A Holiday Celebration: Exploring Overlooked Yuletide Films

Something that bothers me about many modern seasonal films is their insistent self-awareness – the ostentatious ornaments, the predictable score tunes, and the canned conversations about the essence of the season. Perhaps because the style was not solidified into routine, movies from the 1940s often explore Christmas from increasingly inventive and far less neurotic angles.

The Affair on Fifth Avenue

One delightful gem from sifting through 1940s Christmas films is It Happened on Fifth Avenue, a 1947 lighthearted comedy with a great premise: a happy-go-lucky drifter spends the winter in a empty posh townhouse each year. One winter, he welcomes fellow down-on-their-luck individuals to stay with him, among them a former GI and a teenager who happens to be the heiress of the mansion's wealthy proprietor. Filmmaker Roy Del Ruth gives the picture with a surrogate family coziness that most contemporary holiday stories strive to earn. This story beautifully walks the line between a thoughtful story on housing and a charming metropolitan fantasy.

Godfathers in Tokyo

Satoshi Kon's 2003 feature Tokyo Godfathers is a fun, sad, and thoughtful version on the holiday story. Inspired by a John Wayne movie, it tells the story of a group of displaced individuals – an drinker, a trans character, and a adolescent throwaway – who find an left-behind baby on Christmas Eve. Their quest to find the child's parents triggers a sequence of misadventures involving yakuza, immigrants, and apparently fateful encounters. The animation celebrates the wonder of fate typically found in Christmas stories, offering it with a cool-toned animation that sidesteps saccharine sentiment.

Introducing John Doe

Although Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life justifiably gets much praise, his lesser-known picture Meet John Doe is a powerful Christmas film in its own right. With Gary Cooper as a down-on-his-luck drifter and Barbara Stanwyck as a plucky journalist, the movie begins with a fictional missive from a man vowing to jump from a ledge on December 24th in protest. The people's response leads the reporter to hire a man to play the mythical "John Doe," who subsequently becomes a country-wide symbol for neighborliness. The narrative serves as both an heartwarming story and a sharp indictment of powerful media magnates attempting to manipulate public goodwill for their own ambitions.

Silent Partner

Whereas seasonal slasher pictures are now plentiful, the holiday crime caper remains a strangely rare subgenre. This makes the 1978 film The Silent Partner a novel discovery. Featuring a delightfully sinister Christopher Plummer as a bank-robbing Santa Claus and Elliott Gould as a mild-mannered bank employee, the movie sets two varieties of amoral characters against each other in a stylish and surprising yarn. Mostly ignored upon its first debut, it merits a fresh look for those who prefer their Christmas entertainment with a dark atmosphere.

Almost Christmas

For those who prefer their Christmas gatherings messy, Almost Christmas is a hoot. Boasting a impressive group that includes Danny Glover, Mo'Nique, and JB Smoove, the film explores the dynamics of a family gathered to endure five days under one roof during the Christmas season. Hidden issues come to the surface, leading to moments of high humor, such as a dinner where a shotgun is pulled out. Naturally, the film finds a satisfying ending, providing all the fun of a family mess without any of the real-life consequences.

The Film Go

The director's 1999 movie Go is a Yuletide-themed tale that functions as a teen-oriented interpretation on woven stories. While some of its comedy may feel dated upon rewatch, the movie nonetheless offers many elements to savor. These are a cool role from Sarah Polley to a captivating appearance by Timothy Olyphant as a charming pusher who appropriately wears a Santa hat. It captures a very kind of late-90s cinematic vibe set against a Christmas setting.

Morgan's Creek Miracle

The satirist's wartime comedy The Miracle of Morgan's Creek rejects traditional Christmas sentimentality in exchange for bawdy fun. The film follows Betty Hutton's character, who finds herself expecting after a drunken night but cannot recall the father involved. A lot of the comedy comes from her situation and the efforts of Eddie Bracken's simping Norval Jones to rescue her. Although not explicitly a holiday movie at the beginning, the story culminates on the festive day, revealing that Sturges has refashioned a playful take of the nativity, packed with his trademark satirical edge.

The Film Better Off Dead

This 1985 youth movie starring John Cusack, Better Off Dead, is a textbook example of its era. Cusack's