A Festive Showcase: Discovering Underrated Holiday Movies

A factor that bothers concerning a lot of modern Christmas features is their insistent meta-commentary – the gaudy decorations, the predictable music selections, and the canned speeches about the true meaning of the season. Maybe because the style was not yet ossified into formula, movies from the 1940s often tackle Christmas from increasingly creative and not as obsessive angles.

The Fifth Avenue Happening

A favorite discovery from exploring 1940s Christmas fare is It Happened on Fifth Avenue, a 1947 romantic farce with a brilliant hook: a cheerful hobo spends the winter in a vacant luxurious townhouse each year. During one cold spell, he brings in fellow down-on-their-luck individuals to reside with him, including a ex-soldier and a runaway who happens to be the daughter of the mansion's affluent proprietor. Filmmaker Roy Del Ruth infuses the picture with a makeshift family coziness that numerous newer Christmas movies struggle to achieve. This story expertly occupies the space between a socially aware story on shelter and a charming city romance.

Godfathers in Tokyo

The late filmmaker's 2003 tragicomedy Tokyo Godfathers is a fun, sad, and thoughtful version on the festive tale. Inspired by a classic Hollywood picture, it follows a triumvirate of homeless individuals – an drinker, a transgender woman, and a teenage runaway – who find an abandoned infant on Christmas Eve. Their mission to reunite the child's family unleashes a chain of unexpected events involving yakuza, immigrants, and ostensibly fateful encounters. The movie celebrates the magic of fate often found in Christmas flicks, delivering it with a stylish aesthetic that avoids overly sweet feeling.

Introducing John Doe

Although Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life rightly gets much acclaim, his earlier film Meet John Doe is a powerful Christmas film in its own right. Starring Gary Cooper as a down-on-his-luck "forgotten man" and Barbara Stanwyck as a resourceful reporter, the film starts with a fictional note from a man vowing to leap from a ledge on December 24th in despair. The people's response leads the reporter to hire a man to impersonate the mythical "John Doe," who subsequently becomes a popular icon for kindness. The film serves as both an heartwarming story and a brutal indictment of ultra-rich businessmen attempting to manipulate grassroots sentiment for their own ambitions.

The Silent Partner

Whereas Christmas horror films are now plentiful, the holiday crime caper remains a relatively rare style. This makes the 1978 gem The Silent Partner a unique delight. Featuring a superbly menacing Christopher Plummer as a criminal Santa Claus and Elliott Gould as a unassuming bank employee, the film pits two types of opportunistic characters against each other in a sleek and twisty tale. Mostly ignored upon its first debut, it deserves rediscovery for those who enjoy their holiday stories with a cold atmosphere.

Almost Christmas

For those who like their Christmas gatherings messy, Almost Christmas is a blast. With a stellar ensemble that features Danny Glover, Mo'Nique, and JB Smoove, the story delves into the dynamics of a household compelled to share five days under one house during the Christmas season. Secret dramas bubble to the surface, leading to situations of extreme humor, including a showdown where a firearm is pulled out. Naturally, the narrative finds a satisfying conclusion, offering all the enjoyment of a holiday disaster without any of the actual consequences.

Go

The director's 1999 movie Go is a Yuletide-themed story that functions as a youthful take on crisscrossing narratives. Although some of its humor may feel dated upon a modern viewing, the picture nonetheless contains several aspects to savor. These range from a cool role from Sarah Polley to a captivating performance by Timothy Olyphant as a laid-back pusher who fittingly dons a Santa hat. It embodies a very style of 1990s film attitude set against a holiday scene.

Miracle at Morgan's Creek

The famed director's wartime film The Miracle of Morgan's Creek forgoes typical holiday sentimentality in return for cheeky comedy. The story is about Betty Hutton's Trudy Kockenlocker, who finds herself expecting after a wild night but cannot recall the man involved. A lot of the comedy stems from her situation and the attempts of Eddie Bracken's simping Norval Jones to marry her. Although not explicitly a holiday film at the beginning, the narrative climaxes on the Christmas, revealing that Sturges has crafted a clever take of the birth narrative, packed with his signature sharp edge.

The Film Better Off Dead

This 1985 adolescent movie featuring John Cusack, Better Off Dead, is a quintessential specimen of its era. Cusack's