Medieval christmas movies
10 Victorian Family Christmas Movies · Available to STREAM · Love's Christmas Journey () · Little House on Prairie: Merry Ingalls Christmas. The Knight Medieval christmas movies Christmas is a Christmas fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Monika Mitchell and written by Cara J. medieval knight. Brooke offers. The Knight Before Christmas After a sorceress transports medieval knight Sir Cole (Josh Whitehouse) to present-day. That's not to say the nostalgia died: festive turkeys Love, Actually () and The Holiday () offer much manufactured sentimentality, while.
The Top 35 Enchanting Christmas Period Dramas To Watch
Is in Bruges a Christmas movie? A biting, occasionally cruel, and tragic black comedy about two lonely hitmen might not be anyone's idea of a holly, jolly Christmas movie –alas, and against all odds, In Bruges is just that. Why? Well, for starters, it's set on Christmas. However, the film's holiday connections run deeper than just that.
What is the oldest Christmas movie? Santa Claus
Was Christmas a thing in medieval times? Though Christmas was certainly celebrated with great enthusiasm in medieval homes in England, the food served was not always different from what was eaten either on other feast days, like Easter and Whitsun.
What is the Christmas movie where he never existed? An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
What is a good old fashioned Christmas movie? A Christmas Carol (1951)
What are the top three most popular Christmas movies? Highest-grossing Christmas films
| Rank | Title | Gross |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Grinch | $538,920,602 |
| 2 | Home Alone | $476,684,675 |
| 3 | Alvin And The Chipmunks | $365,352,546 |
| 4 | Home Alone 2: Lost in New York | $358,994,850 |
Did they celebrate Christmas in the 1300s? But by the High Middle Ages (1000-1300) Christmas had become the most prominent religious celebration in Europe, signalling the beginning of Christmastide, or the Twelve Days of Christmas as they are more commonly known today.
How old is Santa? If you think, judging by that white beard and hair, Kris Kringle might be around 70 or 80, the truth is he's far, far older. According to History.com, the monk who over time would evolve into Santa Claus was born in what is now modern-day Turkey in 280 A.D., making him a whopping 1,741 years old!
Did Christmas exist in medieval times? In Reading and across medieval England, Christmas was celebrated with a full twelve days of holiday. This extended festival was marked by plenty of eating, drinking and playing as well as churchgoing. However, gift-giving played a much smaller role than it does in our Christmas today.
What was banned for Christmas in the Middle Ages? Although gift giving at Christmas was temporarily banned by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages due to its suspected pagan origins, it was soon popular again as the festive season in the Middle Ages became a time of excess dominated by a great feast, gifts for rich and poor and general indulgence in eating, drinking ...
What's the most iconic Christmas movie? 1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
What Christmas movie is set in medieval times? The Knight Before Christmas - Wikipedia.
What was Christmas like in the 1300s? While there were many holidays in the medieval European calendar, Christmas was a highlight with twelve days of celebrations. From the peasantry to the upper class, it was the longest holiday. People would not have to go to work, decorate their homes and spend time with loved ones.
What is the darkest Christmas movie? The 20 darkest Christmas movies
- 1 of 20. 'I'll Be Seeing You' (1944) United Artists. ...
- 2 of 20. 'It's a Wonderful Life' (1946) RKO. ...
- 3 of 20. 'Lady in the Lake' (1947) ...
- 4 of 20. 'Black Christmas' (1974) ...
- 5 of 20. 'Trading Places' (1983) ...
- 6 of 20. 'Silent Night, Deadly Night' (1984) ...
- 7 of 20. 'Gremlins' (1984) ...
- 8 of 20. 'Scrooged' (1988)
What is the top 10 best Christmas movie? Here are the best Christmas movies of all time.
- It's a Wonderful Life (1946) ...
- The Shop Around the Corner (1940) ...
- Eyes Wide Shut (1999) ...
- Edward Scissorhands (1990) ...
- Die Hard (1988) ...
- The Apartment (1960) ...
- Batman Returns (1992) ...
