My favorite classic christmas movies

by pervangtoft | created - 10 Jul 2012 | updated - 29 Nov 2017 | Public

I have expanded this list from 30 to an infinite number of entries of films that are recommended to watch every year around christmas time to get in the right yuletide spirit. All of them are great classic movies with stories that are either centered around christmas or just have the true spirit of christmas. Most of them I remember from way back since my childhood, and some I have found later in life. Some are available on DVD, while others astoundingly enough are still unavailable on DVD. Unless you want to pay extreme prices for second hand copies on Amazon.com or E-bay, which most likely will be copies knocked over directly from VHS tapes. The studios should make all these great films available on new restored copies on BluRay and DVD. I really think there would be an audience for them. Judging by how many people have viewed my list, they are still very popular. These classics are loved and will be watched forever, when much of the garbage that are released these days will be forgotten. I have just included a few newer movies from the last decades, which I think have the right atmosphere and in time probably will reach status as classics. There are also a few animated short films on the list, but I have left out the very short 5-7 minutes christmas cartoons, since I have made a special list for those. So...check out my "Classic Christmas Cartoon" list too.

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1. Scrooge (1970)

G | 113 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy

58 Metascore

A musical retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel about an old bitter miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.

Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Albert Finney, Alec Guinness, Edith Evans, Kenneth More

Votes: 12,588 | Gross: $3.70M

Many great movies have been made from Charles Dickens loveable story, but this musical version is the best ever. The music is great with a lot of catching songs, Albert Finney is an extraordinarie Scrooge, and it has all the best of british acting and music hall traditions.

2. The Bishop's Wife (1947)

G | 109 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

73 Metascore

A debonair angel comes to Earth to help an Episcopalian bishop and his wife in their quest to raise money for the new church.

Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven, Monty Woolley

Votes: 20,905

Good humoured and warm movie with Cary Grant at his best and a superior suporting cast lead by a very funny David Niven.

3. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

PG | 130 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy

89 Metascore

An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.

Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell

Votes: 499,300

This one always brings tears to my eyes, no matter how hard I fight it

4. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Not Rated | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Family

88 Metascore

After a divorced New York mother hires a nice old man to play Santa Claus at Macy's, she is startled by his claim to be the genuine article. When his sanity is questioned, a lawyer defends him in court by arguing that he's not mistaken.

Director: George Seaton | Stars: Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Gene Lockhart

Votes: 54,929 | Gross: $2.65M

5. The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)

Unrated | 126 min | Drama

At a big city Catholic school, Father O'Malley and Sister Benedict indulge in friendly rivalry, and succeed in extending the school through the gift of a building.

Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers, William Gargan

Votes: 9,371 | Gross: $21.30M

Nobody croons like good old Bing !

6. Going My Way (1944)

Passed | 126 min | Comedy, Drama, Music

90 Metascore

When young Father O'Malley arrives at St. Dominic's, old Father Fitzgibbon doesn't think much of the church's newest member.

Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh, James Brown

Votes: 13,457 | Gross: $16.30M

Just as good as The Bells of St. Mary, maybe even better ?

7. Holiday Affair (1949)

Approved | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Family

63 Metascore

A young widow is torn between a boring attorney and a romantic ne'er-do-well.

Director: Don Hartman | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey, Gordon Gebert

Votes: 7,049

Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh and Wendell Corey this cast have the promise of a perfectly good noir flick, but actually it`s a very good christmas movie. I only discovered it a few years ago, probably because I`ve never seen it on TV, and it is only released on DVD in region1.

8. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Approved | 101 min | Comedy, Romance

64 Metascore

A food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas.

Director: Peter Godfrey | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardiner

Votes: 12,028

Barbara Stanwyck and Sydney Greenstreet another unorthodox casting for a holiday movie.

9. Desk Set (1957)

Approved | 103 min | Comedy, Romance

Two extremely strong personalities clash over the computerization of a television network's research department.

Director: Walter Lang | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Gig Young, Joan Blondell

Votes: 9,540

One of Hepburn & Tracys finest movies. Intelligent, witty and great acting.

10. The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941)

Not Rated | 112 min | Comedy, Romance

71 Metascore

An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in with a Midwestern family.

