Black Christmas (1974)įor something completely different, why not try this festive slasher film? Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder are among the sorority girls being menaced by an obscene caller who becomes increasingly murderous as the film goes on. It’s up to Linus to impart some Christmas wisdom as the big day approaches. The jazz-soundtracked animated classic sees Charlie Brown growing disconcerted by the increasing materialism of the season, while his role as director of the school Christmas pageant goes terribly awry. The American equivalent to an EastEnders festive bloodbath, this adaptation of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic-strips has been shown on TV every year since it first aired, creating a gentle, sweet American touchstone in the process. The pairs must team up to prevent the closure of a snow-covered cabin in Vermont, putting on a musical performance so brilliant it’ll convince locals to stay at the cabin themselves. Crosby and Danny Kaye are a musical double-act who fall for two sisters in their own musical double-act, played by Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. This Bing Crosby musical is exactly the sort of thing they’d never make today due to the sheer conventionality of its premise. And it snows in a satisfyingly deep manner. But it’s perfect Christmas viewing not only because it contains the melancholy beauty of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, sung by Judy Garland, but also because the values it displays amidst the comedy and the drama are ones you’ll want to cherish. Vincent Minnelli’s sumptuous musical about family love and romantic awakening gives us an entire year in the life of the Smith family. Little does Margaret Sullavan know it’s her least favourite store-clerk, Jimmy Stewart, whose words she's falling for. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)Įrnst Lubitsch’s bittersweet classic makes the Christmas shopping season the occasion for a forlorn epistolary romance. It’s time to wrestle for the remote, crack open the sherry and settle in for an evening of chortling (and possibly blubbering). With that in mind, The Telegraph has compiled a collection of the best festive films for every possible predilection. Time-honoured classics featuring nostalgic melodies like Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas get even the grumpiest of grinches tearing up, while joyous comedies and yuletide favourites are as successful as the sound of crinkly Quality Street wrappers in gathering the whole family round the TV. Whether it’s Bing Crosby crooning about sleigh bells or Macaulay Culkin beating a grown man around the head with a shovel, there’s something for everybody when it comes to Christmas movies.
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