Posted on 11/30/2004 7:18:48 AM PST by nypokerface
Good news, holiday movie shoppers: Some great Christmas pictures are coming your way this month.
The bad news is they're coming to your TV set and they're the same ones that have been coming for decades — "It's a Wonderful Life," "Miracle on 34th Street," "A Christmas Carol."
The last new member added to the Pantheon of Exalted Holiday Classics was Bob Clark's "A Christmas Story" — released 21 years ago! Last year's gentle Will Farrell comedy "Elf" may charm its way into the hall, and the current "The Polar Express" certainly expresses all the right messages. But most of Hollywood's recent Christmas movies have been lumps of something worse than coal — including this season's dumb and dumber entries, "Surviving Christmas" and "Christmas with the Kranks."
These cynical, slapstick confections mock holiday tradition, then tack on redemptive endings that are without a whit of conviction. If the filmmakers don't believe in their material, how can they expect us to?
The answer is, we don't.
"Surviving Christmas" with Ben Affleck, released in late October, barely survived Thanksgiving. It will end its run with less than $15 million in ticket sales. "Christmas with the Kranks" opened Wednesday to some of the year's most pained reviews and did a less-than-stellar $31.2 million over the long Thanksgiving weekend.
These movies could stand on each other's shoulders and still not be able to see the classics — even if they used a boost from Ron Howard's' labored "Dr. Seuss's The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" and Billy Bob Thornton's bawdy, drunk, filthy-mouthed "Bad Santa." So, what's up? If Americans are still desperate for holiday movies — and people who bought tickets to "Surviving Christmas" and "Christmas With the Kranks" were nothing if not desperate — why can't Hollywood make 'em like them like they used to?
The answer, in a roasted chestnut-shell, is that the film business and American culture aren't what they used to be.
With the exception of "A Christmas Story," the movies we regard as evergreens were made before the breakup of the studio system and the cultural revolution. Through the 1930s and '40s and into the '50s, Hollywood made one-size-fits-all products, movies conceived and created with the entire family in mind.
In the pre-TV era in which so many classic holiday movies were made, the local Bijou was the family attraction, and filmmakers took into account the age range and interests of their audiences.
Take Henry Koster's 1947 "The Bishop's Wife," starring David Niven as a distressed bishop, Loretta Young as his neglected wife and Cary Grant as an angel who responds to his prayer for guidance.
The couple has a small child for kids to identify with, and the angel whips up some mighty entertaining miracles — like decorating the Christmas tree with the wave of his hands.
But what makes "The Bishop's Wife" a classic is the romantic tension between the wife and the smitten angel, and the growing insecurity of the bishop. It's mature stuff that doesn't get in the way of the kids' enjoyment — such as when the bishop gets his butt glued to a chair.
Frank Capra's 1946 "It's a Wonderful Life" is a dark movie with many bright spots and one of the greatest endings. And it, too, is laced with sexual tension.
The scene where James Stewart's George Bailey throws away his dreams of travel for Donna Reed's Mary Hatch after becoming intoxicated by the smell of her hair, is one of the most powerful romantic moments in film — and way, way over kids' heads.
Look how the culture has changed. "Family movies" are now those that appeal to adults and to pre-pubescent children. Teenagers are now a separate category, as are young adults without kids.
Instead of making movies with overlapping content appealing to each age group, we have separate classes of movies organized by the 36-year-old ratings system. Each rating has its commercial advantages and limitations, and it's the rare exception that has across-the-board appeal.
The closest that modern films come to having the double layers of content for family audiences is in animated features like "Shrek" and "Shark Tale," where kids are mesmerized by the colors, characters and action and their parents are kept alert by the pop references.
The business of distributing films has changed, too. Though a good Christmas movie can still make it into holiday TV syndication, that's not where the big money is. A movie has to have a video afterlife these days, and films that people are likely to buy or rent only during the holidays don't have great prospects. Video chains aren't going to stock them in large numbers year-round.
Finally, we are still living in the Age of Irony. Thus, we get the sourness of "Grinch," "Bad Santa," and Richard Donner's 1988 "Scrooged," the Madison Avenue version of "A Christmas Carol" starring Bill Murray at his smarmiest.
Even the seemingly gentle "The Santa Clause" movies began with Tim Allen's suburban dad accidentally killing the real Santa, And now there's "Surviving Christmas" and "Christmas With the Kranks," glib and soulless comedies made only because of their studios' unwarranted faith in the drawing power of Ben Affleck and Allen.
In case they need help understanding the message shared by every holiday classic, I'll spell it out: When telling stories about the spirit of Christmas, put your faith in the stories, not in the stars.