Director: William Keighley | Stars: Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley, Richard Travis

Votes: 8,975

11. Holiday Inn (1942)

Passed | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Music

70 Metascore

At an inn which is open only on holidays, a crooner and a hoofer vie for the affections of a beautiful up-and-coming performer.

Directors: Mark Sandrich, Robert Allen | Stars: Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale

Votes: 17,629 | Gross: $8.18M

First time Bing sings Irving Berlins White Christmas on the screen.

12. The Snowman (1982 TV Movie)

G | 26 min | Animation, Adventure, Family

On Christmas Eve, a young boy builds a snowman that comes to life and takes him to the North Pole to meet Father Christmas.

Directors: Jimmy T. Murakami, Dianne Jackson | Stars: David Bowie, Raymond Briggs, Mel Smith

Votes: 16,844

13. Since You Went Away (1944)

Approved | 177 min | Drama, Romance, War

With her husband away to fight in World War II, a housewife must care for their two daughters alone.

Directors: John Cromwell, Edward F. Cline, Tay Garnett, David O. Selznick | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Shirley Temple

Votes: 5,095

14. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Passed | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Family

94 Metascore

Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family.

Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer

Votes: 27,689 | Gross: $7.57M

Wonderful moment when Judy Garland sings "Have yourself a merry little Christmas".

15. Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)

PG | 107 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy

The legend of Santa Claus is put in jeopardy when an unscrupulous toy manufacturer attempts to take over Christmas.

Director: Jeannot Szwarc | Stars: Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, David Huddleston, Burgess Meredith

Votes: 15,604 | Gross: $23.72M

Has the potential to become a classic.

16. Black Christmas (1974)

R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

65 Metascore

During their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.

Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon

Votes: 48,375 | Gross: $4.05M

Okay, this is different, but I think it`s refreshing with a little christmas horror too !

17. Beyond Tomorrow (1940)

Approved | 84 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

The ghosts of three elderly industrialists killed in an airplane crash return to Earth to help reunite a young couple they initially brought together.

Director: A. Edward Sutherland | Stars: Harry Carey, C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Winninger, Alex Melesh

Votes: 2,334

18. A Christmas Carol (1984 TV Movie)

PG | 100 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy

A bitter old miser who rationalizes his uncaring nature learns real compassion when three spirits visit him on Christmas Eve.

Director: Clive Donner | Stars: George C. Scott, Frank Finlay, Angela Pleasence, Edward Woodward

Votes: 18,345

Not one of the best versions of Dickens great tale of Scrooge but still have it`s moments.

19. Christmas Holiday (1944)

Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

A young femme fatale-type woman realizes that the man she married is an incorrigible wastrel.

Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Deanna Durbin, Gene Kelly, Richard Whorf, Dean Harens

Votes: 1,645

20. The Great Rupert (1950)

Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Family

A little squirrel with lots of charm accidentally helps two poor, down-but-NOT-out families overcome their obstacles.

Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: Jimmy Durante, Terry Moore, Tom Drake, Frank Orth

Votes: 1,575

21. We're No Angels (1955)

Not Rated | 106 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance

51 Metascore

Three Devil's Island escapees hide out in the house of a kindly merchant and repay his kindness by helping him and his family out of several crises.

Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray, Joan Bennett

Votes: 10,775

Bogart as one of the wise men. A truly classic moment !

22. Poirot (1989–2013)
Episode: Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1994)

TV-14 | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

The tyrannical patriarch of a dysfunctional but wealthy family summons his adult children for a Christmas reunion, but prior to the holiday his throat is slashed apparently by one of them.

Director: Edward Bennett | Stars: David Suchet, Philip Jackson, Vernon Dobtcheff, Simon Roberts

Votes: 2,579

My favorite christmas whodunnit.

23. Scrooged (1988)

PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

38 Metascore

A selfish, cynical television executive is haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.

Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover

Votes: 116,455 | Gross: $60.33M

24. Love Actually (2003)

R | 135 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

55 Metascore

Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.

Director: Richard Curtis | Stars: Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney

Votes: 531,643 | Gross: $59.70M

Yes this one is very new but with a lot of good british actors and a great holiday theme, it is surely destined to become a classic among romantic yuletide films.

25. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Not Rated | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

96 Metascore

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

Director: Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut

Votes: 38,509 | Gross: $0.20M

26. Come to the Stable (1949)

Approved | 94 min | Comedy, Drama

Two nuns arrive unannounced in the small New England town of Bethlehem, where they recruit various townspeople to help them build a children's hospital.

Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Loretta Young, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, Elsa Lanchester

Votes: 1,608

This one has never made it to DVD as far as I know at least not in region2 maybe in region1 ?

27. Scrooge (1935)

PG | 78 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy

Ebenezer Scrooge is a mean old miser who wants nothing to do with Christmas. The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come visit Scrooge on Christmas Eve, taking him on a journey into the very spirit and magic of Christmas itself.

Director: Henry Edwards | Stars: Seymour Hicks, Donald Calthrop, Robert Cochran, Mary Glynne

Votes: 2,642

28. It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)

Passed | 116 min | Comedy, Music, Romance

66 Metascore

Two homeless men move into a mansion while its owners are wintering in the South.

Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Don DeFore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles, Victor Moore

Votes: 6,299

Another one we aren`t allowed to buy on DVD in Europe

29. Remember the Night (1939)

Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

78 Metascore

Love blooms between a sympathetic attorney and the comely shoplifter he has taken home for the Christmas holiday.

Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson

Votes: 7,193 | Gross: $0.17M

Real fine feel-good christmas movie with the couple from the noir classic Double Indemnity.

30. The Holly and the Ivy (1952)

Approved | 80 min | Drama

A heartwarming tale of an English minister and his family reunited at Christmas time. Their story includes a remembrance of their World War II trials.

Director: George More O'Ferrall | Stars: Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson, Margaret Leighton, Denholm Elliott

Votes: 2,000

Extremely rare british christmas movie based on a theatrical production with a superior cast.

31. Christmas Eve (1947)

Passed | 90 min | Comedy, Drama

To save her fortune from a designing nephew, Matilda Reed must locate her three long-lost adopted sons in time for a Christmas Eve reunion.

Director: Edwin L. Marin | Stars: George Raft, George Brent, Randolph Scott, Joan Blondell

Votes: 829

Another one who hasn`t been released on DVD and can only be viewed thanks to TCM and Youtube.

32. The Cheaters (1945)

Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

An eccentric wealthy family facing bankruptcy schemes to steal an inheritance, but an alcoholic ex-actor they take in for Christmas charity complicates their plan.

Director: Joseph Kane | Stars: Joseph Schildkraut, Billie Burke, Eugene Pallette, Ona Munson

Votes: 910

33. I'll Be Seeing You (1944)

Approved | 85 min | Drama, Family, Romance

A soldier suffering from combat fatigue meets a young woman on Christmas furlough from prison and their mutual loneliness blossoms into romance.

Directors: William Dieterle, George Cukor | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Joseph Cotten, Shirley Temple, Spring Byington

Votes: 2,522

34. The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)

Approved | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Music

A New York City swindler has until Christmas to come up with the $10,000 he owes a gangster, prompting him to go into scamming overdrive.

Directors: Sidney Lanfield, Frank Tashlin | Stars: Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, Lloyd Nolan, Jane Darwell

Votes: 2,260

35. The Miracle of the Bells (1948)

Approved | 120 min | Drama

A press agent brings a dead actress home for burial. To promote her one film, he asks churches to ring bells for 3 days, hoping to get the studio head to release it.

Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Alida Valli, Frank Sinatra, Lee J. Cobb

Votes: 1,126

Frankie boy as a priest ? Okay, maybe a little far fetched.

36. The Gathering (1977 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 94 min | Drama

A dying father pulls his torn family back together for a last Christmas.

Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Edward Asner, Maureen Stapleton, Rebecca Balding, Sarah Cunningham

Votes: 811

37. The Christmas Wife (1988 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 73 min | Drama

A widower not wanting to face his first Christmas alone responds to an ad for "social introductions".

Director: David Hugh Jones | Stars: Jason Robards, Julie Harris, Don Francks, James Eckhouse

Votes: 418

38. Fitzwilly (1967)

Not Rated | 102 min | Comedy, Romance

A butler and the staff of an eccentric aged philanthropist whose family wealth is exhausted engage in larceny and crimes to maintain her lifestyle and provide funds for her charitable activities.

