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An American Christmas Carol
Image Entertainment, 1979
Directed by Eric Till
Delightful take on the Charles Dickens classic sets the tale in Depression-era New England. Henry Winkler plays the miserly Scrooge; David Wayne and Dorian Harewood also star. 100 min.
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Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Disney, 1997
Directed by Andy Knight
Belle is still trying to win over the Beast and decides that bringing Christmas to the castle will be the way to do it.
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The Bells of St. Mary's
Rainbow Productions/RKO, 1945
Directed by Leo McCarey
Bing Crosby reprises his "Going My Way" role of dedicated priest Father O'Malley, who faces a challenge when he's sent to shore up a financially troubled parish and enters a battle of wits with strong-willed nun Ingrid Bergman. With Henry Travers. 126 min.
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Beyond Tomorrow
(aka Beyond Christmas)
RKO, 1940
Directed by A. Edward Sutherland
Three well-to-do elderly men without families of their own invite a rodeo performer and a kindergarten teacher to a holiday dinner. The young couple fall in love, but when the trio of beneficiaries die in a plane crash, their spirits return to help the romance along in this charming fantasy. Richard Carlson, Jean Parker, Charles Winninger, C. Aubrey Smith star. 84 min.
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The Bishop's Wife
MGM/UA, 1948
Directed by Henry Koster
Delightful comedy starring Cary Grant as a suave angel who comes to Earth to help distraught young bishop David Niven raise money for a new cathedral and soothe over his wife's neglected feelings. Also stars Loretta Young, Monty Woolley and James Gleason. 109 min.
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A Charlie Brown Christmas
Paramount, 1965
Directed by Bill Melendez
This television classic features the Peanuts characters in the story of Charlie Brown's problematic efforts to mount a school Christmas pageant. Everybody's on board: Lucy, Snoopy, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, but the biggest impression is surely made by Linus, who stops the show with his recitation from the gospels of the story of Christ's birth.
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A Christmas Carol
Turner Home Video, 1999
Directed by David Hugh Jones
Patrick Stewart takes on the role of Dickens' Yuletide tightwad Ebenezer Scrooge, who receives a lesson in the Christmas spirit from some ghostly do-gooders, in this faithfully rendered film that's sure to become a holiday favorite. 93 min.
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A Christmas Carol
20th Century-Fox, 1984
Directed by Clive Donner
A marvelous performance by George C. Scott as repentant pinchpenny Ebenezer Scrooge fuels this acclaimed adaptation of Dickens' beloved holiday fable. The stellar cast also includes David Warner, Susannah York, Frank Finlay, Edward Woodward and Nigel Davenport. 100 min.
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A Christmas Carol
United Home, 1951
Directed by Brian Desmond Hurst
Alastair Sim's tour-de-force performance as the ultimate Christmas grouch, Ebenezer Scrooge, highlights this beloved version of the Charles Dickens story. The peevish pinchpurse learns the error of his unkind ways when he is taught the true meaning of the holidays by the ghost of his late partner and the spirits of Christmas past, present and future. Meryvn Johns, Michael Hordern, and Glyn Dearman as Tiny Tim co-star. Includes both the original black-and-white and the newly colorized versions. 86 min.
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A Christmas Carol
MGM, 1938
Directed by Edwin L. Marin
Classic version of the holiday favorite. Reginald Owen stars as Ebenezer Scrooge, the skinflint whose very soul is in danger unless he can learn the true spirit of Christmas. Gene Lockhart stars as Bob Cratchit, and Leo G. Carroll plays Marley's ghost. Truly a fine holiday treat for all. 69 min.
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Christmas in Connecticut
1945
Directed by Peter Godfrey
Wonderful holiday farce stars Barbara Stanwyck as a journalist out to make points with editor Sydney Greenstreet by inviting a war hero (Dennis Morgan) home for a family Christmas dinner. Now all she's gotta do is cobble together a family! Reginald Gardiner, S.Z. Sakall, Una O'Connor co-star. 101 min.
