Your Favorite Christmas Movie

[JustAnotherNut]

George C. Scott was excellent in that version of The Christmas Carol, an excellent adaption.
However I think the very best of 21 adaptions of The Christmas Carol goes to the 1951 production with Alastair Sim. It's dramatic, funny, and inspiring. It can be hard to find but if you have the chance watch it. I don't think you will be disappointed.

I think I have seen it, but many many years ago and may not remember correctly just how Sim projected the character of Scrooge. I'm sure he did a fine job of it. But I do know from seeing it so many times, that Scott was the perfect grumpy, tightwad with his gravelly voice and sneers to anyone enjoying the holidays. Such a cold hearted and bitter person he was, and Scott was able to project that.


Regardless of who played the part....Dickens was brilliant to create such a story of turn around in human nature and right at the holiday season

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

I don't agree. I think A Christmas Carol was better.

I think we can't look forward to many good Christmas pictures in the future because the people making them hate Christians......so I expect them to shit all over them.

Hallmazrk makes a ton of new Christmas movies every year but they are the kind of movie you'd expect -- insipid and tone deaf. And now that they are getting "woke", they are not worth watching.

It's a shame because Hallmark Hall of Fame used to really be good TV.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

George C. Scott was excellent in that version of The Christmas Carol, an excellent adaption.
However I think the very best of 21 adaptions of The Christmas Carol goes to the 1951 production with Alastair Sim. It's dramatic, funny, and inspiring. It can be hard to find but if you have the chance watch it. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Agreed. The wails of Jacob Marley's ghost and the level to which Scrooge sinks into gibbering madness are compelling.

 

[mudwhistle]

Agreed. The wails of Jacob Marley's ghost and the level to which Scrooge sinks into gibbering madness are compelling.

Disney's CGI with Jim Carrey was really kind of frightening.

 

[Mr Natural]

The one with Ralphie and the BB gun.

 

[daveman]

My favorite "Christmas Carol" movie is Albert Finny in Scrooge.

George C. Scott's and Patrick Stewart's versions were good, too.

 

[daveman]

A lot of people agreed with you when "It's a Wonderful life" previewed on Christmas 1946 to mixed reviews. It went into general release in Jan 1947 and did rather poorly at the box office.

Thangs got worst for the movie when On May 26, 1947, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a memo stating, "With regard to the picture 'It's a Wonderful Life', stated in substance that the film represented rather obvious attempts to discredit bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore as a 'scrooge-type' so that he would be the most hated man in the picture. This, according to these sources, is a common trick used by Communists. [n addition, [redacted] stated that, in his opinion, this picture deliberately maligned the upper class, attempting to show the people who had money were mean and despicable characters." Following the FBI letter which was release publicly, there were calls to ban the movie by anti-communistic groups. By end of 1947, the movie had lost over half million dollars and Liberty Pictures had written it off as a loss with no plan to re-release it.

The year following, Liberty Pictures folded and many of the master were lost. The remaining films went to Paramount and were shelved. Wonder Life had a rebirth in the 50's but the poor qualify due to determination kept it off the networks. In the 60's, Paramount got the film repaired enough so the networks could show it but it failed to get much interest and Paramount dropped it. During the major studio crisis of the 50's and 60's, many major films were not re-copywritered as required by the law so the copywrite for Wonderful life was lost.

In 1974 the move went into public domain which made it free to the local TV stations and networks. So each Christmas season viewer saw Wonderful Life over and over. It became a classic Christmas movie, some arguing the audiences had finally discovered it. Others say it became a classic because it was played so often.

In 1990, the film was designated as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. The America Film Institute rated the film number 11 out 100 best movies of all times. So today it is a classic and considered one the best Christmas movies ever made by many people.

Barrymore was an asshole because the film needed an asshole. Furthermore, he was never shown as getting in trouble for keeping the Bailey's $8,000 Uncle Billy left in the newspaper. The villain getting away with a crime? That wouldn't fly in a movie today.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Barrymore was an asshole because the film needed an asshole. Furthermore, he was never shown as getting in trouble for keeping the Bailey's $8,000 Uncle Billy left in the newspaper. The villain getting away with a crime? That wouldn't fly in a movie today.

