Eight Fantastic Classic Holiday Movies

This classic Laurel and Hardy comedy has been known by many names. Originally it took the title of Babes in Toyland - after a 1903 operetta by Victor Herbert, though the plots were not the same. In 1948 it was re-released as March of the Wooden Soldiers. Later the title Laurel and Hardy in Toyland was used. In Germany it was released as Revenge Is Sweet, and it was also at one time called Wooden Soldiers.This is not technically a Christmas movie, but it has the holiday spirit and is often suggested for holiday classic movie viewing. It is also the earliest movie in this genre, so I wanted to include it here.

In it Laurel and Hardy star as Stannie Dum and Ollie Dee, two comedic misfits who live in a shoe in Toyland with the old woman who lives in a shoe, Mother Peep, her daughter, Little Bo Peep, and a mouse. They need to pay the mortgage but unfortunately lose their jobs and have no money, so they conspire to break into the home of the mortgage holder, Barnaby, to rob him. Utterly incompetent, they are arrested and pardoned only because Little Bo Peep agrees to marry the evil Barnaby.

This is only the beginning of a sequence of hilarious misadventures in the storybook environment of Toyland.

Composer Irving Berlin signed the original contract for this movie. His challenge was to write a song about each of the four major holidays. When the movie opened everyone expected that Be Careful, It's My Heart would be most popular, but instead White Christmas became an instant hit and stayed at the top of the music charts from October 1942 until Christmas.



The popular holiday song, White Christmas, originated from this 1942 holiday movie classic featuring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.

Did you ever wonder what life might be like if you'd never been born? In It's a Wonderful Life (1947), George Bailey (James Stewart) is depressed enough that he's decided suicide might be the best course of action - on Christmas Eve! But an angel (Henry Travers) stops him by showing him what life would have been like if he'd never been born. Director Frank Capra created an enduring masterpiece that pits life's disappointments against life's enduring successes and the beauty of friendships. Well worth watching!

One of the greatest of holiday classic movies! Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) gets a job as Santa Claus in a NYC department store. A little girl (Natalie Wood) claims she doesn't believe in Santa! Kringle wants to play matchmaker for the girl's mother but ends up in court having to prove he's the real Santa Claus. A well-loved favorite classic Christmas movie!

A bishop and his wife (David Niven and Loretta Young) want to help build a cathedral. This loving charity puts a huge strain on their marriage. Enter the angel, Dudley (Cary Grant), to help them through the crisis. But is Dudley there to serve, or is he a rival for the wife's true love?

This is a much loved hilarious and somewhat slapstick slice of life Christmas story that takes place in Indiana in the 1940s. There's so many reasons to be frustrated with life, but put them all into perspective. Christmas helps Ralphie and his folks get past the craziness of the baby-boomer era, to find joy, nostalgia and love during the holiday season.

The animated classic Dr. Seuss children's story about Christmas, or the lack of it. The Grinch doesn't like Christmas. What could change his mind? Reminiscent of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, but done in Dr. Seuss' ultra-humorous style. Worth watching and definitely worth owning, especially if there are children in the house.

So what's so funny about this? It is the third phase of the Griswold family's story. Remember VACATION? Hahahahaha!!! Non-Stop!!! Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, and Randy Quaid take starring roles to make Christmas not just fun, but hilarious. Other stars include Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, John Randolph, Diane Ladd, E.G. Marshall, Doris Roberts, Nicholas Guest, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, William Hickey, Mae Questel. Christmas comedy that is irresistible!