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A Christmas Past
Collection of Christmas silent films from the dawn of cinema
Includes D.W. Griffith's "A Trap for Santa" (1909), the Edison Studio's "A Winter Straw Ride" (1906), "A Christmas Accident" (1912), "The Adventures of the Wrong Santa Claus" (1914), "Santa Claus Vs. Cupid" (1915), "A Christmas Carol" (1910), and "The Night Before Christmas (1905, 9 min.); plus "A Holiday Pageant At Home" (1901, 5 min.), and "Santa Claus" (1925)
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Christmas Vacation
Warner, 1989
Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik
It's hilarious holiday havoc for Chevy Chase and his brood, as the Griswolds' plans for an old-fashioned family Christmas go up in smoke (just like their cat!) when a horde of boorish relatives descend upon their home. Comedic carol of calamities also stars Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Brian Doyle-Murray, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Juliette Lewis. 97 min.
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Frosty the Snowman
Rankin/Bass Productions, 1969
Directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr.
When Frosty the Snowman comes to life, he must weather a storm of adventures and the dastardly plans of an evil magician before he can find safety and happiness at the North Pole. 22 min.
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Going My Way
Paramount Pictures, 1944
Directed by Leo McCarey
Bing Crosby is an Irish Catholic priest whose progressive views are challenged within his new parish. With a smile on his face and a song in his heart, can Der Bingle win over a crusty elder father and the rest of his congregation? Charming multi-Oscar-winner (including Best Picture and Actor) co-stars Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh. 130 min.
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The Great Rupert
(aka A Christmas Wish), 1950
Directed by Irving Pichel
The Great Rupert is sci-fi pioneer George Pal's first feature film. Starring Jimmy Durante in one of his most memorable screen performances, "The Great Rupert" is the heart-warming tale of a loveable trained squirrel, a puppet animated through Pal's Academy Award-winning Puppetoon technique, who inadvertently helps a family of vaudeville performers who are down on their luck.
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Heidi
1937
Directed by Allan Dwan
Shirley Temple is the little Swiss orphan girl who reaches the heart of her gruff grandfather and teaches a crippled girlfriend to walk again in this classic version of Johanna Spyri's novel. With Jean Hersholt, Arthur Treacher, Helen Westley and Pauline Moore. Includes both the original black-and-white and the newly colorized versions. 88 min.
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Holiday Inn
1944
Directed by Mark Sandrich
Irving Berlin's musical trip through the calendar, "Holiday Inn," stars the "Old Groaner" as an entertainer who buys a country inn to relax--only to find his plans complicated by hoofer Fred Astaire's attempts to woo his lady. Includes the film debut of the hit song "White Christmas." 101 min.
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It's a Wonderful Life
1946
Directed by Frank Capra
Classic comedy/drama that is the quintessential Frank Capra film. James Stewart is a small-town banker who is driven by circumstances one Christmas Eve to consider suicide, only to be shown by neophyte angel Henry Travers what a difference his life has made. Tremendous cast includes Donna Reed, Thomas Mitchell, Lionel Barrymore and Ward Bond. Complete, uncut 130-minute version.
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The Lemon Drop Kid
1951
Directed by Frank Tashlin and Sidney Lanfield
When racetrack tout Bob Hope finds himself in hot water with the mob, he hits upon a fast money-making racket: phony Santa Clauses collecting for an "old folk's home." Fast-paced comedy, from Damon Runyon's story, also stars Lloyd Nolan, William Frawley, Marilyn Maxwell. 91 min.
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The Little Drummer Boy
Rankin/Bass Productions (TV, 1968)
Directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr.
A lonely orphan, shunned by all and filled with sorrow, finds the true secret of happiness when he serenades a Bethlehem newborn on his tin drum. Greer Garson narrates this stop-action animation classic. 30 min.
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The Man Who Came to Dinner
Warner Bros./First National (1942)
Directed by William Keighley
While on a lecture tour in the midwest, acid-tongued radio celebrity Whiteside and his secretary (Bette Davis) accept a dinner invitation from the Stanleys, and ordinary, All-American family. But when Whiteside breaks his hip and must move in to recuperate, his eccentric lifestyle and oddball friends bring mayhem into the Stanleys' well-ordered lives.
Monty Woolley, Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan with Jimmy Durante, Richard Travis, Billie Burke, Reginald Gadiner.
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Meet Me in St. Louis
1944
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Charming Judy Garland stars in this captivating musical set in turn-of-the-century St. Louis and its World's Fair. Tom Drake is the boy of her dreams, Margaret O'Brien her precocious little sister. Songs include "The Trolley Song," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and the title song. 113 min.