That always bothered me a ton, that Potter got away with it, but we all knew that Potter eventually died and went to hell.

 

[froggy]

Great one

 

[froggy]

 

[Flopper]

That's a bit strange.
Movies that have depressing plots tend to have depressed box-office success.
If you can make a movie that is uplifting you're probably going to get alot of cash because people will pay to see it.
And when it comes to international viewers.....Christmas isn't an America holiday....but a world-wide holiday...that is celebrated in any nation that has Christianity as a primary religion, including Europe, Mexico, Canada, and South America. Most Muslim countries aren't big movie goers, they don't have the need to see a movie in a theater anyway (terrorist bombings)....so films are catered to the viewing audience, which is mostly Christian based. Communist countries are even worse. Most of the Chinese movie audience was in Hong Kong....which has now been forced into communism....which has eliminated China as a market almost completely.
Films should appeal to the paying public.
And there is where Hollywood, or the movie making industry goes wrong.
They are either tone deaf or cannot relate to the viewing public anymore because of their politics.
Pretty soon almost nobody will go to the movies because of the lousy films Hollywood has to offer, and the threat of either being a victim of a mass-shooting or COVID infection.

American films are 63% of the foreign market. In 2020, 17 of the top grossing movies were American made or coproduced. Russia and China are the fastest growing markets for US movies. Top markets in the world for movies are the US followed by China, Japan, South Korea, UK, and France. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th largest markets for movies do not celebrate Christmas as a religion holiday. It is celebrated more like Valentines Day or a day or remembrance of friends and family. They have Santa Clauses, gift giving, and even Christmas trees, however you would have to look pretty hard to find any crosses, nativity scene, etc. South Korea which is about 25% Christian does have some religious celebrations, mainly in churches and homes.

In regard Christian movies, take a look at worldwide religions.
31.1% Christiaity
24.9% Islam
15.5% Non-religions/Agnostic/Atheist
15.1% Hinduism
13.4% Other

Movie makers seeking to maximum revenues are not going to cater to 31.1% of the world population by filling their movies with a Christian view of religion. This is why the Christianity film industry exists. Most of the major producers of movies realize that Christianity simply does not generate the kind profits they need.

It is interesting to note the huge success of the Christian movies made in the 50's and 60's, The Robe, Barabbas, King of Kings, and the Greatest Story Every Told. These movies generated revenue 3 to 10 times their budget and they were immensely popular both in US and the international markets. Of course, the Asian market which is nearly half the film market today hardly existed. Also then, 95% of Americans identified themselves as Christians. Today that number is down to 65%. It is also interesting to note that 3 out of the 4 were produced and directed by Jews. However they all were eclipsed by the granddaddy or religious movies, "The Ten Commandments", with the biggest budget of any movie ever made, starting the top actors in Hollywood, lasting 3 1/2 hours and wining 8 Oscars. It was undoubtable the most spectacular movie ever made. Wonder how it would do today?

BTW, Schindler’s List was pretty damn depressing but did well at the box office, 22 million dollar budget, 322 million at the box office.

 

[Flopper]

I think I have seen it, but many many years ago and may not remember correctly just how Sim projected the character of Scrooge. I'm sure he did a fine job of it. But I do know from seeing it so many times, that Scott was the perfect grumpy, tightwad with his gravelly voice and sneers to anyone enjoying the holidays. Such a cold hearted and bitter person he was, and Scott was able to project that.


Regardless of who played the part....Dickens was brilliant to create such a story of turn around in human nature and right at the holiday season

Alister Sim's portrayal of Scrooge is certainly not grumpy. He played the roll as intelligent, ruthless, and calculating but realistic. Many portrayals create a child's image of an evil man. You can see it on AMC. It popup on Comcast a couple of days ago.

 

[Flopper]

The one with Ralphie and the BB gun.

"A Christmas Story".

