“It’s A Wonderful Life” (1946)
A universally recognized Christmas classic, “It’s A Wonderful Life” had to battle hard to get to that status: it flopped at first and was even denounced by the FBI as being sympathetic to Communists, but became a beloved perennial via TV broadcasts in the 1970s (“it’s the damndest thing I’ve ever seen,” director Frank Capra told the Wall Street Journal in 1984. “I’m like a parent whose kid grows up to be president. I’m proud… but it’s the kid who did the work”). It’s perhaps not surprising, given that the film’s so much darker and stranger than many remember. The film sees the suicidal George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) shown how life would have been without him by his guardian angel Clarence. It’s less concerned with holiday trappings than many of the films on this list, but the Christmas setting feels utterly appropriate, both for the echoes of Charles Dickens and for its spirit of the power of family and community. It’s positively novelistic in its portrait of ordinary American life in the first half, but then pulls a powerful trick in showing the impact one individual has on his people in his life.
“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” (2005)
Few filmmakers have been more associated with Christmas than Shane Black: as a screenwriter, he set “Lethal Weapon” and “The Long Kiss Goodnight” in the holiday season, and as a blockbuster helmer, he brought some Yuletide spirit to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with “Iron Man 3.” So it’s perhaps appropriate that his masterpiece is also his most Christmas-y movie, in the shape of “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” From its earliest moments, as petty thief Harry (Robert Downey Jr, in the role that reinvented his career) attempts to steal a toy as a Christmas present for a relative, the spirit of the holidays runs through Black’s twisty noir-action-comedy hybrid. Harry teams with gay P.I. Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer) to solve the mystery of the twin suicide of his childhood sweetheart Harmony (Michelle Monaghan). Like many Xmas-themed actioners, this picture uses the season mostly as a backdrop rather than actual theme, but actually, as the isolated fuck-ups of Harry and Harmony are drawn together over garish, unseasonably warm L.A. December, there is something pleasingly warm and charming about the film, even as they delve into the incredibly dark underbelly of the city. Plus, few screen Santas have been as memorable as Monaghan’s outfit herein.
“Miracle On 34th Street” (1947)
The existence (or not?) of Santa Claus/Father Christmas is at the heart of all kinds of Christmas movies, but it’s rarely been tackled more effectively than with “Miracle On 34th Street,” George Seaton’s heart-swellingly sweet tale based on a story by Valentine Davies. Set in an initially rather more cynical take on post-war New York than commonly employed (it’s almost striking to see an overly-commercialized festive period in a movie nearly 70 years old), the film sees the elderly Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) taking over the role of Macy’s Santa, winning hearts with his selfless, loving persona. Yet he’s also being accused of being mentally unsound by those suspicious of his goodness. In the end, it has to come down to the young Susan (Natalie Wood in her breakthrough role) to save the day and convince her weary mother (Maureen O’Hara) of the spirit of Christmas. It’s a shameless heart-twanger in the spirit of Capra, though with a rather more scabrous wit in places, but as in the film’s universe, even the most hard-hearted cynic (or Academy member: the film was nominated for multiple Oscars and won for the screenplay and Gwenn’s performance) will surely be worn down by the time countless bags of mail are dumped in the courtroom where Santa is on trial. The John Hughes-penned 1994 remake starring Richard Attenborough isn’t bad, but curiously plays up the legal drama stuff to the extent that it starts feeling like a Christmas special of “The Practice” or something.
“The Muppet Christmas Carol” (1992)
Who would have thought that one of the best screen versions of Charles Dickens’ classic tale would come stuffed with Muppets? The first outing for the beloved felt creatures since the death of creator Jim Henson (the film was directed by his son Brian) is a surprisingly faithful take on “A Christmas Carol,” narrated by Dickens himself (in the form of The Great Gonzo), as Scrooge (Michael Caine) is shown the error of his miserly, Christmas-hating ways by the Ghost Of Christmas Past, Present and Future. For the most part, the best-known Muppets are reduced to the margins —Kermit and Miss Piggy as the Mr. and Mrs. Cratchit, Sam Eagle as the Schoolmaster— with Statler and Waldorf perhaps getting to have the most fun as Marley & Marley. The surprising sincerity of this rendition sometimes jars against the anarchic Muppet spirit —pathos is slightly less effective when delivered by Miss Piggy. But it’s nevertheless frequently funny and is utterly sold by Caine, arguably delivering one of his best performances. Utterly committed, to the extent that you wonder if anyone told him he was making a Muppet movie, he sells better than most both the black soul of Scrooge when we meet him, and the little boy inside. His redemption, when it comes, is surprisingly moving for a movie that also features the Swedish Chef.
“The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993)
Director Henry Selick might have come out recently and defined his film “The Nightmare Before Christmas” as a Halloween movie, rather than a Christmas movie, but we’re not sure we entirely agree: while you could undoubtedly make a case for either, it’s so infused with Christmas spirit, in an enjoyably macabre way, that it deserves a place as much as anything else here. Produced, and based on a poem by, Tim Burton, but directed in loving fashion by Selick, it sees Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon), the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, become obsessed by a different after stumbling onto the neighboring world of Christmas Town, and seeks to usurp Santa. Brought to life in stop-motion at a time when the form was even more unfashionable than it is now (“Paranorman” makers Laika essentially wouldn’t exist without this), it’s a gorgeously designed world, with deep pleasure in every background character or wonky house, and Selick has a great eye for an image. But for all its ghoulish delight in grossing you out, it’s also a wonderfully sincere film: a straight-up musical (with mostly terrific Danny Elfman songs) with a giant heart and a touching love story. It’s somehow one of Burton’s best films, despite it having been directed by someone else entirely.