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Radio,
Film & Television
Radio & Television
. Our
Votes for ...
The Best Classic Christmas Shows  | Charlie
Brown & Linus
Ponder the Meaning of Christmas |
As
we've been doing here and there in our second year of publishing DownStreet,
this article comes from our first year's features. We set out last year to
vote {among ourselves} for the best Christmas shows of all time. And,
after a little argument and rebuttal, and a lot of laughs, we landed on our
list. In the intervening year, we didn't see anything that
would take the honors away from any of our top ten. So here, once again,
are our votes for The Best Classic Christmas Shows of all time. *******
*******
A Charlie Brown
Christmas is at the top of our list of favorites. Why? Well, we
could point to the fact that the cast is made up entirely of kids. Or we
could point to the breezy piano score. But neither of those are the
reasons. It's at the top of our list because, in this world
of children and a couple of strange animals -- more than in any other Christmas
world we're invited to enter -- both Christmas and the characters come across as
something other than the usual formula. ... The characters are who
they've been all the rest of the year. They are not magically transformed
by some epiphany. And they aren't portrayed, especially the always noisome
Lucy, for example, as little angels whose biggest problem is their parents'
unbelief. Nope. Charlie Brown, Lucy & Linus, Schroeder, Pig-pen,
Patty ... even Snoopy -- all of them enter the holiday exactly as they enter the
rest of life. ... And yet ... And yet, for all
that, they are transformed. They don't get to find an absolute and
unshakeable meaning. But they come to some kind of understanding, and some
sort of acceptance about things ... perhaps even some kind of peace.
... We'll miss Charles Schultz. But we'll long be grateful for one
of the best Christmas presents of all -- A Charlie Brown Christmas. Our
Votes for the Best Classic Christmas Shows of All Time
We're not out
to be hip here, or offer up some offbeat choices. We're simply trying to
be honest about what stirs us in a good way for the holiday season. Also,
while we could've included more modern films, and while many of them are good in
their own right, we were basing our choices on the ones that seemed to us to
come closest to 'the meaning' of the holiday. So ...
Accuse us of being schmaltzy if you like. Nevertheless, here our choices
stand, and here, we stand by them. ... A
Charlie Brown Christmas ... {See above.} Director: Bill
Melendez. 1965.. It's
a Wonderful Life ... We like this one for some of the same reasons
we like the story of A Charlie Brown Christmas ... but also because
we just plain like the cast, too ... Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel
Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell ... and, let's not forget, director Frank
Capra. It manages to take on the all-too-often-trite message of 'count
your blessings', but it does it in a way that's genuinely dramatic rather
than a formula. Beyond that, the character of George gets to wax
eloquent and dream, fall and, before being lifted up, be guided by a rather
inebriated-looking angel. Plus, he gets to do it all in the company of
a Donna Reed we wish had been the mom on the '60's TV show. Director: Frank
Capra {It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Arsenic
and Old Lace, Pocketful of Miracles [see below]}. 1946.. Scrooge
... There are other versions of the Dickens classic we've liked,
even a lot ... for example, the 1984 offering with George C. Scott, or last
year's production with Patrick Stuart. But to our mind, the best of
them is this one, partly because it stays closer to the 19th century tone
& spirit, but mostly because of the acting of Alistair Sim. Sim
chalked up some 60-plus films over the course of his long career, which also
included numerous West End Theatre credits. But the way he lets us
feel the blessed relief of the old curmudgeon on the morning after, the
tenderness with which he looks upon his nephew's betrothed after his
conversion ... Well ... Sim and this production get our top Dicken's
spot. Director: Brian Desmond Hurst. 1951.. Michael
... If this one had been more overtly about Christmas, it might've
climbed the list. But ever since Christmas releases could be just
about anything, Michael not only comes closest to the spirit of the
season, it comes close to being one of the best of any of the holiday genre
films. We were never particularly impressed with the young Travolta.
But we've liked just about everything the resurrected, mature version of him
has taken on. And Andie MacDowell. Well, if Groundhog Day
had been a Xmas flick, she might have had two entries. {In fact,
there's a third, with a Xmas theme, but none of us could remember the title,
and were unable to track it down. Any ideas -- other than more ginko?}
And, of course, there's the ever-brooding William Hurt. This flick is
solid, fun, curious, and even just a little bit contemplative.
Director: Nora Ephron. 1996. Miracle on 34th
Street ... Ok. You think this one is at least a little
over the top. And maybe it is. But the story-line is timeless
enough so that even an episode of Ally McBeal saw fit to use it,
almost unadulterated. Nor is it the otherwise adorable presence of
Natalie Wood as a child that grabs us. Nope. The center of the
film for us is the tension between Doris Walker {Maureen O'Hara} and Fred
Gailey {John Payne, who we're especially fond of from the film of a year
earlier, Sentimental Journey}. Add to that the wonderful scene
when Kris Kringle {Edmund Gwenn} is ordered to see the company shrink at
Macy's, Mr. Shellhammer {Philip Tonge} ... and the results ... Well, we're
convinced this one's worth a look each and every year. Director:
George Seaton. 1947. The Nightmare Before
Christmas ... Christmas with a Halloween twist, from Tim
Burton's poem. Director: Henry Selick. 1993.
. The
Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe ... First part of C.S.
Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, which begins in a land where it's
"always winter, but never Christmas." TV. Director:
Marilyn Fox. 1988. The Dead ...
Ok. So maybe we're cheating a bit here. But otherwise this
story-based film, which begins in a Christmas setting, might've made
#1. From the James Joyce story of the same name. And her
father-director got an amazing performance from Angelica Huston.
Director: John Huston {his last film}. 1987. How
the Grinch Stole Christmas ... The original animated Grinch.
TV. Director: Chuck Jones. 1966.. Pocketful
of Miracles ... Bette Davis as boozed-up Apple Annie. A sort
of Wonderful Life meets My Fair Lady. With a great cast,
including Glenn Ford, Arthur O'Connell, Hope Lange, Peter Falk, Thomas
Mitchell {again}, Edward Everett Horton, Sheldon Leonard, and the then-young
Ann-Margret. Director: Frank Capra. 1961.
.. *******
******* If you would like to submit something for our
Radio & television feature, or if you simply would like to suggest something
you think we ought to cover, e-mail us at ... radiofilmtv@downstreetmagazine.com. *******
******* If you would like to advertise in this
section, or throughout the magazine, please visit our Advertising
Info Pages ... or call, write, or e-mail ads@downstreetmagazine.com. *******
*******
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