- Carol (2015) ©Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Coll / Everett Collection.
Best Period Dramas: Christmas Classics
PG 93 min Comedy, Family. TV 59 min Drama. It's Christmas-time and Miss Matty isn't sure it would appropriate to celebrate with friends and neighbors given the death of her sister. Mary Smith convinces her otherwise. Matty renews See full summary ».
Votes: Not Rated 55 min Drama, Family. Young Thomas is disappointed because it. But his spirits are soon lifted by his grandfather, who gives him a snow globe and recounts his own childhood Christmas memories. PG min Drama, Family, Fantasy. An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Votes: , TV 93 min Drama, Romance. Christmas Downton Abbey is hosting a lavish Christmas party, yet despite being the season of goodwill, tensions are rife and Bates' arrest has cast a shadow over the festivities. Votes: 2, Not Rated 93 min Action, Drama, Family. Anne was in love with Frederick, who was rejected by her snobby parents 8 years ago.
They've now hit hard times and rent out their mansion to his brother-in-law. He returns a Royal Navy captain. Will he remember Anne. Votes: 16, Emma Woodhouse, a wealthy young woman living in the early 19th century, whose misplaced confidence in her matchmaking abilities occasions several romantic misadventures, which leads her into deeper meanings of love and life.
Votes: 18, TV min Drama, Romance. Medieval christmas movies Young and beautiful Lara is loved by three men: a revolutionary, a mogul, and a doctor. Their lives become intertwined with the drama of Russian revolution. Doctor Zhivago is about to get Votes: 5, PG 83 min Drama, Family, Fantasy. Mary endeavors to build bridges with her sister while Edith's secret continues to pose a threat.
As Henry settles into the role of husband and stepfather, finding his place at Downton proves more difficult. TV 92 min Drama, Romance. Everyone is delighted as they fish, hunt, and dine. Unfortunately, when the Crawleys return, tragedy strikes. Will things ever be the same again. TV-PG 59 min Drama. Dramatization of Louisa May Alcott's novel about the lives of the four March sisters during the American Civil War as they learn to navigate love, loss, and the trials of growing up.
PG min Drama, Fantasy, Mystery. 
A burglar falls for an heiress as she dies in his arms. When he learns that he has the gift of reincarnation, he sets out to save her. PG min Drama, Family. A pastor who's suffered a personal loss accepts a position in a town that believes in a Christmas miracle candle, which he strives to abolish.
Beyond Christmas is a rare holiday treasure. This is the uplifting story of three elderly gentlemen who become the guardian angels of a kind couple they met at Christmastime. Before proceeding to Heaven, the spirits work behind the scenes to ensure that the couple's love will endure forever. Filled with heart and soul, this charming holiday classic is perfect for the Christmas season -- and beyond.
This is a beautifully colorized version of this heartwarming holiday film. Sensitive little drama of three wealthy men sharing Christmas with down-and-out Carlson and Parker, who fall in love. This is one of the most wonderful and unusual movies ever produced by Hollywood. Three elderly men make friends of a lonely young man and woman who fall in love and become engaged.
The three men die drastically in a plane crash, but become spiritual guides for this young couple as ghosts. The young man becomes a success as a singer, and soon lets success get to his head and ignores the girl he was going to marry. The young man gets shot and dies. The elderly ghost asks God to give the young man a second chance to live, to make amends with his true love, which God grants.
As you can tell, this is not a typical Hollywood movie. It deals with heaven, hell, and purgatory without mentioning the words. It's a very entertaining, sometimes humorous, and moving movie. This movie isn't for everybody, but this movie has a deep spiritual meaning that will touch many. Four children Two horse thieves One amazing adventure. Saddle up and get ready to ride on a daredevil rescue mission that's a holiday delight!
For four children in a small outback town, it's the last day of school and the first day of the Christmas season. So when they spy a pair of strangers hiding among the trees, they're too busy dreaming about the presents under their own tree to notice anything suspicious. But later that night, while the family is asleep, someone steals their father's prized horses.