Jack Mathews' Pantheon of Exalted Holiday Classics
"A CHRISTMAS STORY" (1983) Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Peter Billingsley
"MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET" (1947) Edmund Gwenn, Natalie Wood, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne
"IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" (1946) James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
"HOLIDAY INN" (1942) Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds
"THE BISHOP'S WIFE" (1947) Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven
"SCROOGE" (1951) Alastair Sim
"A CHRISTMAS CAROL" (1938) Reginald Owen
"CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT" (1945) Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet
"WHITE CHRISTMAS" (1954) Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen
Not only was Alastair Sim made for the role - he's entirely convincing both in his menacing pre-reformation state and his giddy happiness - the entire cast is astounding. The British train character actors like nobody else in the world. Even the little parlormaid who lets Scrooge in the door at his nephew's house, and never says a word, is absolutely perfect in her first surprise and hesitation, her shyness, her realization that Scrooge is hesitant, and her ultimate encouragement to him to enter the room (all to the strains of "Barbara Allen" - the theme for his lost sister Fan). Understated British direction throughout. Great film.
"It's a Wonderful Life" is a great film too - the acting is so American (in contrast to "Scrooge") but perfect for the story, the photography is particularly wonderful. My kids adore it - they watch it every Christmas and sometimes even in the middle of summer.
I've never been able to get into "Miracle on 34th Street" - it seems too contrived to me (why it should seem contrived when "Scrooge" doesn't is a mystery).
Everyone forgets "The Lemon Drop Kid" with Bob Hope. The very first appearance of the song "Silver Bells."
You can probably get it here
http://www.tvparty.com
I love "A Christmas Story." But my all time fav is "Scrooge" with Alistair Sim, one of the best I've seen.
"...Does "Die Hard" qualify as a Christmas classic?..."
Also, what about "Lethal Weapon"? The time period is around Christmas.
And my family often says to each other if they interrupt or answer a question directed to someone else:
"Is your names Miss....?"
(fill in the blank for the offender, replacing the movie line "Is your names Miss Linda?")
I love the Magoo version. The Muppet version isn't bad either (but not as good as Magoo).
Classic.
The director of "Scrooge" tried, with the sequence of the blind man under the arch - but nothing can replace Dickens's comment that even the blind men's dogs knew to pull away from Scrooge -- "No eye is better than evil eye, dark master."
I'm something of a fellow con-a-sewer . . . I didn't like George C. Scott, he was not convincing in his reformation, and I also always had the impression that he was mugging a bit as the evil Scrooge. Finney is great, but the musical is very uneven and some of the songs are just not up to par. And the Muppet Christmas Carol can't decide whether it's going to be serious or go for the cheap laughs - it's a quarreling Siamese twin of a movie. Michael Caine's performance is a star turn wasted.
You might like this website that I just turned up . . . especially the scene-by-scene comparisons.
One of our local theaters did the Magoo version (great songs!) with an actor who was fantastic in the Magoo/Scrooge part. It transfered well to the real stage. The audience sang along to the "La, la, la, la, la, la, la" song when the low-lifes were selling the deceased Scrooges's meager belongings. It was hilarious and fun to boot. I used to look forward to the cartoon version every year while I was growing up.
I liked Scrooge with Bill Murray, too.
Every year or so, I pull out an old leather-bound edition of A Christmas Carol with gorgeous Victorian-style illustrations and read it aloud to my family.
The Lemon Drop Kid and "the Home for Old Dolls." I did forget that movie until you mentioned it. I saw it a couple of times when I was a kid. I believe the story was originally a popular radio play. I love the song "Silver Bells."
When I was very young, the "Ghost of Christmas Future" scared me in the Magoo version (but I liked and still like it!).
I did just go see "Christmas with the Kranks". It sure as heck isn't going to replace any on Mr. Mathews' list. It won't even replace "Santa Clause".
All of these fine flicks are, by the way, available at Best Buy and on Amazon (and probably a few more outlets). If you like movies during the season, they're available!
Happy watching.
"Home Alone" is touching and hysterically funny.
How about "Meet John Doe" another Capra classic. The finale takes place on Christmas Eve.
This is my favorite movie of all time. It really shows the sewer side of politics. I keep waiting to hear Edward Arnold speak with a high-pitched Texas drawl when his cabal is looking at the maps and charts, ala Ross Perot!
The scene in the book where Bob goes upstairs to the body of Tiny Tim simply cannot be duplicated on film. That's one long read too.
Right. Again, Stewart's dramatic reading was, I thought, very good, if you don't want to read it yourself. A very "low-tech" recording - only one or two "special effects." Stewart does it all.
There's a 1972 animated 1/2 hour version of Scrooge for which Alitair Sim does the voice. Some people might remember it - ABC showed it for the kiddies. Not the best but somewhat of a trip down memory lane.
I haven't seen the Magoo one lately. I'll have to watch again.
Bill Murray is a surprisingly good actor, in the right role.
Scott was not as convincing as the reformed Scrooge. He also didn't come off as a miserly old skinflint, hard as coal and cold as January. But Scott was intimidating in the role. A smirking man devoid of love.
The perfect Scrooge has not been perfected yet. Sims was darn close. The guy who played Capt Sobel in Band of Brothers (David Schwimmer) might be a good candidate.
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