There are MANY retellings of Charles Dicken’s classic A Christmas Carol, but as far as I'm concerned there is one modern take that is the best: Scrooged (1988) starring Bill Murray. It’s my pick for Day 19 of 25 Days of Christmas Movies. Frank Cross (Murray) is a cranky, heartless TV exec who is putting together perhaps the oddest production of A Christmas Carol ever. Tiny Tim is played by Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton so you know right off that it’s whacked and the apocalyptic "promo" commercial Frank creates is all kinds of disturbing. 

You know the story. Frank’s dead boss (John Forsythe aka the voice of Charlie from Charlie’s Angels as well as Dynasty) visits, tells him he’s going to be visited by 3 spirits. And each ghost is superbly fantastic, especially Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present. Ghosty #2 also has a fun habit of punching Frank in the face. Bill Murray is at his best and watching his Frank slowly unravel is priceless. And did I mention this movie features the strangest “live” production of A Christmas Carol ever?


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Going back to another classic for Day 18 of 25 Days of Christmas Movies with Miracle on 34^th Street (1947) starring Maureen O’Hara and a young Natalie Wood. Not sure if this flick isn’t partly a very long commercial for Macy’s, but I don’t care. It’s brilliant.  Doris, a divorced mother who doesn’t let her daughter, Susan, believe in fairy tales like Santa Claus. Then she hires a man (Edmond Gwenn) to be Santa, first for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and later for the store. Turns out, the guy thinks he really is Kris Kringle…and he might be right.

The epic court battle to have Kris confined to a mental hospital is hilarious. I especially love the poor judge who now has to deal with a child who hates him for putting Santa Claus on trial. And there is no better ending than the post office sending every single

It’s Day 17 of 25 Days of Christmas Movies. It’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989). It’s the Griswold’s. It’s Chevy Chase. It’s every known disaster happening to poor Clark Griswold. Wild animals, fires, power shortages, Christmas light catastrophes, obnoxious relatives (headed by #1 obnoxious relative Randy Quaid.) Hey, did you know Johnny Galecki from The Big Bang Theory starred as son Rusty in this movie? 

Time for a quote:

Clark: “Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny F*$&ng Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white @** down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of a-holes this side of the nuthouse.”


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Day 16 of 25 Days of Christmas Movies – What list of Christmas movies would be complete without White Christmas (1954), the classic film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as Army buddies turned song & dance men? They pair up with two sisters, who are also performers (Rosemary Clooney & Vera-Allen). All four eventually end up at a Vermont Inn...where they naturally decide to put on a show to help save the failing inn.

This movie was just on the other night, and I always marvel at the “song & dance” numbers. Vaudeville must have been such a fun era. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are masters and Vera-Allen is an amazing dancer. Of course this movie is really most known for one thing…the song, White Christmas (written by Irving Berlin and forever immortalized by Bing Crosby), which still ranks #1 on most lists of favorite Christmas songs. The song appeared in an earlier movie, Holiday Inn (1942). Then White Christmas became the showstopper for this movie, with the barn opening up as snow begins to fall. Who doesn’t hum along to this tune?


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So I’m cheating a little and combining Day 14 & 15 of 25 Days of Christmas Movies. Actually it makes sense anyway as one is a sequel: The Santa Clause (1994) & The Santa Clause 2 (2002). I love both of these movies, and I’ll watch them as many times as they’re on (which is usually a lot).

What a great premise for the movie! Tim Allen is Scott Calvin, a divorced father and overworked ad exec at a toy company. On Christmas Eve, he accidentally kills Santa and winds up taking his place…literally. Scott unwittingly “becomes” Santa Claus, delivering Christmas gifts around the world and traveling to the North Pole. Over the next year, Scott transforms into Santa, gaining weight and growing a white beard (even after he shaves it off again and again). Meanwhile, no one believes the son’s (the adorable Charlie) wild story about visiting the North Pole. It’s a very funny turn and Tim Allen is perfect.

In the second installment, Scott must find a wife by Christmas Eve in order to remain Santa. And it’s not like he can tell her who he is, right? The fabulous Elizabeth Mitchell is a hard-nosed high school principle with a soft heart as is his soon-to-be Mrs. Claus. I also love that they have the same actor playing the now teenaged Charlie.

A great pair of movies.




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