nasty college nemesis, she casts a spell on him and he falls in love. When Shep realizes that she has enchanted him, he drinks a potion to break the spell, but now Gillian realizes that she has fallen in love with Shep and lost her bewitching powers.

NEW YORK CONNECTION

The film is set in New York, highlighted by a Christmas morning scene atop the Flatiron Building and aerial shots of the adjacent Madison Square.

CHRISTMAS CONNECTION

The film begins on Christmas Eve, and you will see Christmas trees being dragged on the Manhattan sidewalks, Santa by a kettle ringing his bell, and snow falling everywhere.

CHARACTER ACTORS

This was a breakthrough role for Jack Lemmon, who plays Gillian’s flaky brother Nicky. After Bell, Book and Candle, he starred in Some Like It Hot and then The Apartment and became a major movie star in the 1960s. Ernie Kovacs, who was married to Edie Adams, who we saw in The Apartment, was a TV comedy pioneer but also had a few interesting character roles in movies. Elsa Lanchester appeared in The Bishop’s Wife. You may recognize Howard McNear (Shep’s co-publisher) from his role as Floyd the barber in TV’s The Andy Griffith Show.

ASTAIRE CONNECTION

When Fred Astaire first moved to New York in 1905 to start taking dancing lessons with his sister, Adele, he lived in a rooming house on 23rd Street, just a few blocks west of the Flatiron Building.

WHY WE LOVE THIS MOVIE

The beautiful Kim Novak, the wonderfully witty script, the scenes of the Flatiron Building and Madison Square, and of course Pyewacket the cat. James Wong Howe’s cinematography is wonderful. (He also was the director of photography for The Thin Man.)

This may be the best all-around film on our Christmas watch list: the direction, the acting, the screenplay, the cinematography, and the decor combine to make it one of the best pictures ever made in America. It won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction, and Best Film Editing. Both Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine were nominated for best acting, and Joseph LaShelle was nominated for best cinematography.

PLOT SUMMARY

C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is one of hundreds of clerks at a mammoth Manhattan insurance company, who seeks to speed his rise in the corporate world by letting executives use his apartment for adulterous liaisons. The shy Baxer seems smitten with an elevator operator, Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), who has fallen in love with Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), the married head of human resources. Promoted because of his apartment lending, Baxter starts lending his key to Sheldrake. On Christmas Eve, Baxter accidentally learns that Miss Kubelik is the woman with whom Sheldrake has been having the affair. She attempts suicide and is discovered by Baxter, who nurses her back to health and begins to fall in love with her. Thinking that he has convinced Kubelik to break off the relationship with Sheldrake, Baxter is devastated to learn that Sheldrake’s wife has learned of the affair and kicked him out, and Kubelik returns to him, but when she learns that Baxter has quit the company rather than have her and Sheldrake back in his apartment, she runs to Baxter and her newly realized love.

NEW YORK CONNECTION

All of the action takes place in Manhattan, with numerous scenes on the street outside of Baxter’s apartment, in front of the Majestic Theatre on West 44th Street, and in the large office building. Next to When Harry Met Sally, no film on our list has a firmer New York atmosphere.

CHRISTMAS CONNECTION

A raucous Christmas office party, a sad bar scene on Christmas Eve night (echoes of In Name Only), and a pitiful Christmas tree in Baxter’s apartment (into which he falls when punched by Fran Kubelik’s brother-in-law — echoes of Never Say Goodbye) combine to put the central action in the middle of the holidays. The film ends on New Year’s Eve.

CHARACTER ACTORS

Ray Walston (Joe Dobisch) is best known as the star of TV’s My Favorite Martian from the early 1960s. Edie Adams (Miss Olsen) was the wife of TV comedy pioneer Ernie Kovaks. Jack Kruschen (Dr. Dreyfus) had a long career in television.

ASTAIRE CONNECTION

I haven’t been able to identify any Astaire connections, other than the fact that Fred performed at a Press Club Frolic in April 1933 at the Majestic Theatre (where Baxter hopes to meet Miss Kubelik) at 245 W. 44th St.

WHY WE LOVE THIS MOVIE

This time around we discovered several things. Cinematographer Joseph LaShelle’s credits include Laura, Marty, and Irma La Douce, as well as another film that sometimes appears on our Christmas watchlist, Come to the Stable. Screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond, who became best known for his collaborations with Billy Wilder (including Some Like It Hot), early in his career wrote the script for Never Say Goodbye, one of our Christmas screwball favorites. And of course, it is always interesting to see Fred MacMurray play such an evil role after his thoroughly sympathetic role in Remember the Night.

Last year for the first time we watched the original film version of this play by Philip Barry. You can read that post here with a link to a YouTube video showing two ways a key scene was shot.

