Game Caravan - Christmas Movie Page.

Comedies

Christmas in Connecticut - 1945

This is a holiday film that plays 365 days of the year. Barbara Stanwyck gives a brilliant, sardonic performance as Elizabeth Lane, a columnist for Smart Housekeeping magazine. It is classic screwball entertainment of the best kind, with its on-target skewering of social convention and house-of- cards-about-to-tumble tension: a perfect farcical vision of domestic blitz.

Home Alone - 1990

Now and forever a favorite among kids, this 1990 comedy ushered Macaulay Culkin onto the screen as a 8-year-old who is accidentally left behind when his folks and siblings fly off to Paris.

Jingle All the Way (1996)

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad star in this frivolous comedy about two fathers who are trying to locate and purchase the same hugely popular action toy on Christmas Eve. Schwarzenegger plays a busy father who makes lots of promises to his son that he can't keep, while Sinbad is a crazy postman just trying to make his boy happy.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

The third installment of the Griswold family saga is a significant improvement over their previous vacation (National Lampoon's European Vacation). Disaster-prone dad (Chevy Chase) discovers just how dangerous the Christmas season really is, as the Griswolds' old-fashioned holiday celebration turns out to be more "Bah! Humbug!" than Christmas cheer.

The Santa Claus - 1994

When Santa Claus accidentally topples off the roof of the house and falls with a thud in the snow, Tim Allen finds himself taking the merry old elf's place and earning new respect in his son's eyes. When the night ends, the reindeer take them to the north pole, and Tim discovers that by donning the fabled red suit, he's inadvertently agreed to become the next Santa Claus.

Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)

The first half tells the origins of Santa as actually a woodcutter saved from certain death by elves and taken to the North Pole to begin life as the chimney-dropping hero of children everywhere. The second half involves a world-class villain (John Lithgow) who recruits an outcast elf (Dudley Moore) in a scheme to sabotage old St. Nick.

Scrooged (1988)

Bill Murray's version puts a humorous spin on the Dicken's classic.

Children's

Barney's Christmas Star

Bob the Builder - Bob's White Christmas (2001)

Bob the Builder's infectiously optimistic battle cry ("Can we fix it? Yes, we can!") rings truer than ever in a very busy Yuletide in the delightful Bob's White Christmas. Keen characterizations and a happy, fluid animation style make Bob the Builder (seen on Nick Jr.) one of the best children's TV programs around. If anything, this Christmas special has even more of the show's vitality and good cheer.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

This television classic features the Peanuts characters in the story of Charlie Brown's problematic efforts to mount a school Christmas pageant. Everybody's on board: Lucy, Snoopy, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, but the biggest impression is surely made by Linus, who stops the show with his recitation from the gospels of the story of Christ's birth.

Dr. Seuss - How the Grinch Stole Christmas/Horton Hears a Who (1966)

To heck with the kids--this is one of the best holiday presents you can give yourself. Adapted from the children's book by Dr. Seuss, this charming story is one to watch every holiday season. It is just edgy enough to help you forget the more cloying aspects of Christmas, yet it is also sweet enough to remind you of the reason for all that holiday cheer.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Brian Henson directs his late father's creations in the Charles Dickens classic, the best known (and most oft-filmed) Christmas story of all time. Michael Caine plays the old miser Scrooge with Kermit as his long-suffering but ever-hopeful employee Bob Cratchit. While the odd mix of offbeat humor and somber drama undercuts the power of Dickens's drama, this kid-friendly retelling makes an excellent family drama that adults and children alike can enjoy.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

This classic 1964 television special featuring Rudolph and his misfit buddies set the standard for stop-motion animation for an entire generation before Tim Burton darkly reinvented it in the early 1990s. Burl Ives narrates as Sam the Snowman, telling and singing the story of a rejected reindeer who overcomes prejudice and saves Christmas one particularly blustery year.

Sesame Street - Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)

This Emmy Award-winning musical from 1978 explores an age-old Christmas conundrum: how does a big guy like Santa Claus squeeze down all those narrow chimneys? When Big Bird and his Sesame Street friends set out to find the answer one Christmas Eve, they explore a variety of amusing theories and learn a lot about the meaning of Christmas in the process. This 60-minute, classic Sesame Street special, which teaches kids from 2 to 10 to value giving more than receiving and stresses the importance of love and togetherness, is also thoroughly entertaining.

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends - Thomas' Christmas Wonderland (With Bonus James Wooden Train) (2002)

Thomas and his train-yard pals wouldn't pout if Christmases on the Island of Sodor were a little less white. In each of the six story stops that make up Thomas' Christmas Wonderland, snow stalls or otherwise threatens to sabotage the perky cargo pullers' holiday plans. My kids love the toy train that is included.

Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974)

The famous poem by Clement Moore is a Christmas Eve classic. This animated version is narrrated by Joel Grey. The story opens on the night before Christmas, but the reading of the poem must be stopped when two creatures in the house begin to stir: family men Mr. Trundle and Father Mouse.