And to make matters worse, Dad's so upset that he decides to cancel the holiday altogether. But there's one thing the thieves didn't count on: these kids aren't about to let anyone steal their Christmas joy. Now with their saddlebags stocked full of hilarious tricks and traps,the amateur detectives head for the hills determined to catch the bad guys, bring back the horses and save the spirit of the season!
Hit the trail for "humor, action and comedy" The Film Daily in this yuletide adventure that'll make every day seem like Christmas. Note: This is an odd kind of film - not very Christmasy at all and it is dated, especially in attitude toward the Aborigines, though the role of the girl is nice in that she makes for a strong and brave leader.
It is listed here as there aren't many Australian Christmas period films, and may be of interest to some. Nicole Kidman's first feature film role was in the remake of the film. Bush Christmas also known as Prince and the Great Race is another Australian Christmas drama film but the setting is more modern. Christmas Special : The midwives of London's Nonnatus House deliver more babies and drama during the festive period, in this Christmas special; based on the best-selling memoirs of Jennifer Worth.
Christmas is coming and the midwives of Nonnatus House are busier than ever. When an abandoned baby is discovered on the steps of the convent, the whole community rallies around to try and trace the mother. Cfp player props Meanwhile, Jenny Lee finds herself drawn into the mystery surrounding elderly local woman Mrs. Jenkins and Chummy is determined to stage an unforgettable nativity play.
Christmas Special : In Poplar, Christmas is not just about the opening of presents, but also about the closing of deep wounds. Wartime trials are relived - and a new enemy confronted - before peace and love are restored. Christmas Special : Rehearsals are underway for the Christmas Concert.
Chummy is enlisted to help run a poorly managed mother and baby home and succeeds in bringing some festive joy to the residents. Cynthia is drawn into a case concerning two former residents of a mental hospital who have been left to fend for themselves. There is but one question in all of their hearts - what will bring?
Christmas Special : Festive cheer is in plentiful supply as Poplar readies itself for Christmas. But it's a difficult time of year for grieving mother Iris; bringing back memories of her long departed baby daughter. As the community pull together to prepare for the televised carol concert, Nonnatus is rocked when Sister Monica Joan goes missing. Understaffed, underfunded, and with a poor water supply, struggling Hope Clinic is faced with closure.
Can our much loved medics and midwives make a difference to the people whose lives depend upon its work. About the series: Adapted by Heidi Thomas from the best-selling memoirs of Jennifer Worth, this drama series is a moving, funny, colorful look at midwifery and family in s East End London. It follows newly qualified midwife Jenny, who joins an eccentric, lovable community of nuns who are nurses at Nonnatus House.
Jenny is surprised to find herself at a convent -- she thought she was being sent to a small private hospital -- and is initially daunted by her surroundings, most notably the formidable Sister Evangelina and the unconventional Sister Monica Joan. But Jenny gradually begins to find her way and develops incredible friendships among the nurses, as they are drawn into the lives and homes of the women and families they treat.
Christmas Downton Abbey is hosting a lavish Christmas party, yet despite being the season of goodwill, tensions are rife and Bates' arrest has cast a shadow over the festivities. Will he be a condemned man or will he be found innocent in time to dance with his new wife at the annual servants' ball. Mary has to consider her future with Sir Richard Carlisle following a contretemps at the shooting party and Violet has concerns about Rosamund, whose new suitor - the dashing but raffish Lord Hepworth - is not all he seems.
The holiday is a mostly happy one—everyone is concerned about incarcerated Mr. Bates, and duly mopey Anna, but not enough to call off the present-giving, the feasting, and the games. Downstairs, games mean popping crackers, wearing paper crowns Vanity Fair. A food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas.
Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan star in Christmas in Connecticut , a romantic comedy set during the holidays at wartime. Every month she details her domestic triumphs from the idyllic setting of her farm in Connecticut. Touted as the "greatest cook in the country," she seems to have it all - a beautiful home, a happy husband, an adorable baby and of course, plenty of livestock.
