The Holy and the Ivy (1952)
Based on a stage play by Wynyard Browne, The Holly and the Ivy centres on local parson Martin Gregory (Ralph Richardson), his adult children (Celia Johnson, Denholm Elliott, and Margaret Leighton), and two elder sisters as they reunite in post-war Norfolk for the traditional family Christmas. The family’s dysfunction is apparent from the outset, as each child brings their own issues to the table. But one thing they do share is resentment of Martin, who appears to care more about his parishioners than his family.
Director George More O’Ferrall keeps locations tight while maintaining the story’s theatrical roots. Here, the family unit faces a range of problems, from caring for an elderly parent to alcoholism and grief, cramming the narrative with social issues that occasionally feel too dark for a festive celebration.
Despite its surface darkness, The Holly and the Ivy is a genuinely heartwarming Christmas delight, as each family member realises that their judgment of Martin may have been wrong.
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
Festive romantic comedies don’t come much better than Christmas in Connecticut, a classic story of deception, love and pretence directed by Peter Godfrey. Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) is an unmarried food writer from New York who writes under a pseudonym. Homemakers adore Elizabeth for her apparent idyllic lifestyle with her husband and their newborn baby on a Connecticut farm.
However, the trouble is it’s all a sham! Trouble soon comes knocking when her publisher (Sydney Greenstreet) – unaware of the fraud – asks her to host a Christmas party for a returning war hero, with Elizabeth borrowing the neighbour’s baby and enlisting her chef uncle (S.Z. Sakall) to keep up the pretence.
The film joyously delves into the ridiculous. Elizabeth cannot perform the most basic household chores, creating moments of sublime situational comedy, while the screwball comedy heightens the plot’s absurdity as gender roles are swapped and a returning war hero becomes a childminder.
Beyond Tomorrow (1940)
Christmas movies are often associated with the fantasy genre due to the magical stories they tell. Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life is a prime example; Beyond Tomorrow is a long-forgotten forerunner of Capra’s classic.
Three rich old men, George, Allan and Michael (Harry Carey, C. Aubrey Smith and Charles Winninger), recruit their Christmas dinner guests by randomly throwing three wallets onto the street, each containing their addresses and some money. Whoever brings them back is welcome to dinner, which is how Jean (Jean Parker) and James (Richard Carlson) meet.
The film’s final message explores themes similar to those in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, both in tone and structure. Although the finale is slightly preachy, it remains a fascinating precursor to many of the festive films that followed.
Cover Up (1949)
Cover Up is certainly not a light-hearted Christmas outing; here, we have a murder-mystery noir set in a small Midwestern town during the Christmas holidays —a B-film take on Wilder’s classic Double Indemnity.
Insurance agent Sam Donovan (Dennis O’Keefe) is investigating the apparent suicide of a client. But while the evidence clearly points toward murder, the townsfolk wholeheartedly believe it to be suicide. The Capra-esque portrayal of a small post-war town is a nice touch, elevating the movie’s festive mood despite its murderous content. Meanwhile, the romantic subplot effectively counteracts the darkness. However, while exciting, the finale is also questionable. Cover Up is a strange tinsel-wrapped package of classic film noir.
3 Godfathers (1948)
The Western is rarely associated with the Christmas genre, but with 3 Godfathers, John Ford dovetails the classic Christmas tale with the oppressive heat of Arizona.
The story is based on Peter B. Kyne’s 1913 novelette, which features three wise men transplanted to the Wild West. Here, three rustlers, Robert (John Wayne), William (Harry Carey Jr.) and Pedro (Pedro Armendáriz), flee into the desert after robbing a bank, only to find themselves helping a woman in labour. However, when the woman dies, she asks the men to protect her newborn boy and carry him to the safety of New Jerusalem.
The three rugged cowboys have no idea how to care for the newborn in a story that blends Biblical scripture with classic Western comedy.
Follow Us