PLOT SUMMARY

Johnny Case (Cary Grant) has fallen in love with Julia Seton (Doris Nolan), not realizing that she is the daughter of a Wall Street banking mogul with a “reverence for riches.” Linda Seton (Katharine Hepburn) is the black sheep of the family but develops an immediate affinity for Johnny, whose dream is to make enough money to retire while he’s young and go on a “holiday” to figure out what life is all about. Julia is perfectly happy with her wealthy socialite life and can’t understand Johnny’s dream and they begin to pull apart as suddenly as they came together. Linda realizes that she loves Johnny but doesn’t want to steal him from her sister, but when Linda realizes that Julia doesn’t love Johnny, she rushes to join him on his “holiday.”

NEW YORK CONNECTION

The film begins with a stock establishing shot of the Manhattan skyline and follows with exterior footage of the Potters’ apartment building on West 114th Street and the Setons’ mansion at 843 Fifth Ave. Most of the film, true to its stage origins, is shown in interior set pieces with contrasting flavors of upper class and middle class living.

CHRISTMAS CONNECTION

The film actually begins on Christmas Day, though the only things that indicate this are the hymns being sung during the church service (“O, Come All Ye Faithful” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”) and a garland and wreath in the church narthex. There are no decorations in the Seton mansion or the Potter apartment. A tighter holiday connection is that the party where Johnny and Julia’s engagement is announced is also a New Year’s Eve party. We hear the fireworks at midnight from a window and strains of “Auld Lang Syne,” and see Johnny trying to steal a New Year’s kiss from Linda, who resists, having just realized that she has fallen in love with him.

CHARACTER ACTORS

Jean Dixon has a delicious role as the maid in My Man Godfrey. Lew Ayres, who plays Ned Seton, played Dr. Kildare in the movie series during the late 1930s and early ’40s. He was married to Ginger Rogers from 1934 to 1941. Henry Kolker (Edward Seton) has a similar role in the delightful screwball comedy Theodora Goes Wild (1936).

ASTAIRE CONNECTION

Edward Everett Horton, who plays Nick Potter, appeared with Fred Astaire in The Gay Divorcee, Top Hat and Shall We Dance.

Philip Barry, the author of the play Holiday, attended a party thrown by Condé Nast, which the Astaires also attended in January 1925.

WHY WE LOVE THIS MOVIE

Any time we can see the on-screen chemistry between Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, we love it. We also love seeing Cary Grant’s tumbling tricks, reminders that he began his show business career in an acrobatic troupe. (For more information on that see my video: Suave, Sophisticated and Silly: The Role of Slapstick in the Comedies of William Powell & Cary Grant.)

This is the most recently produced movie on our Christmas cinema watchlist. Released in 1989, it is one of only a half dozen films on our list that were shot in color, rather than our preferred black & white. It’s on the list because it ranks as one of the most lovely, romantic movies with key scenes set during the holidays. Can you think of a movie with wittier dialogue? And this year, with our theme being Christmas in New York, this is the most Manhattan of movies. As much as it is a love story about Harry and Sally, it is also a love story in and of New York.

PLOT SUMMARY

Harry Burns first meets Sally Albright when they share a ride to New York after graduating from the University of Chicago. Their personalities are so different that they clash from the beginning. Six years later they bump into each other at an airport, and again they clash. Again, several years later they meet, after Harry’s marriage has ended in divorce and Sally has broken up with her live-in boyfriend. Sally and Harry become close but not romantic friends. Then they go to bed with each other, and each fears that sex has ruined the friendship. For a while it looks as if it has, but then on New Year’s Eve, Harry realizes that Sally is the love of his life and runs through the streets of Manhattan to propose. It ends with one of the best screen kisses you’ll ever see.

NEW YORK CONNECTION

New York landmarks form the background of many key scenes in the movie: two key shots of Washington Square (when they first arrive in New York and when Harry realizes how much he loves Sally), Central Park (multiple times), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Numerous scenes are shot in Manhattan restaurants and cafes, including the legendary “I’ll have what she’s having” segment shot in Katz’s Delicatessen at 205 E. Houston St.

CHRISTMAS CONNECTION

From the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree to two scenes of Sally buying a Christmas tree from a Manhattan vendor and dragging it in the snow to her apartment, there are several key scenes set during two Christmases.

CHARACTER ACTORS

Bruno Kirby plays the young Clemenza in The Godfather, Part Two (1974). He appeared again as a buddy of Billy Crystal’s in City Slickers (1991) and was directed by Rob Reiner in This Is Spinal Tap (1984).

ASTAIRE CONNECTION

Other than the Gershwin tunes in the soundtrack, many performed by Harry Connick Jr., I haven’t found any direct Astaire connections.

WHY WE LOVE THIS MOVIE

Nora Ephrom’s witty dialogue, beautifully photographed New York scenery by Barry Sonnenfeld (especially the autumn colors in Central Park and the snow-covered sidewalks), and delightful performances by all of the actors combine to make this a nearly perfect film.