Elizabeth Lane is a role model to millions of readers who turn to her every month for guidance and inspiration. One such reader is wartime hero, Jefferson Jones, played by Morgan. Medieval christmas movies Lost at sea for many days without food, he dreams of elaborate meals such as those described in Lane's column. As a promotional stunt for the magazine, the publisher arranges for Jones to spend the holidays at Lane's farm.
Sydney Greenstreet, more commonly associated with films noir than light comedies, plays the role of publishing magnate, Alexander Yardley. Yardley is so enthused with the idea of a war hero coming "home" for the holidays that he decides to join the festivities on the farm. The only hitch is that there is no actual farm, house, husband, child or livestock, for that matter.
All of the material in Lane's monthly column comes from one place - her imagination. And of course, it is this same source that she must draw upon in order to continue the elaborate charade without losing her job. In the s the children living in the Irongates Orphanage devise a plan to make Rose happy on Christmas after she is punished.
In a town not so far away and a time not so long ago, baby Rose was left at Greenwoods Orphanage, where Mrs. But when tragedy strikes Rose Bailee Johnson loses the only home she has ever known and is abruptly shipped to Irongates — a place that seems as cold and cruel as her previous home was kind. The strict headmaster, Mr.
Crampton Edward Herrmann , immediately seems to dislike Rose — and makes sure all children are punished for any infractions of his rules. When she learns that every Christmas Mr. However, on Christmas morning, Rose is devastated when she learns Mr. Crampton is punishing her again. But Christmas is a time of miracles. Share a slice of Christmas sweetened with friendship in this poignant Christmas story based on a classic holiday tale.
A beautiful Christmas film with a timeless message. Lovingly crafted, well-acted, and told with warmth and tenderness. A collection of nine enchanting silent films, A Christmas Past offers a nostalgic peek into the Yuletide pleasures of the early s. Evoking the Victorian charm of Currier and Ives prints, these picturesque comedies and tender dramas were produced as cinematic Christmas cards offered to moviegoers of the silent era.
Included in this collection of archival rarities, most of which were produced at Thomas Edison's studios, are the version of Dicken's immortal A Christmas Carol, a heartwarming melodrama by D. Christmas doesn't come any more old-fashioned than in this inspired collection of vintage holiday films from the silent era.
Amidst the melodramas D. The "Santa Claus" combines magical images of Santa's workshop elves with thrilling documentary footage of icy Alaskan landscapes and herds of wild arctic creatures, and the "A Christmas Carol" condenses the Dickens classic into 10 minutes by layering all the ghosts and memories into one brief but visually imaginative scene.
The delightful "A Winter Straw Ride" transforms into a snowball free-for-all to celebrate the giddy antics of adults reverting to childhood innocence. Al Kryszak's new, melancholy score for strings and harp is often lovely but out of place amidst the cheer and holiday celebration of the films. Note: These are not period dramas in the way we think of them now, but these silent Christmas themed short films that were originally made by the Edison Company between and and the earlier ones were among the first Christmas dramas.
This Finnish-language period fantasy dubbed in English tells the story of the altruistic giver St. Nicholas, the man who became Santa Claus in myth and legend - and whose life, shown here childhood on, radiates with messages of selflessness and friendship. Many years ago, in Lapland, a boy named Nikolas is orphaned when his family are killed in an accident.
The heads of the families in the village meet to decide his future and, as life in the arctic is difficult, it is decided that as no one family could care for him permanently, they would raise him communally, with each family taking him for one year and then moving him on to the next. Grateful, Nikolas begins whittling toys out of wood as a gift which, each Christmas, he leaves for the family that cared for him.
It becomes a tradition from then, with Nikolas never forgets the children of those families that received him each year. When a blight hits the village, and none of the families can afford to take him in for the next year, he is taken in by grumpy hermit Iisakki as his carpenter's apprentice. Iisakki works him hard but Nikolas is clever and quick to learn, and Iisakki gradually grows to love Nikolas as his own son.
Nikolas begins to live more and more for the spirit of Christmas with each passing year and it becomes his life and as he grows old he becomes the figure known as Santa Claus. Filmed in Levi and Utsjoki, Laplan. A heartwarming family film concerning the exploits of two French nuns who come to America, setting up operations in a local stable, in order to raise money for a children's hospital.
