A Holiday Tour de Force: Uncovering Hidden Gem Holiday Pictures

A factor that bothers me about a lot of present-day Christmas movies is their overly self-awareness – the gaudy decor, the formulaic soundtrack choices, and the clichéd speeches about the true meaning of the festive period. Perhaps because the style was not ossified into formula, pictures from the 1940s often explore the holidays from increasingly imaginative and less obsessive angles.

The Affair on Fifth Avenue

An delightful find from sifting through 1940s seasonal comedies is It Happened on Fifth Avenue, a 1947 romantic farce with a clever premise: a jovial vagrant takes up residence in a unoccupied posh townhouse each year. That season, he welcomes fellow down-on-their-luck individuals to stay with him, including a veteran and a runaway who happens to be the heiress of the home's rich landlord. Filmmaker Roy Del Ruth imbues the movie with a surrogate family coziness that most modern Christmas films have to labor to achieve. This story beautifully balances a socially aware narrative on shelter and a whimsical urban fairytale.

The Tokyo Godfathers

Satoshi Kon's 2003 feature Tokyo Godfathers is a entertaining, heartbreaking, and thoughtful interpretation on the Christmas tale. Drawing from a classic Hollywood movie, it tells the story of a group of homeless souls – an drinker, a trans character, and a young runaway – who come across an left-behind newborn on the night before Christmas. Their journey to locate the infant's mother sets off a series of hijinks involving gangsters, immigrants, and seemingly fateful encounters. The movie embraces the wonder of chance frequently found in seasonal stories, delivering it with a cool-toned aesthetic that sidesteps saccharine sentiment.

Meet John Doe

Although Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life rightly receives much praise, his earlier film Meet John Doe is a notable seasonal film in its own right. Starring Gary Cooper as a down-on-his-luck drifter and Barbara Stanwyck as a plucky writer, the film starts with a fictional note from a man promising to fall from a building on December 24th in protest. The public's embrace leads the reporter to recruit a man to impersonate the mythical "John Doe," who then becomes a country-wide icon for community. The film serves as both an inspiring tale and a brutal indictment of powerful businessmen attempting to manipulate public feeling for their own ends.

A Silent Partner

While Christmas horror films are now plentiful, the holiday crime caper remains a strangely rare subgenre. This makes the 1978 gem The Silent Partner a unique discovery. With a wonderfully menacing Christopher Plummer as a bank-robbing Santa Claus and Elliott Gould as a unassuming bank employee, the movie pits two kinds of amoral individuals against each other in a sleek and surprising yarn. Mainly ignored upon its original release, it is worthy of new attention for those who like their Christmas films with a chilling tone.

Almost Christmas

For those who like their holiday gatherings dysfunctional, Almost Christmas is a blast. Featuring a stellar group that features Danny Glover, Mo'Nique, and JB Smoove, the story explores the strain of a household gathered to spend five days under one home during the Christmas season. Secret issues bubble to the surface, leading to scenes of over-the-top comedy, including a showdown where a weapon is produced. Ultimately, the story reaches a heartwarming ending, offering all the entertainment of a family disaster without any of the actual consequences.

Go

The director's 1999 movie Go is a Yuletide-adjacent story that serves as a youthful riff on crisscrossing stories. While some of its humor may feel of its time upon revisiting, the picture nonetheless offers several aspects to appreciate. These include a engaging performance from Sarah Polley to a standout performance by Timothy Olyphant as a laid-back pusher who appropriately sports a Santa hat. It embodies a very style of 1990s film vibe set against a Christmas scene.

Morgan's Creek Miracle

The satirist's 1940s farce The Miracle of Morgan's Creek rejects typical seasonal warmth in exchange for bawdy comedy. The film centers on Betty Hutton's Trudy Kockenlocker, who finds herself expecting after a hazy night but cannot remember the man involved. A lot of the comedy arises from her condition and the devotion of Eddie Bracken's lovestruck Norval Jones to marry her. Although not obviously a holiday film at the beginning, the plot climaxes on the holiday, making clear that Sturges has crafted a clever interpretation of the Christmas story, loaded with his signature satirical edge.

The Film Better Off Dead

This 1985 adolescent comedy featuring John Cusack, Better Off Dead, is a textbook artifact of its decade. Cusack's