A Seasonal Showcase: Exploring Overlooked Christmas Pictures

One thing that irks concerning numerous modern Christmas films is their overly self-awareness – the over-the-top ornaments, the checklist music choices, and the clichéd dialogue about the true meaning of the season. It could be because the style was not yet hardened into tradition, films from the 1940s often explore Yuletide from far more inventive and less neurotic angles.

The Affair on Fifth Avenue

A favorite find from exploring 1940s holiday fare is It Happened on Fifth Avenue, a 1947 semi-romantic tale with a clever premise: a cheerful vagrant takes up residence in a vacant posh townhouse each year. One winter, he brings in strangers to stay with him, including a former GI and a young woman who happens to be the daughter of the home's affluent proprietor. Filmmaker Roy Del Ruth gives the movie with a surrogate family heart that many contemporary Christmas stories have to labor to achieve. The film beautifully balances a class-conscious narrative on housing and a charming city fantasy.

Godfathers in Tokyo

The acclaimed director's 2003 tragicomedy Tokyo Godfathers is a engaging, sad, and profound version on the Christmas narrative. Inspired by a western picture, it follows a trio of homeless individuals – an alcoholic, a trans character, and a teenage runaway – who discover an left-behind infant on the night before Christmas. Their mission to find the baby's parents unleashes a sequence of misadventures involving gangsters, foreigners, and ostensibly serendipitous connections. The film embraces the magic of chance frequently found in Christmas tales, offering it with a cinematic aesthetic that sidesteps saccharine feeling.

Meet John Doe

Although Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life rightly gets plenty of attention, his earlier work Meet John Doe is a notable seasonal film in its own right. Featuring Gary Cooper as a down-on-his-luck drifter and Barbara Stanwyck as a clever writer, the movie begins with a fictional letter from a man vowing to fall from a ledge on December 24th in protest. The public's reaction leads the journalist to recruit a man to portray the mythical "John Doe," who later becomes a popular icon for neighborliness. The narrative functions as both an inspiring tale and a sharp critique of wealthy businessmen attempting to manipulate grassroots sentiment for political gain.

The Silent Partner

While seasonal slasher pictures are now plentiful, the holiday crime caper remains a relatively rare subgenre. This makes the 1978 feature The Silent Partner a novel delight. Starring a superbly vile Christopher Plummer as a bank-robbing Santa Claus and Elliott Gould as a unassuming bank employee, the film sets two kinds of amoral oddballs against each other in a stylish and unpredictable tale. Mostly overlooked upon its original debut, it is worthy of new attention for those who like their Christmas entertainment with a dark edge.

Almost Christmas

For those who prefer their holiday gatherings chaotic, Almost Christmas is a hoot. With a impressive ensemble that includes Danny Glover, Mo'Nique, and JB Smoove, the movie explores the tensions of a family forced to share five days under one roof during the holidays. Hidden problems rise to the top, resulting in situations of high farce, such as a showdown where a weapon is brandished. Naturally, the film reaches a touching resolution, giving all the entertainment of a holiday mess without any of the personal consequences.

Go

The director's 1999 movie Go is a Yuletide-set caper that functions as a teen-oriented riff on woven plots. Although some of its edginess may feel product of the 90s upon a modern viewing, the picture still boasts plenty aspects to savor. These are a engaging performance from Sarah Polley to a memorable performance by Timothy Olyphant as a dangerous pusher who appropriately wears a Santa hat. It embodies a very kind of fin-de-siècle cinematic vibe set against a Christmas setting.

Morgan's Creek Miracle

The famed director's wartime comedy The Miracle of Morgan's Creek forgoes typical holiday warmth in favor for cheeky humor. The movie follows Betty Hutton's character, who ends up expecting after a drunken night but cannot remember the father responsible. The bulk of the humor arises from her condition and the attempts of Eddie Bracken's hapless Norval Jones to rescue her. While not immediately a Christmas film at the start, the story climaxes on the festive day, making clear that Sturges has created a satirical take of the Christmas story, loaded with his signature witty humor.

The Film Better Off Dead

This 1985 teen film starring John Cusack, Better Off Dead, is a prime specimen of its time. Cusack's