In Name Only joined our holiday watch list four years ago after watching it in early 2018 during one of our Cary Grant binges and realizing that it has a key scene on Christmas Eve. On several levels this is an unusual film. Two of the finest romantic comedy stars from the 1930s (Carole Lombard and Cary Grant) appear in a nearly tragic melodrama, and both show their acting range. Another fine group of character actors add to the interest.

PLOT SUMMARY

Cary Grant is stuck in a loveless marriage with Kay Francis when he meets a vibrant widow, Carole Lombard.  We learn that Francis married Grant only because of his wealth and position and has carefully manipulated everyone, even his father (Charles Coburn) and mother (Nella Walker), into believing that Grant is a cad.  Francis pretends to agree to give Grant a divorce after an extended trip to France (with his parents no less), but when Grant learns that she will never let go, he sinks into despair. In the last scene, despair turns to hope, when Francis’s malicious plans are overheard by Grant’s parents.

NEW YORK CONNECTION

The film’s second half is set in New York, with establishing shots of the skyline and Washington Square, as well as specific addresses (Lombard’s apartment at 5 W. 10th St.), a New York bar on Christmas Eve, and a dive hotel.

CHRISTMAS CONNECTION

The film’s denouement begins on Christmas Eve with a drooping tree and then one of the bitterest surprise parties you can imagine. The film continues through Christmas Day with Grant in a stupor in a seedy hotel.   But hope triumphs, at the last minute, after much travail.

CHARACTER ACTORS

Charles Coburn, who plays Cary Grant’s father, appeared in Bachelor Mother.  Coburn was a fine comic actor with a résumé of great films, such as The Lady Eve, The More the Merrier (for which he received an Oscar as best supporting actor) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.  My favorite role of his, in which he also plays a department store owner as he did in Bachelor Mother, is The Devil and Miss Jones (1941).  Coburn worked on Broadway from 1901 to 1937, acting, directing and producing plays with his wife, Ivah Wills, with whom he had a touring repertory company that performed Shakespeare, Greek tragedies, and French comedies.  After her death in 1937, Coburn moved to Hollywood.

Helen Vinson (who plays Kay Francis’s catty best friend, Suzanne, in In Name Only) is also seen in Beyond Tomorrow (1940).

Nella Walker (who plays Grant’s mother) had roles in such grand films as Stella Dallas (1937), Kitty Foyle (1940) and Sabrina (1954).

Grady Sutton, who appears briefly as Suzanne’s escort in a scene on the train, appeared in numerous films.  He played Carole Lombard’s brief fiancé in My Man Godfrey (1936). He also has a brief scene White Christmas, dancing with Rosemary Clooney at the engagement party at the general’s Pine Tree Inn.

Another brief but important role is played by Maurice Moscovich as Dr. Muller. He appeared one year later as Mr. Jaeckel in Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator.

ASTAIRE CONNECTION

Charles Coburn was a fellow member of The Lambs Club, and along with Fred (and dozens of other stars who moved from New York to Hollywood in the 1930s), he was known by those who stayed behind as the “Lost Sheep” or “Coast Cousins.”

George Rosener, who plays the seedy hotel doctor, appeared on a Shubert Sunday Concert bill with the Astaires on September 15, 1918, during the run of their second Broadway show, The Passing Show of 1918. Note: This was just around the time the Spanish Influenza starting to hit New York City, so there is an ironic link to his character diagnosing Grant as having the flu.

Frank Mills, who plays the bartender on Christmas Eve, appeared in several Astaire films.  He was a waiter in the opening scene of The Gay Divorcee (1934) and again was a waiter in the Lido in Top Hat (1935), as well as one of the gambler’s stooges in Swing Time (1936).  He’s also a soldier with Astaire in You’ll Never Get Rich (1941). He appeared as the park bum in Holiday Affair (1949).

Richard Sherman, who wrote the screenplay for In Name Only, wrote the screenplay for the last of the Astaire-Rogers RKO musicals: The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle.

WHY WE LOVE THIS MOVIE

Cary Grant and Carole Lombard are two of our favorite actors, and seeing them together is a joy, even if the story is terribly sad.  Ultimately it is a fine, well-acted film, so we will keep it in future Christmas cinema rotations, especially since it adds a contrasting touch of sadness to the mostly upbeat films on the list.