A Christmastime TV perennial, Come to the Stable is the gentle saga of two French nuns Celeste Holm with accent, Loretta Young without who come to America in hopes of raising funds for a children's hospital. Travelling to a small New England town presciently named Bethlehem, the nuns befriend eccentric painter Elsa Lanchester, who allows them to use her studio actually a stable for their base of operations.
Utterly ingenuous when it comes to American mores and customs they tear up a parking ticket, assuming it to be an advertisement , the sisters raise money in a variety of amusing fashions. One of their "agents" is outwardly tough gambler Thomas Gomez, who gives them the land they need and a cash contribution, to the astonishment of his equally raffish pals who also kick in. And towards the end, the nuns even play a little professional tennis to raise money.
Careful not to overwhelm the viewer with sentiment and religiosity, Come to the Stable based on a story by Clare Booth Luce is ideal holiday film fare. Part 1 of Return to Cranford begins in August, Part 2 begins in October and closes on a snowy Christmas when the ladies of Cranford celebrate with games, songs, and heart-warming stories.
Change is racing towards the small, close-knit village of Cranford like a steam train — quite literally. As the railroad continues to encroach at the edge of town, Cranford strives to open to new realities, from surprising romances to unexpected losses and even waltzing. Forrester Julia McKenzie and Mrs. Jamieson Barbara Flynn are back with other distinguished residents of Cranford, along with one well-outfitted and mischievous cow.
When a shocking event seemingly derails Cranford from its innocence, can a bit of magic and faith in enduring friendships save the day. The two-part saga Return to Cranford opens to a struggling Cranford, a traditional English village that in autumn is airing the conflicts that accompany progress. Miss Matty Jenkyns Judi Dench , after having closed her business in the last series, is happily babysitting the child of her maid, Martha Claudie Blakley.
This gives the ladies in town something to gossip about, as does every other small event in this chatty group. In Part One, Peggy, visiting her dead father's grave, bumps into William Baxton Tom Hiddleston , a young and dapper gentleman who becomes a central character in Cranford's growing divide between those who want a railroad coming through town and those who don't.
While politics are sorted, scenes alternate between heated public debates and intimate domestic exchanges to make Return to Cranford as charming as the first incarnations of this historical drama. The emphasis on the ways the women in town navigate thorny social situations remains primary in Return to Cranford.
Babies are born and the elderly pass away while the ladies busily decide what to make of it all. While Part One focuses on catch-up, showing where each crone stands on the latest current events, Part Twoattempts more to challenge outmoded cultural values such as elitism andto show how the community members toughen up to become a courageous bunch.
Unfortunately, Miss Matty discovers that solidarity is hard to come by in this small village, and Part Two is as much about a town falling apart as it is about ways to heal sore feelings and a violated landscape. Ultimately, life marches on in this pleasurably fictionalized glimpse into England's past.
It is very much a holiday pudding Note: Episode Three of Cranford, set in also has some Christmas scenes. Breaking free of the overbearing influence of her mother Penelope Wilton , Queen Victoria gradually comes into her own as a ruler. Falling for her first cousin, Albert Jonathan Firth , Victoria marries the handsome prince, but he struggles with his lack of authority.
Eventually, Albert is given more duties, which only helps Victoria's decades-long reign. Set within the fictional realms of Charles Dickens' novels, Dickensian brings together some of literature's most iconic characters, including Scrooge, Fagin and Miss Havisham, as their lives intertwine in 19th century London.
Learn more here. Complete with spirited bonus features, this exhilarating and touching Disney classic is destined to be part of your holiday tradition, adding sparkle and heart to all your Christmases yet to come. Fans of Robert Zemeckis's brilliant special effects, and of Jim Carrey's transformative acting abilities, will be swept away by their collaboration in the stunning A Christmas Carol.