Ralphie: "I want an Official Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle." Mother: "You'll shoot your eye out!" Ralphie: "I can't put my arms down!" Mother: "You can put your arms down when you get to school."

 

[candycorn]

"A Christmas Story".

Ralphie: "I want an Official Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle." Mother: "You'll shoot your eye out!" Ralphie: "I can't put my arms down!" Mother: "You can put your arms down when you get to school."

Frag-eel-ayy

 

[JustAnotherNut]

I've never seen that before, nor did I know Kurt Russell sang. Looks like a good one for sure.

 

[Flopper]

Barrymore was an asshole because the film needed an asshole. Furthermore, he was never shown as getting in trouble for keeping the Bailey's $8,000 Uncle Billy left in the newspaper. The villain getting away with a crime? That wouldn't fly in a movie today.

The FBI's objection that is, Hoover's objection to the movie was that it portrayed bankers as evil, a common theme of the communists. Today this may sound crazy but in the 40's after the war, fear and hatred for the communist was gaining momentum. This is not the only time Washington attacked specific movies, actors, studios, and the industry for productions that contain material that was deemed to be in line with Communism ideology. Washington attacks on Hollywood became a daily event during the McCarthy hearing. Fear of being called out prompted Hollywood to produce a bunch of anticommunist propaganda films, such as Big Jim McLain, Invasion USA, Face to Face with Communism, I was a Communist for the FBI, etc. And in a number of major productions such as North by Northwest, scripts were edited to make the communists the real villains behind the dastardly deeds. Movies that emphasis freedom of speech became suspect and studios had to be very careful to make sure there was no criticism of the government. It was apparently OK to attack officials in goverment, as long as their treachery was inspired by the communist.

However, the Washington rebuke of Wonderful Life is only one of many events that kept the movie from being recognized as an American Christmas classic.

 

[Flopper]

The FBI's objection that is, Hoover's objection to the movie was that it portrayed bankers as evil, a common theme of the communists. Today this may sound crazy but in the 40's after the war, fear and hatred for the communist was gaining momentum. This is not the only time Washington attacked specific movies, actors, studios, and the industry for productions that contain material that was deemed to be in line with Communism ideology. Washington attacks on Hollywood became a daily event during the McCarthy hearing. Fear of being called out prompted Hollywood to produce a bunch of anticommunist propaganda films, such as Big Jim McLain, Invasion USA, Face to Face with Communism, I was a Communist for the FBI, etc. And in a number of major productions such as North by Northwest, scripts were edited to make the communists the real villains behind the dastardly deeds. Movies that emphasis freedom of speech became suspect and studios had to be very careful to make sure there was no criticism of our government. It was apparently OK to attack officials in goverment, as long as their treachery was inspired by the communist.

However, the Washington rebuke of Wonderful Life is only one of many events that kept the movie from being recognized as an American Christmas classic at that time.

 

[JOSweetHeart]

According to Inside Edition, the lady who gave us Zu-Zu from Its A Wonderful Life is still here and to me, she doesn't look anywhere near her age!



God bless you and her always!!!

Holly

P.S. Sadly it isn't said who else from the film is still around. To me, Harry looked great at the end in his uniform.

 

[Flopper]

According to Inside Edition, the lady who gave us Zu-Zu from Its A Wonderful Life is still here and to me, she doesn't look anywhere near her age!



God bless you and her always!!!

Holly

P.S. Sadly it isn't said who else from the film is still around. To me, Harry looked great at the end in his uniform.

In 2020, the casts members that were alive were Virginian Patton who played Ruth Dakin Bailey and all the children: Carol Coombs (Janie Bailey), Jimmy Hawkins (Tommy Bailey). Karolyn Grimes (Zuzu Bailey), Jeanine Ann Roose (young Violet Bick), Jean Gale (young Mary Hatch), and Ronnie Ralph (young Sam Wainwright).

Are Any 'It's a Wonderful Life' Cast Members Still Alive Today?

Several It's a Wonderful Life cast members are still alive in 2020, including one of the adults, Virginia Patton.

heavy.com

 

[percysunshine]

Anything with chain saws and paniced teenagers.