With the holidays already upon us, people are dusting off their favorite holiday movies, popping them in the VCR and enjoying the spirit of the season.
The quintessential holiday classic, of course, is “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The film chronicles George Bailey (James Stewart), who reaches the depths of despair after his family business fails, but sees how blessed he really is with the help of Clarence, his guardian angel.
Education junior Molly Dyson said she developed a love for “It’s a Wonderful Life” because her father made her family sit down and watch it every Christmas Eve.
“We used to get angry with him for it, but now I’m happy he did,” Dyson said. “He gave me an appreciation for older films, older values, and the most amazing, endearing actor, Jimmy Stewart. I feel the movie teaches people to look back upon their lives and appreciate what they have.”
“A Christmas Story,” often shown around the clock before Christmas, is filled with distorted and charming boyhood memories of Christmas in Indiana in the 1940s.
Dannee Polomsky, coordinator for Services for Students with Disabilities, said she relates to the crazy antics the kids experience in “A Christmas Story.”
“Many scenes make me laugh because they remind me of being teased by my brothers,” Polomsky said. “I wasn’t forced to put my tongue on a frozen pole, but dared to lick the metal shelf on the inside of the freezer to prove that I wasn’t a wimp. I, too, ended up with a bloody tongue.”
Other holiday classics include:
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” chronicles another vacation for the wacky Griswald family. As Clark Griswald (Chevy Chase) and his wife Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) prepare to spend the holidays with their neurotic extended family, the storyline unfolds to include a sick dog, a runaway squirrel, a Winnebago and a wacky cousin (Randy Quaid) who had a metal plate in his head removed because “every time the wife would turn on the microwave, I’d piss my pants and forget who I was for half-an-hour.”
Slapstick humor is evident throughout the movie. The most memorable scenes include when Clark tries fit a monster Christmas tree into the living room and his attempt to outdo the entire neighborhood with his Christmas lights display.
• Another holiday classic, “Miracle on 34th Street,” humorously follows Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn), who gets a job playing Santa at Macy’s Department Store in New York City. Kringle is put on trial to prove he’s “the big guy in the red suit” because a little girl (Natalie Wood) tells him she doesn’t believe in Santa.
• “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is the tale of Dr. Seuss’ cynical Grinch, who plots to ruin Christmas by stealing all of the presents in the town of Whoville. Boris Karloff narrates the story and Thurl Ravenscroft, well known for his “Tony the Tiger” breakfast commercials, gives a memorable performance of the song, “You’re a Mean One, Mister Grinch.” The plot thickens when an innocent child, Cindy Loo Who, forces the Grinch to rethink his evil plan.
• Other classic Christmas-themed flicks include: “Charlie Brown’s Christmas,” “Ernest Saves Christmas,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “Home Alone,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “A Christmas Carol,” “The Family Man,” “The Raisenettes’ Christmas,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