Director: Delbert Mann | Stars: Dick Van Dyke, Barbara Feldon, John McGiver, Edith Evans

Votes: 2,044

39. All Mine to Give (1957)

Passed | 103 min | Drama, Family, Romance

An immigrant family in 1850's Wisconsin prospers until tragedy strikes.

Director: Allen Reisner | Stars: Glynis Johns, Cameron Mitchell, Rex Thompson, Patty McCormack

Votes: 1,574

40. Father Christmas (1991 TV Short)

G | 25 min | Animation, Short, Comedy

A down-to-earth Father Christmas recounts a vacation he took around the world and a typical Christmas Eve workload, from his small house in contemporary Britain.

Director: Dave Unwin | Star: Mel Smith

Votes: 2,399

Funny and very british look at father christmas.

41. The Polar Express (2004)

G | 100 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

61 Metascore

On Christmas Eve, a young boy embarks on a magical adventure to the North Pole on the Polar Express, while learning about friendship, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Tom Hanks, Chris Coppola, Michael Jeter, Leslie Zemeckis

Votes: 241,387 | Gross: $183.37M

42. Christmas Story (2007)

PG | 83 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy

The touching story of how Santa Claus came to be Santa.

Director: Juha Wuolijoki | Stars: Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Otto Gustavsson, Jonas Rinne, Kari Väänänen

Votes: 4,699

This is a very remarkable Finnish movie that I got to know a few years ago, and it is a great santa movie with a little different approach than the traditional american santa claus movies. Please do yourself a favor and watch it around christmas time with some kleenex within reach.

43. Christmas in July (1940)

Passed | 67 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

After the co-workers of an ambitious clerk trick him into thinking he has won $25,000 in a slogan contest, he begins to use the money to fulfill his dreams. What will happen when the ruse is discovered?

Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Dick Powell, Ellen Drew, Raymond Walburn, Alexander Carr

Votes: 4,268

Okay this one doesn`t take place around christmas, but it has that special holiday feeling and atmosphere like most of Preston Sturges movies have.

44. Meet John Doe (1941)

Passed | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A penniless drifter is recruited by an ambitious columnist to impersonate a non-existent person who said he'd be committing suicide as a protest, and a social movement begins.

Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan

Votes: 14,906

Not strictly a christmas movie either, but the plot is centered around new years eve, and Frank Capra is a master of that special type of story that I just love to watch around christmas.

45. A Christmas Carol (1951)

TV-PG | 86 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy

Ebenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeonly, miserly businessman, has no time for sentimentality and largely views Christmas as a waste of time. However, this Christmas Eve, he will be visited by three spirits who will show him the error of his ways.

Director: Brian Desmond Hurst | Stars: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns

Votes: 25,728

Probably the second best Scrooge portrayed by Alastair Sim only bested by Albert Finney (in my humble opinion).

46. A Christmas Story (1983)

PG | 93 min | Comedy, Family

77 Metascore

In the 1940s, a young boy named Ralphie Parker attempts to convince his parents, teacher, and Santa Claus that a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun really is the perfect Christmas gift.

Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Scott Schwartz

Votes: 168,636 | Gross: $20.61M

47. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

PG | 76 min | Animation, Family, Fantasy

82 Metascore

Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion.

Director: Henry Selick | Stars: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey

Votes: 375,262 | Gross: $75.08M

Tim Burton`s weird animated story has become a modern classic for the more ghoulish taste.

48. Holiday (1938)

Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Romance

A young man in love with a girl from a rich family finds his unorthodox plan to go on holiday for the early years of his life met with skepticism by everyone except for his fiancée's eccentric sister and long-suffering brother.

Director: George Cukor | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Doris Nolan, Lew Ayres

Votes: 18,254

Great screwball comedy centered around the time of christmas and new Year (mostly), but it`s a great funny and warm movie to be watching during the holidays.

49. White Christmas (1954)

Not Rated | 120 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

56 Metascore

A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.

Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen

Votes: 51,139 | Gross: $30.00M

Not nearly as good as Hollywood Inn, but still some great moments from Bing Crosby and the sometimes funny Danny Kaye.

