Friday, December 5, 2014

Movies

As you can tell, the last several posts have been cranky pet peeves. Well, now I'm influenced by a positive thing on facebook! I was thinking of good Cary Grant films when my friend said something about Christmas movies. That made me start thinking of my favorite old holiday movies. Here are my favorite holiday movies that come to mind. I purposely left out plot points In order of date:

1. Holiday: (1938) Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant. This is a Grant movie that sort of flies under the radar compared to his other work. It isn't necessarily a Christmas holiday movie. In fact...I might have it mixed up and it has nothing to do with Christmas time. It is just that I got it as a gift for Christmas...not sure. Still, fun and also fun to see a young Cary and Katharine.




2. Shop Around the Corner: (1940) James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan. If you like the movie You've Got Mail, then watch this, because this is the original movie. (Although this movie is based on a play). Classic romantic comedy, set around the holidays.





3. The Man Who Came to Dinner: (1942) Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley. I'll be completely honest...I haven't actually seen this movie. BUT! BUT! My parents have, and they love it and have told me to watch it. I'll take their word for it!





4. Christmas in Connecticut: (1945) Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet. I still like to say "It's a cat-a-stroph!" Fun and funny. This is another movie that I watch every holiday season. It is the fun "everything is about to be in shambles" type of comedy.





5. It's a Wonderful Life: (1946) James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore. This is a movie that seems to sort of be a classic movie. Everyone watches this, A Christmas Story, and Elf every Christmas. Well, we didn't really watch it every Christmas, opting for comedies The Bishop's Wife or Christmas in Connecticut. Still, I do like this movie a lot.




6. The Bishop's Wife: (1947) Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven. As religious of a movie as my family ever watches. I love it. The ice-skating scene, in particular, is a classic. As is the scene where Cary Grant's character (who is an angel) gets a scholar drunk. Love it.





7. Miracle on 34th Street: (1947) Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood. Classic story. I like this version as well as the 1994 version.





8. White Christmas: (1954) Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen. One of my all-time favorite Christmas songs is from this movie. Bet you can't guess which one it is!!!





9. Desk Set: (1957) Specer Tracey, Katharine Hepburn. Classic Tracy/Hepburn movie. One of the funnest things about this movie is the depiction of the times. It is about the computerization of a TV network's research department. Classic fast talking witty dialogue makes this really fun. To be honest, I don't remember any Christmas or holiday stuff in this movie, either, but um...oh well.





10. Bell, Book, & Candle: (1958) James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon. This is a movie that isn't necessarily a Christmas movie, but it takes place in the winter, and I think they tend to play it around the holidays on TMC and other channels like that. It also features a cat named Pyewacket. When we first found Mooch at the Pilot gas station, I had entertained the thought of naming him Pie, after Pilot, and I particularly liked it because it would double as Pyewacket. It didn't stick, though, so Moochy it was.

Bell, Book, & Candle is the only movie in this list that is in color, not black & white. Check out this cool psychedelic-ish Italian poster: 

No comments:

Post a Comment