"White Christmas"

[sergebroom]

Yesterday evening, my wife and I began the Season's movie-watching. The opening salvo was 1954's White Christmas.

"Many men have tried to split us up, but no one can
Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister
And Lord help the sister, who comes between me and my man."

Next on our list? Alastair Sim's Christmas Carol... Frederic Back's animated short Crac... Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer even though Santa is show to be a jerk... Mark Morris's The Hard Nut... Don Siegel's short film A Star in the Night... The grand finale will of course be Charlie Brown's Christmas Special...

Somewhere in there, while my wife isn't around, I'll sneak in Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Matt Groening's Olive the Other Reindeer. Maybe It's A wonderful Life, in which a man bitter at Life's opportunities having passed him by is contemplating suicide on Christmas Eve.

Comments

[mkhobson.livejournal.com]

I always get "White Christmas" confused with "Holiday Inn", the one with the big creepy blackface musical number. Ick.

"White Christmas" is OK. I've always been partial to "Miracle on 34th Street," m'self.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Well, both movies did feature Bing Crosby singing "I Dream of a White Christmas". It's interesting, comparing the sensibility differences between the eras in which the movies were made. One has that dreadful blackface number. The other had the "Minstrel" number, but dispensed with the blackface. Thank goodness. Also, "White Christmas" had Danny Kaye, that filthy Democrat, of whom I've always been a fan. Ever seen him in the Twilight Zone's adaptation of Ellison's "Paladin of the Lost Hour"?

Oops. I did forget to include "Miracle on 34th Street" on my list. The original version, of course. Not the dreadful 1990s version.

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

I like both 34th Streets, though I recall a rather poor 80s version.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I never saw that one, but I do remember an early-1970s TV remake starring Sebastian Cabot.

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

That was the one - just got my decades mixed up. I can't really remember much about it, other than that I found it underwhelming :)

[readinggeek451]

No Grinch?! Heretic.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Oh, my wife definitely is NOT a fan of that one. Me, I like the idea of Boris Karloff as the narrator.

[readinggeek451]

It's one of my three must-see Christmas shows, along with Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph--although that last is dropping off the list because I get increasingly upset about what a bigot Santa is.

(If the Grinch were really all that mean, his dog wouldn't be so cheerful and happy-go-lucky.)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Maybe his dog is an incurable optimist, or he is an angel on a mission to save the Grinch's soul.

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

I do like Alistair Sim's Scrooge. Patrick Stewart did a pretty good job too, though my favorite version is the Muppet one :)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I never saw Stewart's. I did catch the 1984 version starring George C Scott. I used to like it quite a bit, until I made the mistake of watching it back-to-back with Sim's. The problem with Scott's Scrooge is that he comes across as someone who'd kick the various Christmas Spirits in the butt and out of his house so, when he cowers, it doesn't ring quite true. What I like about Sim's is his theatricality, which is just right for the story.

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

He was good in the St. Trinians movies too :)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Your comment is a reminder that there are so many British movies I don't know about. A couple of years ago, Turner Classic Movies had a month-long focus on Ealing Studios (Hey! That's Audrey Hepburn in a bit part of that Alec Guiness comedy!), but obviously they only scratched the surface.

As for the St.Trinian films, here's what imdb.com said about one:

These schoolgirls are more interested in racing forms than books as they try to get-rich-quick. They are abetted by the head-mistress' brother, played by Alastair Sim, who also plays the head-mistress.

Alastair Sim in drag?
What a troubling idea.