A Seasonal Showcase: Uncovering Hidden Gem Christmas Movies

A factor that irks me about many modern seasonal movies is their excessive self-awareness – the ostentatious ornaments, the predictable score choices, and the stilted dialogue about the true meaning of the season. Perhaps because the genre was not yet solidified into tradition, movies from the 1940s often tackle the holidays from increasingly imaginative and less anxious angles.

The Affair on Fifth Avenue

One delightful find from delving into 1940s Christmas comedies is It Happened on Fifth Avenue, a 1947 lighthearted farce with a great concept: a jovial hobo winters in a vacant Fifth Avenue mansion each year. That season, he welcomes strangers to live with him, among them a former GI and a young woman who is secretly the offspring of the property's affluent owner. Helmer Roy Del Ruth gives the film with a found-family heart that most contemporary seasonal films have to labor to achieve. It perfectly balances a thoughtful narrative on affordable living and a delightful city fairytale.

Tokyo Godfathers

Satoshi Kon's 2003 animated film Tokyo Godfathers is a engaging, poignant, and deeply moving take on the Christmas story. Loosely based on a classic Hollywood picture, it follows a trio of down-and-out souls – an alcoholic, a transgender woman, and a young throwaway – who come across an abandoned infant on a snowy December night. Their quest to find the infant's family sets off a sequence of misadventures involving yakuza, foreigners, and ostensibly magical connections. The movie doubles down on the wonder of coincidence often found in Christmas flicks, offering it with a stylish animation that sidesteps cloying emotion.

Meet John Doe

Although Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life rightly gets much attention, his earlier film Meet John Doe is a notable seasonal film in its own right. With Gary Cooper as a down-on-his-luck "forgotten man" and Barbara Stanwyck as a plucky journalist, the story kicks off with a fabricated note from a man threatening to fall from a ledge on December 24th in protest. The public's embrace leads the journalist to recruit a man to play the mythical "John Doe," who then becomes a popular icon for community. The film functions as both an heartwarming fable and a brutal indictment of wealthy businessmen seeking to exploit public feeling for their own ends.

The Silent Partner

While holiday slasher pictures are now commonplace, the Christmas thriller remains a somewhat niche category. This makes the 1978 film The Silent Partner a unique delight. With a superbly sinister Christopher Plummer as a bank-robbing Santa Claus and Elliott Gould as a unassuming bank employee, the film pits two types of morally ambiguous oddballs against each other in a well-crafted and surprising yarn. Largely overlooked upon its original release, it merits a fresh look for those who prefer their Christmas entertainment with a dark tone.

The Almost Christmas

For those who prefer their Christmas gatherings dysfunctional, Almost Christmas is a blast. With a impressive ensemble that has Danny Glover, Mo'Nique, and JB Smoove, the movie delves into the dynamics of a family forced to share five days under one home during the holidays. Hidden dramas rise to the surface, resulting in situations of high farce, such as a confrontation where a weapon is brandished. Of course, the narrative reaches a satisfying resolution, offering all the enjoyment of a holiday catastrophe without any of the personal cleanup.

Go

Doug Liman's 1999 feature Go is a Christmas-themed tale that serves as a young-adult take on crisscrossing stories. Although some of its edginess may feel of its time upon rewatch, the movie nonetheless offers plenty aspects to savor. These range from a cool turn from Sarah Polley to a captivating appearance by Timothy Olyphant as a laid-back drug dealer who amusingly wears a Santa hat. It represents a very brand of fin-de-siècle film attitude set against a Christmas scene.

Miracle at Morgan's Creek

The satirist's wartime comedy The Miracle of Morgan's Creek skips typical seasonal sentimentality in exchange for irreverent comedy. The story is about Betty Hutton's Trudy Kockenlocker, who discovers she is pregnant after a hazy night but cannot identify the soldier involved. A lot of the fun stems from her predicament and the devotion of Eddie Bracken's hapless Norval Jones to help her. While not obviously a Christmas film at the start, the story culminates on the Christmas, making clear that Sturges has crafted a clever interpretation of the Christmas story, loaded with his characteristic witty style.

The Film Better Off Dead

This 1985 youth movie featuring John Cusack, Better Off Dead, is a quintessential example of its time. Cusack's