50. March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934)

Passed | 77 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Opposing the evil Barnaby, Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try and fail to pay-off Mother Peep's mortgage and mislead his attempts to marry Little Bo. Enraged, Barnaby's Bogeymen are set on Toyland.

Directors: Gus Meins, Charley Rogers | Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Virginia Karns, Charlotte Henry

Votes: 7,562

No christmas without Laurel & Hardy

51. The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950)

Approved | 104 min | Comedy, Musical

An Irish horsecar driver's daughter meets New York showman Tony Pastor and goes into vaudeville.

Director: David Butler | Stars: June Haver, Gordon MacRae, James Barton, S.Z. Sakall

Votes: 587

52. Bundle of Joy (1956)

Approved | 98 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

After finding a baby outside an orphanage, a salesgirl receives sympathy from those around her, including her boss' son, as they all assume the baby is hers.

Director: Norman Taurog | Stars: Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Adolphe Menjou, Tommy Noonan

Votes: 1,415

53. Trading Places (1983)

R | 116 min | Comedy

69 Metascore

A snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.

Director: John Landis | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche

Votes: 165,868 | Gross: $90.40M

Very funny christmas movie with Eddie Murphy at his best, and also introducing a very lovely young Jamie Leigh Curtis to partake in the christmas shenanigans.

54. The Glenn Miller Story (1954)

Approved | 115 min | Biography, Drama, Music

Biography of bandleader Glenn Miller from his beginnings to his death over the English Channel in December 1944.

Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, June Allyson, Harry Morgan, Charles Drake

Votes: 9,712

55. Susan Slept Here (1954)

Approved | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A Hollywood screenwriter takes in a runaway girl who's more woman than he can handle.

Director: Frank Tashlin | Stars: Dick Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Anne Francis, Glenda Farrell

Votes: 2,168

56. Peter's Friends (1992)

R | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

Six former college friends, with two new friends, gather for a New Year's Eve weekend reunion at a large English countryside manor after ten years to reminisce about the good times now long gone.

Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh

Votes: 12,148 | Gross: $4.06M

Includes some of the best british actors from this generation in a very warm, touching and funny christmas/new year film. I mean where do you get Stephen Fry, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Imelda Staunton and Hugh Laurie at the same time ?

57. A Christmas Without Snow (1980 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 95 min | Drama, Music

A divorced woman moves to a new city, trying to rebuild her life. She joins the choir of a local church and is inspired by the choirmaster, a curmudgeonly old gentleman who will accept ... See full summary »

Director: John Korty | Stars: Michael Learned, John Houseman, Ramon Bieri, James Cromwell

Votes: 410

58. Blossoms in the Dust (1941)

Approved | 99 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

After losing her young son, Edna Gladney opposes the unfair laws discriminating against children whose parents are unknown, and opens an orphanage for those children.

Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart, Marsha Hunt

Votes: 2,293

59. Sun Valley Serenade (1941)

Passed | 86 min | Comedy

After Phil Corey's band arrives at the Idaho ski resort, its pianist Ted Scott is smitten with a Norwegian refugee he has sponsored, Karen Benson. Later, soloist Vivian Dawn quits and Karen stages an ice show as a substitute.

Director: H. Bruce Humberstone | Stars: Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle

Votes: 1,951

60. Tenth Avenue Angel (1948)

Passed | 74 min | Drama

While a man was in prison, a little girl who is very close to him was told that he was traveling the world. What will happen if she discovers the truth?

Director: Roy Rowland | Stars: Margaret O'Brien, Angela Lansbury, George Murphy, Phyllis Thaxter

Votes: 926

61. Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945)

Passed | 105 min | Drama, Family

A Norwegian farmer lovingly raises his daughter in rural World War II-era Benson Junction, Wisconsin.

Director: Roy Rowland | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Margaret O'Brien, James Craig, Frances Gifford

Votes: 2,345

62. I Remember Mama (1948)

Approved | 134 min | Drama, Family

A young writer recalls her ups and downs of growing up as one of four children to Norwegian immigrant parents in 1910s San Francisco.

