Article by Jessica Vandelay
The best holiday movies make viewers laugh, cry and inspire the holiday spirit. They are heartwarming and funny. Here’s a look at the Top 10 Holiday movies of all time:1. It’s a Wonderful Life, 1946. Actor Jimmy Stewart is George Bailey, a man who spends his whole life sacrifices his big dreams for others-first for the good of his family and then for his town, Bedford Falls. Faced with a financial crisis on Christmas Eve, George is hopeless when his guardian angel, Clarence, shows him how much his sacrifices have meant to friends and family by showing George how things would turn out if he had never been born. For more on this movie, read a review in Entertainment Weekly magazine.
2. White Christmas, 1954. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye star as GI’s who team up to become a song-and-dance act after World War II. The pair meet a couple of beautiful sisters who are also a song-and-dance act. When the sisters travel to a Vermont lodge to perform a Christmas show, the GI’s follow and a series of romantic mix-ups ensue as the performers try to help the General. This movie is most famously known for featuring the songs of Irving Berlin, including the main theme song, also called “White Christmas.”
3. Miracle on 34th St., 1947 & 1994. In the original 1944 version 9-year-old Natalie Wood co-starred with Maureen O’Hara. O’Hara is Doris Walker a no-nonsense Macy’s executive, desperately looking for a new store Santa. She hires Kris Kringle who insists that he’s the real Santa Claus. But, he has many skeptics like Doris and her six year old daughter, Susan. Finally Kris Kringle goes to court to try and prove himself. This delightful holiday movie won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Original Story and Best Screenplay. It was nominated for a Best Picture award but lost to Gentleman’s Agreement. For more on these movies, read reviews in People magazine.
4. Home Alone, 1990. 8-year-old problem-child Kevin McAllister, played by Macaulay Culkin, is accidentally left behind during the holidays when his family leaves for a vacation in Paris. Once he realizes they’ve left him home by himself, Kevin fends for himself and protects his house against two blundering burglars. Kevin’s mother Kate (Catherine O’Hara) is frantic when she realizes that she and the family have unintentionally left Kevin behind in Chicago, and she tries to make it back to Chicago as fast as she can. Home Alone was wildly popular-in its opening weekend the movie grossed million in 1,202 theaters, according to Entertainment Weekly magazine. The movie continued to be popular well past the Christmas season and made Macaulay Culkin a bona fide child star. There are two Home Alone sequels but neither are as popular as the original
5. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, 1989. It’s Christmas time in the Chicago suburbs and the Griswold family led by dad Clark are preparing for their extended family holiday visit. Clark is jolly and filled with the Christmas spirit until things start going wrong-like the arrival of uninvited cousin Eddy. This is the third installment in the National Lampoon’s movie series, a series of over-the-top exaggerated comedies centered on the Griswold family. According to Entertainment Weekly magazine, the movie debuted at #1 at the American box office its opening weekend and grossed a total of ,750,203.
6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 1966 & 2000. In this 1966 animated classic based on the popular book by Dr. Seuss-made into a live-action movie by director Ron Howard in 2000-the Grinch is a bitter and hateful being who is irritated that a nearby village inhabited by Whos are so cheerfully celebrating Christmas. The Grinch devises a plan to steal Christmas. He disguises himself as Santa and sets out to steal the Whos’ Christmas cheer but the results surprise everyone including the Grinch.
7. A Christmas Story, 1983. Ralphie Parker is 9 years old. It’s 1940 in Indiana at Christmas. Ralphie longs for just one Christmas present-an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200 shot range model BB rifle with a compass in the stock. But between his little brother, a bully and all the disapproving adults, Ralphie doesn’t know how he’ll even survive let alone acquire his coveted BB gun. At its original release this low-budget production was a sleeper film. However, since about 1997, when the movie began appearing every year-sometimes in 24-hour marathon blocks-on cable television, the movie has gained in major popularity-even cult status.
8. While You Were Sleeping, 1995. In this delightful family comedy Sandra Bullock is Lucy, a lonely token collector on the Chicago elevated railway. The highlight of her days is selling a token to a handsome commuter, Peter Callaghan, whom she has a secret crush. Working on Christmas Day, Lucy witnesses Peter being mugged and pushed onto the tracks and she rescues him from an oncoming train. While Lucy is at the hospital a nurse misinterprets the situation and tells the doctor, the police and Callaghan’s family that Lucy is his fianc
