Episode description
Watching a holiday movie is a great way to get into the spirit of the season and has become an annual tradition for many families. But what exactly makes a Christmas movie, a Christmas movie, what are some of the best ones ever made, and what makes these gems so classic?
Here to answer these questions and take us on a tour of the highlights of the holiday movie canon is Jeremy Arnold, a film historian and the author of Christmas in the Movies: 35 Classics to Celebrate the Season. Today on the show, we talk about what defines a Christmas movie, why we enjoy them so much, and why so many classics in the genre were released during the 1940s. Jeremy offers his take on the best version of A Chirstmas Carol, whether Holiday Inn or White Christmas is a better movie, why he thinks Die Hard is, in fact, a Christmas movie, what accounts for the staying power of Elf, and much more. At the end of the show, Jeremy offers several suggestions for lesser-known Christmas movies to check out when you’re tired of watching A Christmas Story for the fiftieth time.
Movies Mentioned in the Show- Santa Claus (1898)
- Scrooge (1901)
- Scrooge (1935)
- Miracle on Main Street (1939)
- Remember the Night (1940)
- The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
- Holiday Inn (1942)
- The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)
- Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
- It’s a Wonderful Life (1947)
- Scrooge/Christmas Carol (1951)
- We’re No Angels (1955)
- Cash on Demand (1961)
- Die Hard (1988)
- Home Alone (1990)
- Home Alone 2 (1992)
- The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
- Elf (2003)