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Miracle on 34th Street
1947
Directed by George Seaton
The perennial holiday film classic about a Macy's department store Santa Claus who insists he's the real item. Edmund Gwenn stars in his Academy Award-winning role of "Kris Kringle," Maureen O'Hara plays a doubting store executive, Natalie Wood is her daughter, and John Payne is the lawyer who defends Gwenn in court. 96 min.
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Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
Sony Music, 1962
Directed by Abe Levitow
Animated, magical musical version of Charles Dickens' fable has Magoo as Ebenezer Scrooge, a meanie who finally learns the true value of Christmas. You'll meet Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and the rest of the cast in this great favorite. With the voice talents of Jim Backus, Morey Amsterdam, Jack Cassidy, Royal Dano, Paul Frees and Joan Gardner. 52 min.
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The Muppet Christmas Carol
1992
Directed by Brian Henson
The Charles Dickens Yuletide classic gets "muppetized" in this musical extravaganza that stars Michael Caine as mean-spirited Ebeneezer Scrooge and Muppet favorites Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear tackling the story's other lead roles. Songs by Paul Williams. 85 min.
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Pocketful of Miracles
MGM/UA, 1961
Directed by Frank Capra
Frank Capra's final film is a hilarious translation of a Damon Runyon tale set in 1930s New York, as gangster Glenn Ford repays street peddler Bette Davis for her "good luck" apples by passing her off as a well-to-do society lady for her visiting daughter (Ann-Margret in her film debut). Remake of Capra's 1933 "Lady for a Day" co-stars Peter Falk and Hope Lange. 136 min.
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Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rankin/Bass Productions, (TV, 1964)
Directed by Kizo Nagashima and Larry Roemer
Christmas is almost canceled because of a fierce storm. Rudolph saves the day with his glowing nose, guiding Santa's sleigh through the snow. Burl Ives narrates. 47 min.
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Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
Rankin/Bass Productions, (TV, 1970)
Directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr.
Fred Astaire narrates this stop-action animation version of the Kris Kringle legend which tells how the jolly fellow met his future bride, started a workshop managed by elves and came to be known as "Santa Claus" by the world's grateful children. 55 min.
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Scrooge
1970
Directed by Ronald Neame
Albert Finney shines in this delightful musical based on Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol." Finney stars in the title role as the archetypical miser who has a change of heart when visited by a quartet of Yuletide spectres. Alec Guinness, Edith Evans and Kenneth More also star. 114 min.
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Scrooge
1935
Directed by Henry Edwards
An early British rendition of Dickens' classic tale. Sir Seymour Hicks co-wrote the screenplay and stars in the title role, and the excellent supporting cast includes Maurice Evans, Robert Cochran and Mary Glynne. 78 min.
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Scrooged
1988
Directed by Richard Donner
That irrepressible little Dickens, Bill Murray, stars in this riotous reworking of "A Christmas Carol" as a commercial, callous TV exec who receives laugh-packed lessons in having holiday spirit from some antagonistic apparitions! Gonzo cast includes John Forsythe, Karen Allen, Carol Kane, Bobcat Goldthwait, David Johansen, many others. 111 min.
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The Shop Around the Corner
1940
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Classic Ernst Lubitsch charmer stars James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan as co-working clerks that can't stand one another...but don't realize that they're anonymous lonely hearts penpals. Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut star in this beloved comedy. 99 min.
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Silent Night
(Canada) 2002
Directed by Rodney Gibbons
Inspiring family drama stars Linda Hamilton as a WWII German mother who finds refuge with her son during the Christmas season in a remote cabin in the woods. When their shelter is invaded by three American G.I.s and a trio of German soldiers, Hamilton tries to convince the men to forget the hostilities long enough to share a holiday dinner. Romano Orzari, Martin Neufeld also star. 90 min.
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White Christmas
1954
(aka Irving Berlin's White Christmas)
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Timeless holiday classic stars Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as a pair of merry veterans who become famous song-and-dance men after World War II. Soon, the duos join forces with singing sisters Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen to help save their former army general's Vermont inn. Beloved Irving Berlin score includes "Blue Skies," "Sisters," "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep," the title track, and more. 120 min.
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