Perhaps more surprising is that Charles Dickens purists will also be impressed and captivated by this version of the oft-told tale--which is dark, complex, and in its way, uncompromising. Which is all to say that this Christmas Carol is an instant holiday classic, easily taking its place alongside the Alistair Sim version, the Patrick Stewart version, and even the Mr.
Magoo version of the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his ultimate holiday redemption. Carrey is dazzling as not only Scrooge, the most miserable, and miserly, man in 19th-century England, but as the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Future. As with The Polar Express, Zemeckis animates the film over the actors' physical performances onscreen, but here, the emotion is intact--even heightened by the brilliant effects.
The emotional connection Carrey makes with his characters is what brings Dickens's classic alive--and what connects the viewer with the true spirit of the holidays. Parents need to know that, unlike The Polar Express, this Robert Zemeckis adaptation of a classic holiday tale is too intense both visually and in content for families with very young children.
At its heart, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is a ghost story, and not only are the many spirits very creepy at times, but the 3-D technology makes certain scenes -- as when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come's red-eyed black stallions jump out at the audience -- all the scarier.
And the realistic nature of the motion capture technology often makes the movie seem more like live action and thus more intense than animation. But on the other hand, the language is mild British slang like "bugger" and "blast" and the drinking limited to Christmas toasts.
And the messages are all quite positive, as Ebenezer Scrooge's Jim Carrey transformation is one of literature's ultimate stories of redemption and hope, even in the bleakest of times. Although Jane Austen's Emma has been adapted for the screen many times before, including for an American version starring Gwyneth Paltrow, this four-part miniseries is the version to begin with.
The story of Miss Woodhouse, a matchmaker and meddler whose wit and misdirection need to be carefully acted to match the novel's complex character, is perfectly expressed through Romola Garai's portrayal. Throughout the retelling of this comedic romantic drama, Garai not only conveys Emma's strong-willed sensibility but also manages to update Emma for modern audiences without relinquishing the traditional manners and tastes that Austen fans love in her historical tale.
Each episode, here, opens with a seasonal shot of Hartfield, the estate Emma rules while caring for her loyal and kind but protective father Michael Gambon. Having lost her mother early, Emma feels a bond with two other unfortunate children in Highbury, Frank Churchill Rupert Evans and Jane Fairfax Laura Pyper , whom Emma befriends as they return home from boarding schools abroad.
The casting of the lead is critical, but some of the most memorable Emmas owe much of their success to secondary characters. Gambon does not disappoint. Best Actor winner Bing Crosby shines as Father O'Malley, a young priest new to an established but financially flailing parish. When his philosophies conflict with those of curmudgeonly Father Fitzgibbon Best Supporting Actor winner Barry Fitzgerald , the result is a timeless story of patience, compromise and - just maybe - understanding.
For "Going My Way" is the story—rich, warm and human to the core—of a progressive young Catholic priest who matches his wits and his ideas with those of the elderly pastor of a poor parish—a parish which the young priest is tacitly sent to conduct. It is the story of new versus old customs, of traditional age versus youth.
And it is a story of human relations in a simple, sentimental, honest vein. The movie's warmth owed much to the wonderful performance of Barry Fitzgerald Best Actor in a Supporting Role , as the lovable and respectable elderly Father Fitzgibbon, despite his old school of strict rules and hardships expected of a clergyman. Bing Crosby's portrayal of a sensible, upright Father who enjoyed a close relationship with the younger generation was most impressive.
The joyful and buoyant Father O'Dowd Frank McHugh provided the optimistic mood often needed to uplift the morale of the other two Fathers. There is just a right balance between the good Christmas spirit and delightful Christmas music. It leaves you adoring the kindness and integrity of these good characters while humming the beautful tones.
A true Christams Gem not to be missed. When he loses in love, a song-and-dance man retires from show business to run a country inn. Music by Irving Berlin, songs by Bing Crosby and dancing by Fred Astaire all add up to a really delightful musical that also just happened to launch the hit 'White Christmas'.
Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire sing and dance their way into your heart in the sensational musical comedy Holiday Inn. Nominated for 3 Academy Awards, this special edition features 13 holiday songs by famed composer Irving Berlin, including "White Christmas" - one of the biggest-selling recordings in music history!