This is one of our favorite Christmas movies, for a whole string of reasons. First, it stars Barbara Stanwyck in the first of her three appearances on our Christmas cinema watchlist: the others are Meet John Doe and Christmas in Connecticut. Remember the Night was also the first of several films in which she co-starred with Fred MacMurray: Double Indemnity (1944), The Moonlighter (1953), and There’s Always Tomorrow (1956). Remember the Night is the film that brought Barbara Stanwyck to the attention of Preston Sturges. During the filming he promised her that he would write a screwball comedy script for her, which turned out to be The Lady Eve. Remember the Night is also the film that persuaded Sturges he needed to start directing his own screenplays. He was dissatisfied with changes that Mitchell Leisen had made to his script and resolved to insist that Paramount allow him to direct. The result was The Great McGinty, the first of a string of the best comedies in Hollywood history.pl

PLOT SUMMARY

Lee Leander (Barbara Stanwyck) is arrested for shoplifting and goes to trial a few days before Christmas. Assistant district attorney John Sargent (Fred MacMurray) is preparing to drive home for the holidays, when he is assigned to prosecute the case. He maneuvers to have the trial postponed until after the holidays, but then feels remorseful when he realizes Stanwyck will be stuck in jail for Christmas. He arranges to bail her out, but when she shows up at his apartment and he realizes her hometown is near his in Wabash, Indiana, he agrees to drop her off on his way home. Leander’s mother refuses to let her stay and when MacMurray learn how sad her upbringing was he invites her home with him. Stanwyck’s hard edges soften when she sees the warm family in which MacMurray was raised, so different from her own. Romance blossoms, but how can a strait-laced attorney be involved with a repeat offender?

NEW YORK CONNECTION

The film opens and closes in New York, with street scenes on Fifth Avenue, several establishing shots of the Manhattan skyline.

CHRISTMAS CONNECTION

The film begins a few days before Christmas, includes an old-fashioned Christmas Eve tree decorating party, and a New Year’s Eve barn dance.

CHARACTER ACTORS

Among the several reliable character actors are Beulah Bondi (James Stewart’s mother in It’s a Wonderful Life), Sterling Holloway (the diner clerk in Meet John Doe), and Georgia Caine, who frequently appeared in Preston Sturges’s films, but usually in more sympathetic roles.

ASTAIRE CONNECTION

Georgia Caine appeared on Broadway with Fred and Adele Astaire in Smiles, which was produced by Florenz Ziegfeld. She had attended the same New York dancing school as the Astaires.

WHY WE LOVE THIS MOVIE

Barbara Stanwyck is gorgeous and engaging, and we see her hard edge melting away when she meets someone who is genuine and honest. The scene where Beulah Bondi begs her not to become involved with Fred MacMurrary is heart-breaking but so wonderfully done.

While not the best of movies, this is an endearing film with warm characters and an interesting theme of welcoming unexpected surprises rather than settling for the safe. Isobel Lennart, who wrote the screenplay, also wrote the script for Fitzwilly, another warm-hearted Christmas movie on our watchlist.

PLOT SUMMARY

Connie Ennis (Janet Leigh), a comparison shopper, buys a toy train from Steve Mason (Robert Mitchum), who suspects that she is a shopper who should be reported to management. A single mother whose husband died in World War II, Connie takes the train home to her son, Timmy, who sneaks a peak in the package and assumes the train is for him. A suitor, Carl Davis (Wendell Corey), arrives after dinner to help with the dishes and repeat the marriage proposal that Connie has been deferring for two years. When Connie returns the train to the department store, Steve is fired by failing to report her as a comparison shopper. Obviously attracted to each other, they spend two hours at the Central Park zoo with Steve describing his life and his ambition to move to California and design sailboats. A romantic rivalry with Carl arises, and Connie suddenly accepts Carl’s proposal, but finds herself repeatedly thrown back together with Steve. Carl realizes that Connie loves Steve and breaks off the engagement, but Steve instead of proposing to Connie tells her that he wants someone who will drop everything and come to him. She demurs, but in a sudden reversal on New Year’s Eve rushes with Timmy to join Steve on a New Year’s train ride to California to follow their dreams.

NEW YORK CONNECTION

The story is set thoroughly in New York City, with two key scenes in Central Park, including the seals at the zoo. (It also includes a squirrel, but not Rupert.) There are also several generic street and bus scenes capturing the hustle and bustle of Manhattan during the holidays.

CHRISTMAS CONNECTION

The film begins at the height of the holiday shopping season in the toy department of a big store. There are scenes with decorating a Christmas tree, a Christmas dinner (interrupted by news that Steve has been arrested), and finally a New Year’s Eve party aboard a train.

CHARACTER ACTORS

Compared to some films, this has a small cast of character actors. Esther Dale, Connie’s mother-in-law, appears in two screwball classics: Easy Living and The Awful Truth. Harry Morgan, best known for television roles on Dragnet and M*A*S*H, has a delightful role as a police lieutenant.

ASTAIRE CONNECTION

I haven’t been able to identify any specific Astaire connections for this film.

WHY WE LOVE THIS MOVIE

Every character in the film (except the toy department floor walker) is sympathetic. And we don’t get overly annoyed by the child actor.