Director: George Stevens | Stars: Irene Dunne, Barbara Bel Geddes, Oscar Homolka, Philip Dorn

Votes: 6,013

63. Crooks Anonymous (1962)

88 min | Comedy, Crime

Forsdyke, a pathological petty thief subjects himself to a strict correction course run by a wealthy ex-con Widdowes and his Crooks Anonymous organization. Forsdyke's young and innocent ... See full summary »

Director: Ken Annakin | Stars: Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Julie Christie

Votes: 697

Very funny british film with a gang of...santa clauses !

64. Home Alone (1990)

PG | 103 min | Comedy, Family

63 Metascore

An eight-year-old troublemaker, mistakenly left home alone, must defend his home against a pair of burglars on Christmas Eve.

Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard

Votes: 653,034 | Gross: $285.76M

65. Kathy O' (1958)

Approved | 99 min | Comedy, Drama

A publicity man tries to hide a child film star's brattiness from a magazine writer, who happens to be his ex-wife.

Director: Jack Sher | Stars: Dan Duryea, Jan Sterling, Patty McCormack, Mary Fickett

Votes: 225

66. Silent Night, Lonely Night (1969 TV Movie)

98 min | Drama, Romance

Over the Christmas holidays in a small New England college town, a man and a woman share a brief interlude. He is there to visit his wife, who is a mental patient at the university, and she... See full summary »

Director: Daniel Petrie | Stars: Lloyd Bridges, Shirley Jones, Lynn Carlin, Carrie Snodgress

Votes: 222

67. A Christmas Tale (2008)

Not Rated | 150 min | Comedy, Drama

84 Metascore

The troubled Vuillard family is no stranger to illness, grief, and banishment, but when their matriarch requires a bone-marrow transplant, the estranged clan reunites just in time for Christmas.

Director: Arnaud Desplechin | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Mathieu Amalric, Anne Consigny

Votes: 7,564 | Gross: $1.06M

68. Christmas Eve (1986 TV Movie)

93 min | Drama

A well-to-do elderly woman who befriends the homeless and volunteers her time with children learns that she has an incurable illness. She desperately wants to reunited her three grown ... See full summary »

Director: Stuart Cooper | Stars: Loretta Young, Arthur Hill, Ron Leibman, Trevor Howard

Votes: 459

69. A Christmas Carol (1938)

Passed | 69 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy

72 Metascore

An elderly miser learns the error of his ways on Christmas Eve.

Director: Edwin L. Marin | Stars: Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Terry Kilburn

Votes: 8,752

70. One Special Night (1999 TV Movie)

PG | 92 min | Drama, Romance

Two strangers take refuge in a small cabin during a stormy winter night and, despite their differences, or perhaps because of them, they are undeniably drawn to one another in this holiday classic.

Director: Roger Young | Stars: James Garner, Julie Andrews, Patricia Charbonneau, Stacy Grant

Votes: 1,642

71. Kind Lady (1951)

78 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

Mary Herries (Ethel Barrymore) has a passion for art and fine furniture. Even though she is getting on in years, she enjoys being around these priceless articles. One day she meets a ... See full summary »

Director: John Sturges | Stars: Ethel Barrymore, Maurice Evans, Angela Lansbury, Keenan Wynn

Votes: 1,124

72. Heaven Only Knows (1947)

Approved | 100 min | Family, Western

An angel is sent to earth to help save the soul of a saloon and gambling house owner.

Director: Albert S. Rogell | Stars: Robert Cummings, Brian Donlevy, Marjorie Reynolds, Jorja Curtright

Votes: 490

73. Life Begins at Eight-Thirty (1942)

Passed | 85 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

Kathy lives in a cramped New York flat with her father Madden Thomas, a celebrated actor brought down by drink. Lame from an early age and feeling trapped with her father in her small world... See full summary »

Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: Monty Woolley, Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, Sara Allgood

Votes: 252 | Gross: $0.20M

74. Sally and Saint Anne (1952)

Approved | 90 min | Comedy

Sally O'Moyne, a good-natured but awkward school-girl lives with her extended and eccentric Irish-American clan. One day at school, unable to find her lunch bucket, Sally says a prayer to ... See full summary »

Director: Rudolph Maté | Stars: Ann Blyth, Edmund Gwenn, John McIntire, Gregg Palmer

Votes: 144



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