
For 2021 we are taking a hybrid approach to the 40 movies in our Christmas cinema watchlist. In 2020 we watched our films in the order of their production. In 2019 we arranged the films in themes. This year, we are again watching the films in chronological order (generally), but we have given some of our films a sabbatical year and added in their place films we haven’t seen before or watched in many years and all of the different versions of A Christmas Carol that we could find. Usually, we watch only three cinematic treatments of Charles Dickens’ classic story: the 1938 MGM version starring Reginald Owen, the 1951 version starring Alastair Sim, and the 1962 cartoon Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol. Here’s the alphabetized list of movies we will be watching and the date of their production. Our core Christmas films (i.e., it wouldn’t be Christmas without watching these films) are in bold. We have all of these on DVD, so we can watch them in our preferred order, but I’ve posted the days and times when they can be seen on cable TV this year. Unless otherwise noted, they will be shown on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), which always runs a lovely series of classic holiday films during December.


TITLE | YEAR | DATE & TIME |
---|---|---|
Alias Boston Blackie | 1942 | Dec. 21 - 2 p.m. |
And So They Were Married | 1936 | N/A |
Bachelor Mother | 1939 | Dec. 23 - 4 a.m. |
Beyond Tomorrow | 1940 | Dec. 25 - 6 a.m. |
Bishop's Wife, The | 1947 | Dec. 24 - 8 p.m. |
Cheaters, The | 1945 | Dec. 24 - 12:15 a.m. |
Christmas Carol, A | 1935 | N/A |
Christmas Carol, A | 1938 | Dec. 21 - 10:30 a.m. Dec. 24 - 10 p.m. |
Christmas Carol, A | 1951 | FXM - Dec. 24 - 2:30 p.m. FXM - Dec. 25 - 1:10 a.m. FXM - Dec. 25 - 6 a.m. FXM - Dec. 25 - 10:30 a.m. FXM - Dec. 25 - 3 p.m. FXM - Dec. 25 - 8:20 p.m. FXM - Dec. 26 - 1:40 a.m. |
Christmas Carol, A | 1984 | EPIX - Dec. 24 - 8 p.m. EPIX - Dec. 25 - 10 a.m. EPIX - Dec. 25 - 6:15 p.m. |
Christmas Carol, A | 1999 | TNT - Dec. 18 - 10 p.m. |
Christmas Carol, A | 2019 | FXM - Dec. 24 - 4:20 p.m. FXM - Dec. 25 - 3 a.m. FXM - Dec. 25 - 7:30 a.m. FXM - Dec. 25 - 12 p.m. FXM - Dec. 25 - 4:50 p.m. FXM - Dec. 25 - 10:10 p.m. |
Christmas Eve | 1947 | Dec. 25 - 3:45 a.m. |
Christmas in Connecticut | 1945 | Dec. 22 - 8 p.m. Dec. 24 - 4 p.m. |
Comfort & Joy | 1984 | N/A |
Cover Up | 1949 | Dec. 20 - 11 a.m. |
Disney's Christmas Carol | 2009 | FREE - Dec. 17 - 11:55 p.m. FREE - Dec. 21 - 4 p.m. FREE - Dec. 23 - 8 p.m. |
Fitzwilly | 1967 | Dec. 20 - 10 p.m. |
Great Rupert, The | 1950 | Dec. 24 - 6:15 a.m. |
Holiday | 1938 | N/A |
Holiday Affair | 1949 | Dec. 18 - 6:15 p.m. Dec. 22 - 10 p.m. Dec. 24 - 12:15 p.m. |
Holiday Inn | 1942 | N/A |
Holly and the Ivy, The | 1952 | Dec. 19 - 10:15 p.m. |
It Happened on 5th Avenue | 1947 | Dec. 23 - 8 p.m. Dec. 25 - 3:45 p.m. |
It's a Wonderful Life | 1946 | USA - Dec. 15 - 8 p.m. NBC - Dec. 24 - 8 p.m. |
Lady on a Train | 1945 | Dec. 20 - 6 p.m. |
Larceny Inc. | 1942 | Dec. 21 - 2 a.m. |
Lemon Drop Kid, The | 1951 | N/A |
Man Who Came to Dinner< The | 1942 | Dec. 20 - 9 a.m. Dec. 23 - 10:15 p.m. |
Meet John Doe | 1941 | Dec. 18 - 12 p.m. Dec. 25 - 1:30 a.m. |
Miracle on 34th Street | 1947 | HBO - Dec. 23 - 5:23 p.m. HBO - Dec. 24 - 7 p.m. HBO - Dec. 29 - 1:43 p.m. |
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol | 1962 | N/A |
Never Say Goodbye | 1946 | Dec. 22 - 4 p.m. |
Remember the Night | 1940 | Dec. 24 - 11:30 p.m. |
Scrooge | 1970 | N/A |
Scrooged | 1988 | AMC - Dec. 17 - 8 p.m. AMC - Dec. 18 - 3:30 p.m. SUND - Dec. 19 - 7 p.m. AMC - Dec. 20 - 8 p.m. AMC - Dec. 21 - 1:15 p.m. AMC - Dec. 23 - 3:30 p.m. AMC - Dec. 24 - 2 p.m. |
Shop Around the Corner, The | 1940 | Dec. 22 - 12 a.m. Dec. 24 - 2 p.m. |
Thin Man, The | 1934 | Dec. 31 - 8 p.m. |
When Harry Met Sally | 1989 | SHOC - Dec. 18 - 10:35 a.m. SHO - Dec. 19 - 7:30 a.m. SHO2 - Dec. 23 - 12:05 a.m. SHO - Dec. 25 - 8:30 a.m. SHO2 - Dec. 27 - 9 p.m. |
White Christmas | 1954 | AMC - Dec. 23 - 2:15 a.m. AMC - Dec. 23 - 9 a.m. AMC - Dec. 24 - 11:15 a.m. AMC - Dec. 24 - 3 p.m. AMC - Dec. 24 - 5:45 p.m. AMC - Dec. 24 - 8:30 p.m. AMC - Dec. 24 - 11:15 p.m. AMC - Dec. 25 - 2 a.m. AMC - Dec. 25 - 4:45 a.m. AMC - Dec. 25 - 7:30 a.m. AMC - Dec. 25 - 10:15 a.m. AMC - Dec. 26 - 3:15 a.m. |