Crosby plays a song and dance man who leaves showbiz to run an inn that is open only on holidays. Astaire plays his former partner and rival in love. Follow the two talented pals as they find themselves competing for the affections of the same lovely lady Marjorie Reynolds.
After Crosby loses, he moves to the Connecticut countryside where he creates a resort that is only open on holidays and puts on the shows with the help of Marjorie Reynolds. He decides she'll be his new partner, but doesn't remember what she looks like, setting off a frenzied search at every subsequent show while the once-bitten Crosby does his best to steer him off track.
The theme gives Irving Berlin an excuse to craft or recycle a number of holiday-themed songs, such as "White Christmas," which became one of the bestselling songs of all time and the title song of Crosby's film. Loaded with a wealth of songs, it's meaty, not too kaleidoscopic and yet closely knit for a compact minutes of tiptop filmusical entertainment.
Although all the holiday's are covered, this is really a Christmas movie at heart. The plot is simple and sappy in an old Hollywood kind of way. It's also quite funny in places. What I personally enjoy the most about Holiday Inn is the sheer coziness of it all.
The majority of the film takes place in a country Connecticut Inn and often draped in snow. This is a perfectly old fashioned, patriotic holiday film to watch. Turn on the Christmas lights, wrap yourself in a comfy throw and escape to a time long past, when love came with a song and a joke was punctuated by a change in tempo. A WWII soldier suffering from combat fatigue meets a young woman on Christmas furlough from prison and their mutual loneliness blossoms into romance.
Mary Marshall, serving a six year term for accidental manslaughter, is given a Christmas furlough from prison to visit her closest relatives, her uncle and his family in a small Midwestern town. On the train she meets Zach Morgan, a troubled army sergeant on leave for the holidays from a military hospital. Although his physical wounds have healed, he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and is subject to panic attacks.
The pair are attracted to one another and in the warm atmosphere of the Christmas season friendship blossoms into romance, but Mary is reluctant to tell him of her past. Several attempts have already been made by Hollywood to image the drama of the veteran returning from the war—and several attempts have already made variable hashes of the job.
But now Producer Dore Schary has come along with a simple and straightforward film which handles this most urgent subject in a sane and affecting way. This is a pressing recommendation that as many of you see it as can. Ginger Rogers has her own kind of agony to deal with, just as serious, on home for a Christmastime furlough. They meet, these two terribly damaged people, and somehow manage to strengthen one another, and such are the performances of the leads that you root for them all the way through.
I didn't expect anything from this, but boy was I wrong. Don't wait till this accidentally shows up on your doorstep. Instead seek it out, and you'll be rewarded. As he does every winter, hobo Aloysius T. McKeever Victor Moore moves in to a mansion on New York City's 5th Avenue while its owners are away for the winter and invites all his hobo friends in from the cold. But this Christmas, Mary O'Connor Ann Harding comes home unexpectedly after a quarrel with her boyfriend to find her house occupied by jovial street dwellers.
To make matters even worse, her father Charles Ruggles disguises himself as a hobo to get an invitation to stay in his own home -- and keeps his identity secret in this perennial Christmas favorite about rediscovering family and the joy of being together. It Happened On Fifth Avenue is usually defined as a Christmas movie, in part because of its plot time-line, but more than that, it's a movie that, like George Seaton's Miracle On 34th Street -- made the same year -- sings of the generosity of the human spirit, and the feeling of renewal that was in the air in the immediate post-World War II era, a funny, gentle, warm look at people making their way in a time when, for the first time since the Great Depression and the outbreak of the Second World War, cautious optimism seemed an appropriate approach to life.
And not for nothing was this reportedly lead actor Don Defore's personal favorite of all of his movies. After George Bailey James Stewart wishes he had never been born, an angel Henry Travers is sent to earth to make George's wish come true. George starts to realize how many lives he has changed and impacted, and how they would be different if he was never there.
