Is your favourite on the list? Or perhaps you will find a new Christmas film you did not know about.

Deborah's Top Ten Christmas Movies List 

By: Deborah Ground Buckner

1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 

I can still remember listening to my older brother tell of the movie we were about to watch, the story of “a man who gets to see what the world would be like if he had never been born.”  For some reason, our local television station always aired this Frank Capra classic starring James Stewart and Donna Reed on New Year's Eve.  As a six-year-old, I faced my first midnight with this film to help me stay awake until the magic hour.  With hot chocolate and popcorn and family all around, I followed the life of George Bailey, the small town boy with big dreams who came to realize, with the help of Clarence the Angel, that having a wonderful life isn't a matter of where, but how one lives.  It has been a family tradition ever since.

2. A Christmas Story (1983) 

For years, my family's Christmas Eve schedule has been chaotic.  The children and I attend the early service at 5:00, then rush home to have dinner with my husband before he has to leave for choir rehearsal and the late service that rings in Christmas at midnight.  Once he is out the door, the kids turn on the TBS marathon of “A Christmas Story,” and we watch the adventures of Ralphie and his hopes that this is the year Santa will bring him a Red Ryder BB Gun.  When the movie ends, we watch it again and again, and even though we have most of the dialogue memorized, it is a new experience each time.

3. A Midwinter's Tale (1995) 

A company of otherwise out-of-work actors come together to rehearse and perform Shakespeare's Hamlet in the week of Christmas and find help in their own lives as they bring their characters to life.  Written and directed by Kenneth Branagh, this beloved film reveals the heart of every actor, but has a message for everyone.  “It's about nourishing your soul.”

4. White Christmas (1954) 

Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera Ellen!  The music of Irving Berlin!  Christmas in Vermont with “all that snow!”  Those beautiful red dresses with white fur trim!  This is the best of all Christmas musicals. 

5. A Christmas Carol (1951) 

There are countless versions of Charles Dickens' classic Christmas ghost story, but this oldie is a goodie.  This conjures up memories of my father in his red holiday sweater, the two of us sitting by the fire and watching Alastair Sim transform Ebenezer Scrooge from an old miser to a beloved benefactor.  I've never seen any other actor so completely capture this character.

6. A Christmas Memory (1967) 

Truman Capote wrote this beautiful story based on his own experiences growing up in the South with his elderly cousin, Sook, as playmate and companion.  I grew up hearing the drama professor of the college in my hometown read it every holiday season.  My favorite is the 1967 version with Geraldine Page and Donnie Melvin and narrated by Capote himself, but the 1997 film starring Patty Duke and Eric Lloyd is also a wonderful portrayal.  

 

7. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) 

This is not specifically a Christmas movie, but seeing Judy Garland at her loveliest and hearing her sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” while choking back tears makes an unforgettable memory, recognizing we all must do our best to be merry even when Christmas comes in unhappy times.

8. The Man Who Came to Dinner  (1942) 

Again, this is not precisely a Christmas movie, but there is a wonderful depiction of the holiday season as New York critic Sheridan Whiteside (played by Monty Woolley and based on legendary critic Alexander Woolcott) finds himself captive in the home of an Ohio family after he accepted their invitation for dinner and breaks his leg while leaving their home.  Based on the play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, the film captures all the humor of this tribute/roast of Kaufman's fellow Algonquin Round Table mate.  Bette Davis gives a lovely turn as Whiteside's secretary, and Ann Sheridan shows why she was the “Oomph Girl” in the role of glamourous Lorraine Sheldon.  Jimmy Durante is wonderful as Banjo, Whiteside's friend, based on Harpo Marx.

9. Midnight Clear (2007) 

This just-released independent film has become a new holiday favorite for me.  Like It's a Wonderful Life, it tells the story of lonely, troubled people facing a less-than-perfect Christmas Eve, but through little, seemingly unimportant acts, helping each other along and making the world a better place. 

10.  It Happened One Christmas (1977) 

Marlo Thomas plays the lead in this role reversal of It's a Wonderful Life, playing Mary Bailey, the Bedford Falls girl with big dreams who remains trapped in her small town.  Although the story is essentially the same as the Frank Capra classic, telling it from this different viewpoint is an interesting twist.  Orson Welles is fierce and frightening as Mr. Potter.  Cloris Leachman portrays Clara, the angel sent to show Mary how the world would be if she had never been born.