A Seasonal Showcase: Exploring Overlooked Christmas Films

A factor that irks me about many modern seasonal movies is their overly self-awareness – the over-the-top decor, the checklist score selections, and the canned conversations about the essence of the festive period. Maybe because the style was not yet solidified into formula, films from the 1940s often approach Christmas from more inventive and not as obsessive viewpoints.

The Fifth Avenue Happening

One favorite discovery from delving into 1940s seasonal films is It Happened on Fifth Avenue, a 1947 lighthearted farce with a great premise: a jovial drifter takes up residence in a unoccupied posh townhouse each year. One winter, he invites strangers to live with him, including a veteran and a young woman who is secretly the offspring of the home's wealthy proprietor. Director Roy Del Ruth gives the film with a found-family warmth that numerous modern Christmas stories struggle to achieve. This story expertly walks the line between a class-conscious narrative on housing and a delightful city romance.

Tokyo Godfathers

The late filmmaker's 2003 feature Tokyo Godfathers is a engaging, heartbreaking, and profound interpretation on the holiday story. Loosely based on a John Wayne movie, it follows a group of down-and-out people – an alcoholic, a trans woman, and a adolescent runaway – who come across an abandoned newborn on the night before Christmas. Their mission to reunite the baby's family unleashes a chain of unexpected events involving gangsters, newcomers, and seemingly serendipitous connections. The animation doubles down on the wonder of fate typically found in Christmas flicks, delivering it with a cinematic visual style that sidesteps overly sweet feeling.

The John Doe Story

Although Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life rightly earns plenty of attention, his lesser-known work Meet John Doe is a compelling seasonal tale in its own right. Starring Gary Cooper as a down-on-his-luck drifter and Barbara Stanwyck as a plucky writer, the movie starts with a fake letter from a man promising to fall from a building on December 24th in frustration. The nation's reaction compels the journalist to recruit a man to impersonate the mythical "John Doe," who subsequently becomes a country-wide symbol for community. The narrative functions as both an uplifting fable and a sharp indictment of wealthy businessmen trying to manipulate public feeling for political ends.

Silent Partner

While Christmas slasher movies are now a dime a dozen, the holiday crime caper remains a somewhat underpopulated category. This makes the 1978 gem The Silent Partner a unique discovery. Featuring a wonderfully menacing Christopher Plummer as a bank-robbing Santa Claus and Elliott Gould as a unassuming bank clerk, the film sets two varieties of amoral oddballs against each other in a sleek and surprising tale. Mostly overlooked upon its first release, it deserves new attention for those who like their Christmas films with a chilling tone.

Christmas Almost

For those who enjoy their Christmas get-togethers chaotic, Almost Christmas is a blast. With a impressive ensemble that features Danny Glover, Mo'Nique, and JB Smoove, the film examines the dynamics of a family forced to endure five days under one house during the holidays. Secret problems rise to the forefront, resulting in situations of over-the-top comedy, such as a dinner where a shotgun is brandished. Naturally, the narrative finds a heartwarming conclusion, providing all the fun of a seasonal catastrophe without any of the personal consequences.

Go Movie

Doug Liman's 1999 film Go is a holiday-set caper that is a young-adult interpretation on woven narratives. Although some of its comedy may feel dated upon rewatch, the film nevertheless offers several elements to savor. These include a composed turn from Sarah Polley to a captivating scene by Timothy Olyphant as a laid-back drug dealer who fittingly sports a Santa hat. It embodies a particular style of late-90s cinematic energy set against a holiday scene.

Miracle at Morgan's Creek

Preston Sturges's wartime comedy The Miracle of Morgan's Creek rejects conventional holiday sentimentality in exchange for bawdy fun. The story is about Betty Hutton's Trudy Kockenlocker, who finds herself expecting after a hazy night but cannot remember the father involved. A lot of the comedy comes from her predicament and the efforts of Eddie Bracken's hapless Norval Jones to help her. Although not immediately a holiday film at the beginning, the narrative climaxes on the holiday, making clear that Sturges has created a playful interpretation of the birth narrative, loaded with his characteristic witty edge.

Better Off Dead

This 1985 adolescent film featuring John Cusack, Better Off Dead, is a textbook artifact of its era. Cusack's