Holiday Inn – 1942
Christmas can’t begin until Bing Crosby sings ‘White Christmas’, and he is joined here by a bevy of famous faces from the 1940’s movie world. Jim Hardy (Crosby) and Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire) have performed together for many years. But when Ted announces that he and Jim’s girlfriend, dancer Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale) are in love, Jim decides the time has come to retire.
Unable to settle down to a quiet farming life, Jim opens a part time inn called Holiday Inn, bringing old love rival Ted back into his life as well as the beautiful singer Linda Dixon. Can Jim prevent history from repeating itself?
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It’s a Wonderful Life – 1946
Perhaps the most well known Christmas film from the era, if not the most famous Christmas of all time ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ follows the trials and tribulations of George Bailey (James Cagney). Alone on a bridge on Christmas Eve after a catastrophic business failure, George feels that his wife (Donna Reed) and children would be better off without him. But everything changes when he is joined by Clarence, claiming to be an angel visiting from heaven.
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Miracle on 34th Street – 1947
Is there really such a thing as Father Christmas? A perennial family favourite at Christmas, ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ has seen four remakes since the original in 1947, and has even been made into a successful Broadway musical.
When a man calling himself Kris Kringle(Edmund Gwen) is employed to play Santa at a large store in town, the lives of cynical events director Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara) and her daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) are turned upside down. After Kris Kringle is committed to Bellevue Mental Health Hospital, Fred Gailey (John Payne) offers to represent him at a court hearing that could secure his release. Can Kris and his lawyer prove that Santa Clause is real and save the true meaning of Christmas?
Available on Amazon Prime, and to rent or buy on YouTube