Christmas movies that not...Christmas movies

12/19/2022 | MAGA2017

[MAGA2017]

If I mention the Bruce Willis movie, "Die Hard" you probably know what I mean. What other movies are like this?

One that comes to mind for me is the first Rocky film from 1976. Christmas not mentioned but the story takes place during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. There are Christmas movies trees and decorations in several scenes.

There's also the classic Frank Capra movie, "It's a Wonderful Life". I could be wrong, but I don't think Capra intended that to be a Christmas movie but obviously it gets associated with the holiday with what happens at the end of the story.

What other movies can you think of?

[Fai Mao]

I really dislike the Drummer Boy song.

[reg45]

Elizabeth Allen or Dorothy Lamour

[oldvirginian]

Elizabeth Allen?

Dorothy Lamour was in the movie as well.

[Telepathic Intruder]

“Die Hard” is not a Christmas movie? I beg to differ. Gathering around the corporate tower lit by rocket propelled grenades are my fondest memories. Who can forget throwing Hans Gruber off the top floor every year? This is what makes Christmas what it is.

[Zuriel]

I was shown a video of some mega church play where they have a dozen or so ‘drummer boys’ hanging from wires, moving back and forth, and up and down over the crowd. The sound was like guns going off.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Donovan's Reef.

And Die Hard is a Christmas Movie.

It is about a broken family coming together again, about good winning over the forces of greed and chaos, about a good man learning to forgive himself and about a media personality getting punched in the face.

Nothing says Peace on Earth like a purveyor of discord getting socked in the kisser.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

The Lemon Drop Kid.

[x]

If your idea of a Christmas movie is “Miracle on 34th Street” or “The Santa Claus” or “Jingle All The Way” then Capra wasn’t making a Christmas movie, but with a Christmas tree in the background and the action taking place on Christmas Eve, then sure, “It’s a Wonderful Life” was a Christmas movie.

Capra and his scriptwriters had Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” in mind and even got Lionel Barrymore who played Scrooge on the radio to be Old Man Potter, so it’s pretty fair to say that it was a Christmas movie, if perhaps an unconventional one in it’s day.

“White Christmas” also was shown this time of year. It was a remake of “Holiday Inn” made to be more Christmassy. It’s right there in the title. A lot of movies take their characters through a year, so there’s always a Christmas scene, but most of them aren’t Christmas pictures.

[Secret Agent Man]

Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Its integral to the storyline. The movie story wouldn’t happen without it being Christmas.

[Ciaphas Cain]

Also set during Christmas time: First Blood.

[Seaplaner]

Hmmm, a bit corny by today's standard (to wit-- Nellie Thursday's Home for Old Dolls, and etc.) but a fun movie from my youth.

The Lemon Drop Kid was indeed a Christmas movie, and the Christmas song "Silver Bells" was introduced in the film.

[larrytown]

I really dislike the Drummer Boy song.

Yes, thank you! Horrible painful dreck to assault the senses.

[ifinnegan]

Good call.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Well blow me down;

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-sound-of-music-julie-andrews-was-knocked-down-by-a-helicopter-filming-1-famous-scene.html/

[Organic Panic]

Bad Santa.

My favorite.

[Political Junkie Too]

The TOS episode "Charlie X" takes place at Thanksgiving.

-PJ

[Kartographer]

‘Fat Man’

[Fiji Hill]

My family talks about this with “Christmas” music. How many of the songs have nothing to do with Christmas but more with winter? Frosty the Snowman. Baby It’s Cold Outside. Jingle Bells. Etc.

If Winter Wonderland from Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 is a Christmas carol, then so should be When the Tumbleweeds Come Tumbling by Gene Autry (1938).

[Fiji Hill]

"My Favorite Things" reminds me of Willie the Weeper By Ernest Rogers (1927), which may have been its inspiration.

[CptnObvious]

There are a LOT of Happy Sappy Christmas movies out there. Hallmark made a lot of them. Many are available on Amazon Prime. Here are some of the Best you may not have heard of:

A Timeless Christmas 2020
Christmas Lodge 2011
A Twist of Christmas 2018