The Wiggles - Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (2000)

Treat the kiddies to a tuneful outlet for their holiday excitement with this festive, 45-minute video from Australia's award-winning children's group, the Wiggles. to deliver over a dozen delightful Christmas favorites--some old, many new, and almost all with a boppin' beat. What makes this holiday sing-along superior to other, similar tapes is the genuine joy the performers emit while they dance, play, and smile throughout each one- to two-minute tune.

Dramas

Bachelor Mother - 1939	Ginger Rogers stars as a department store salesclerk about to be laid off after the Christmas holiday, who happens to be passing an orphanage when a woman leaves a baby on the doorstep. The orphanage assumes that Rogers is the mother, despite her protests; when they contact the department store, the owner's son (David Niven) decides to restore her job so that she can take care of the child. Before long, rumors are flying. The plot expertly weaves a deliciously funny web of assumptions and denials, with Rogers, Niven, and Coburn turning in topnotch performances--Rogers, who sometimes overplays her comic parts, is brilliantly understated in what is one of her best roles.
The Bishop's Wife - 1948	Perhaps if The Bishop's Wife had lapsed on its copyright and fallen into the public domain like It's a Wonderful Life, it would be as much a Christmas staple as that classic. It certainly deserves to be. Dudley (Cary Grant) is an angel sent down by the prayers of a new bishop (David Niven). The bishop is trying to build a new cathedral, and he's so entrenched in his fundraising that he's watching his own marriage crumble around him. Loretta Young is devoted, moist-eyed, and basically a great date for the tempted Dudley.
A Christmas Carol (1999)	Standing out in the crowded field of screen adaptations of the classic Dickens novel A Christmas Carol is hard to do, but this version pulls it off. As good as the technology is, the performances are what really power this 93-minute TNT interpretation. Patrick Stewart brings a depth to Scrooge that allows the character to go beyond the cartoonish qualities that have made him a Christmas mainstay.
A Christmas Carol (1984)	In the same year that he directed a handsome version of The Scarlet Pimpernel for television, Clive Donner also made this worthy 1984 small-screen production of the Dickens tale. George C. Scott can't quite muster a decent English accent, but he does bring some new colors to this movie's interpretation of Scrooge, making the character less nasty for the sake of nastiness and more a product of a life of lovelessness. The supporting cast is first-rate, and the production is far more handsome than most TV fare.
Come to the Stables - 1949	An uplifting tale of two nuns who face many challenges in building an orphanage. So popular, it has a sequel, Bells of St. Mary.
George Balanchine's The Nutcracker (1993)	Tchaikovsky's timeless Yuletide ballet is presented in an all-new movie version with as much eloquence as one would find in a live stage production. Replete with gorgeous costumes and scenery, George Balanchine's production, adapted by Peter Martins, features the New York City Ballet with narration by Kevin Kline.
Its a Wonderful Life - 1947	Now perhaps the most beloved American film, It's a Wonderful Life was largely forgotten for years, due to a copyright quirk. Only in the late 1970s did it find its audience through repeated TV showings. Frank Capra's masterwork deserves its status as a feel-good communal event, but it is also one of the most fascinating films in the American cinema, a multilayered work of Dickensian density. George Bailey (played superbly by James Stewart) grows up in the small town of Bedford Falls, dreaming dreams of adventure and travel, but circumstances conspire to keep him enslaved to his home turf. A Wonderful Life was not a big hit on its initial release, and it won no Oscars (Capra and Stewart were nominated); but it continues to weave a special magic.
Miracle on 34th Street - 1947	The original 1947 version of this Valentine Davies story is a true classic. It follows the misadventures of Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) as he gets a job playing Santa Claus at Macy's department store in New York City. Natalie Wood is the little girl who tells him she doesn't believe in Santa, and Maureen O'Hara and John Payne are the couple who help Kris through a trial in which he must prove he's the jolly fellow from the North Pole. A sweet movie and perennial Christmas favorite, this is one of those movies that gets under your skin and must be revisited every so often.
The Nightmare Before Christmas - Special Edition (Widescreen) (1993)	This stop-action animated musical/fantasy/horror/comedy is based on characters created by Burton, the former Disney animator best known as the director of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and the first two Batman movies. His benignly scary-funny sensibility dominates the story of Halloweentown resident Jack Skellington (voice by Danny Elfman, who also wrote the songs), who stumbles on a bizarre and fascinating alternative universe called ... Christmastown!
Scrooge (1970)	A mixed bag as variations on A Christmas Carol go, this 1970 British musical tells the usual story of Scrooge (Albert Finney) and his spirits on Christmas Eve, although the whole thing is set to music by Leslie Bricusse.
White Christmas - 1954	Crosby and Kaye are song-and-dance men who hook up, romantically and professionally, with a "sister" act (Clooney and Vera-Ellen) to put on a Big Show to benefit the struggling ski-resort lodge run by the beloved old retired general (Dean Jagger) of their WWII Army outfit. Crosby is cool, Clooney is warm, Kaye is goofy, and Vera-Ellen is leggy. Songs include: "Sisters" (Crosby and Kaye do their own drag version, too), "Snow," "We'll Follow the Old Man," "Mandy," "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep," and more. Christmas would be unthinkable without White Christmas.

Children's | Comedies | Dramas

Great Christmas Movies

Comedies

Children's

Dramas