Christmas Movies That Aren't Christmas Movies

From guest blogger Debbie:

Tis the season for Christmas films.  We all have our long list of favorite Christmas movies.  “It’s A Wonderful Life”, “White Christmas”, “Holiday Inn”, “ A Christmas Story”, “ A Christmas Carol” more than likely top every classic movie lover’s list.  But what about all those films that aren’t really about Christmas, but that Christmas plays a part in the story.  Here is a short list of some of my favorites…..

“The Thin Man”  1934   - William Powell & Myrna Loy

Nick and Nora’s Christmas party with Nora in that fabulous “candy cane” dress.  Christmas day with Nick shooting balloons off their tree.  Such fun!

“Lady In The Lake” 1947   -  Robert Montgomery and Audrey Trotter

The opening credits alone make you think you’re going to be watching a holiday film, not a murder mystery.

“ Since You Went Away” 1944 – Claudette Colbert, Joseph Cotton, Jennifer Jones, Shirley Temple & Monty Woolley

 This wonderful wartime drama ends with Christmas and the hope that it brings.

 “Desk Set” 1957  -  Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn

Office intrigue and fun surrounding the installation of a computer in a broadcasting reference department.  The film concludes at Christmastime.

“The Apartment” 1960 -  Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine & Fred MacMurray

This wonderful  film also ends at Christmas and New Years.

 So........if you run out of the usual films to watch this time of year, check out these.  Each one is a treasure.

My, What a Gorgeous Couple

           Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones in Love Letters (1945)

Yes, Wonderful Eye Candy

Duel in the Sun  with Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones & Joseph Cotten

Mr. Cotten ... a fine actor with a voice and Virginia drawl to die for.

Photo Friday: Life With Cotten

Today's Photo Friday takes a slightly different slant, highlighting photos from the Life magazine collection. The below are from the excellent Shadow of a Doubt.

If I may add a small editorial comment, how in the world did Joe get bumped from the cover of TCM's Dec. magazine for Herbie the Love Bug?

Larger Image

Larger Image

Larger image

Photo Friday: Joseph Cotten

Ahh, Since You Went Away - the WWII bookend to The Best Years of Our Lives. Went Away always had that "too much female" feel to me, then Joe shows up, which levels things out. This particular still is from said film. I do have to add, I love the hangar dance scene - great lighting. I especially love AAF logo against the backdrop of the hangar.

TCM's December Star of the Month - in a larger format

Six & Twelve

Raquelle from Out of the Past blog has tagged me as part of a 12 Movies Meme started by Lazy Eye Theatre. I'm going to follow her pattern for my list: Six days of movies, each day having two films following a theme. Here goes nothing:

Monday
Theme: The Look, The Feel of Cotten
Films: Shadow of a Doubt, Since You Went Away
Reason: Joseph Cotten is way overlooked. Shadow is arguably Hitchcock's best thanks to him and Away, well, the uniform certainly doesn't hurt anything.

Tuesday
Theme: Your Pilot This Evening: John Wayne
Films: The High and the Mighty, Island in the Sky
Reason: These two films were released to DVD in the past few years after being stuck in the John Wayne family vaults. Mighty is beautiful in wide-screen color and is a fun representation of the yesteryears of airline travel. If you get the chance to see it on the big screen, do see it. Island in the Sky takes a look at survival in the arctic after a plane crash and also offers a great character from Andy Devine.

Wednesday
Theme: Flying With Cary
Films: Wings in the Dark, Only Angels Have Wings
Reason: Early Cary Grant is a fav. Early Cary with airplanes is even better. Dark features Myrna Loy who helps Cary's character return to the skies, sans vision. Angels offers a tougher Cary as the boss/pilot and Jean Arthur as the softer side.

Thursday
Theme: What a Dall
Films: Something in the Wind, The Corn is Green
Reason: What can I say, just giving some PR to another of my favorite actors: John Dall.

Friday
Theme: Keep Watching the Skies
Films: The Thing From Another World, The Day the Earth Stood Still
Reason: Everyone loves 50s sci-fi (or should). These films are arguably two of the better that came from that time frame. Klaatu Barata Nikto.

Saturday
Theme: Accent on Montgomery
Films: The Earl of Chicago, Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Reason: Yeah, I had to sneak Bob in here somewhere. For this theme, Bob leaves the eastern, and sometimes British-sounding, accent at home and picks up more of a local flair.

Biography of a Bachelor Girl Trailer

I love how this starts with the 3 women...



Related, there's a good OTR version of this story with Joseph Cotten and Louise Albritton. Joseph is dead-on perfect as Richard Kurt. The file is a bit on the large side for me to host, but visit the Internet Archive page on the Screen Guild Theater and just scroll down until you hit Biography of a Bachelor Girl.