As the film opens, it's Christmas Eve, , and George, who has long considered himself a failure, faces financial ruin and arrest and is seriously contemplating suicide. High above Bedford Falls, two celestial voices discuss Bailey's dilemma and decide to send down eternally bumbling angel Clarence Oddbody Henry Travers , who after years has yet to earn his wings, to help George out.
But first, Clarence is given a crash course on George's life, and the multitude of selfless acts he has performed: rescuing his younger brother from drowning, losing the hearing in his left ear in the process; enduring a beating rather than allow a grieving druggist H. Warner to deliver poison by mistake to an ailing child; foregoing college and a long-planned trip to Europe to keep the Bailey Building and Loan from letting its Depression-era customers down; and, most important, preventing town despot Potter Lionel Barrymore from taking over Bedford Mills and reducing its inhabitants to penury.
Along the way, George has married his childhood sweetheart Mary Donna Reed , who has stuck by him through thick and thin. Bitterly, George declares that he wishes that he had never been born, and Clarence, hoping to teach George a lesson, shows him how different life would have been had he in fact never been born. After a nightmarish odyssey through a George Bailey-less Bedford Falls now a glorified slum called Potterville , wherein none of his friends or family recognize him, George is made to realize how many lives he has touched, and helped, through his existence; and, just as Clarence had planned, George awakens to the fact that, despite all its deprivations, he has truly had a wonderful life.
Capra's first production through his newly-formed Liberty Films, It's a Wonderful Life lost money in its original run, when it was percieved as a fairly downbeat view of small-town life. Only after it lapsed into the public domain in and became a Christmastime TV perennial did it don the mantle of a holiday classic.
It's a Wonderful Life is a wonderful title for a motion picture about which practically everyone who sees it will agree that it's wonderful entertainment. The inspirational, thoroughly festive ending is guaranteed to bring tears to the eyes. In December , an unofficial Christmas truce on the Western Front allows soldiers from opposing sides of the First World War to gain insight into each other's way of life.
Enemies leave their weapons behind for one night as they band together in brotherhood and forget about the brutalities of war. Joyeux Noel captures a rare moment of grace from one of the worst wars in the history of mankind, World War I. On Christmas Eve, , as German, French, and Scottish regiments face each other from their respective trenches, a musical call-and-response turns into an impromptu cease-fire, trading chocolates and champagne, playing soccer, and comparing pictures of their wives.
But when Christmas ends, the war returns Joyeux Noel has been justly accused of sentimentality, but if any subject warrants such an earnest and hopeful treatment, it's the horrors of trench warfare. Based on a true incident though considerably fictionalized. Unfolding slowly, then building in momentum like the hymns themselves, this entire sequence is tremendously affecting.
When Dorcas and Emma each want to give Laura the same gift for Christmas, an old family wound is opened up and Laura finds herself torn between two mothers. As the inhabitants of Lark Rise and Candleford prepare for the festivities, loyalties are tested and, amid the gift-giving and carol singing, tensions are building.
However, the arrival of a ragged, bare-footed young woman, who goes by the name of Cinderella Doe, introduces a note of Christmas mystery. The series is set in in Victorian era England. About the BBC series: In this adaptation of Flora Thompson's memoir of her childhood, Laura Timmins leaves the Oxfordshire hamlet of Lark Rise for a job in the market town of Candleford, where her mother's cousin, effervescent Dorcas Lane, is postmistress.
Farm workers, craftsmen and gentry make up the community of families, rivals, friends and neighbours. Throughout the series, residents of both places interact at the best and the worst of times, including a measles epidemic that threatens the harvest and the arrival of new Post Office Inspector Mr.
The "Christmas Special" episode could become as essential an annual viewing as Dickens' "Christmas Carol. So watching this episode is satisfying in that it has a beginning, a middle and an end. You can then move on to the continuing story from the events in the first season. You may also enjoy Under the Greenwood Tree : "In a small village in the south of England, Dick Dewy, a handsome working man, falls in love with Fancy Day, a newly arrived schoolteacher from a wealthy family who happens to be the village beauty.
But other, richer men also want to win the hand of Fancy.