# Anyone have some obscure Christmas movie suggestions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 18, 2007, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967 "2007-11-18T23:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/61 "2007-11-19T21:39:53Z")
“Desk Set” and “Meet Me in St. Louis” have Christmas scenes. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/62 "2007-11-19T21:49:41Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] _The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t but Then Was._ [/QUOTE] Quite possibly the best movie ever made about a grinchy fellow who tries to steal Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/63 "2007-11-19T23:05:22Z")
[Elves](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099496/) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/64 "2007-11-19T23:25:35Z")
[QUOTE=DocCathode] [Elves](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099496/) [/QUOTE] That looks hilarious. I may have to try it. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/65 "2007-11-19T23:47:33Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] Well, I’ve got to chime in with my usual note of Rankin-Bass’ _The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus_—from the story by L. Frank Baum. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a stop-motion Christmas movie on crack…this is a stop-motion Christmas movie on _peyote_. [/QUOTE] Yes, Yes, Yes! Trippy and surreal. Is it available on DVD now? A few years ago it was available only on tape (someone got it for us as a wedding present (!) ). I must go looking for it on DVD! (crosses fingers) ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/66 "2007-11-20T01:43:46Z")
Just thought of another good one: The Jimmy Stewart movie that gets all the attention this time of year is _It’s a Wonderful Life_, but my personal favourite Stewart Xmas movie is Ernst Lubitsch’s masterpiece, [The Shop Around The Corner](http://imdb.com/title/tt0033045/). Don’t let that execrable Tom Hanks remake, _You’ve Got Mail_, scare you away from the sophisticated, witty original. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/67 "2007-11-20T05:20:15Z")
[QUOTE=Motorgirl] Yes, Yes, Yes! Trippy and surreal. Is it available on DVD now? A few years ago it was available only on tape (someone got it for us as a wedding present (!) ). I must go looking for it on DVD! (crosses fingers) [/QUOTE] Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be on DVD yet. ABC Family reruns it pretty regularly around December, at least, so there’s a good chance and catching and recording it. More suggestions… [_The Christmas Toy_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Christmas_Toy)—Courtesy of Jim Henson. An old family favorite at my house—we still have the tape of the original airing, complete with all the Kraft ads. Great music, too. ::sniff:: Sorry, something in my eye. [A Muppet Family Christmas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Muppet_Family_Christmas)—I saw this one, once, as a kid, and have consistently missed chances to see it again since. It was pretty good, and very atmospheric, as I remember. [The Forgotten Toys](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forgotten_Toys)—An odd, bittersweet little animated tale from the UK. Kinda like _Toy Story_, if it’d been written by Dostoyevsky. Also features Bob Hoskins as a teddy bear. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/68 "2007-11-20T05:33:40Z")
My favorite Christmas movie: [Mixed Nuts,](http://imdb.com/title/tt0110538/) with Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson… ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/69 "2007-11-20T05:39:15Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] [_The Christmas Toy_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Christmas_Toy)—Courtesy of Jim Henson. An old family favorite at my house—we still have the tape of the original airing, complete with all the Kraft ads. Great music, too. ::sniff:: Sorry, something in my eye. [/QUOTE] From Wiki the plot of The Christmas Toy > [@](#): > > When no people are around, the toys still play in the playroom. But since a toy will be frozen forever if a person catches it out of position, they have to be very careful. It’s Christmas Eve, and Rugby the Tiger remembers how he was the Christmas Toy last year, and thinks he’s going to be unwrapped again. And it’s up to Apple the Doll, whom Rugby supplanted as favorite toy, to tell him what’s in store. But Rugby won’t believe her, and tries to get into the Christmas package and lets Meteora, Queen of the Asteroids loose. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know she’s a toy, and thinks she’s landed among aliens. And it’s up to Apple, Mew (the Cat’s toy mouse), and the other toys to get Rugby out of the box and Meteora back in it before they’re found and frozen forever! Hummm… ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/70 "2007-11-20T06:52:15Z")
To me it just isn’t christmas without: **Ernest Saves Christmas** , the Laurel and Hardy-esque shipping clerks are worth the price of admission alone. **A Midwinters Tale/In the Bleak Midwinter** , hard to find, excellent Kenneth Branagh story about putting on Hamlet at christmas by unemployed actors, good luck finding it. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/71 "2007-11-20T15:25:07Z")
**Zebra** —It’s a lot better than it looks from the description (I mean, c’mon…with a bad synopsis, you could make the plots to half the Star Wars movies sound lousy). ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/72 "2007-11-20T15:34:33Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Can’t believe I left out [A Christmas Carol](http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Carol-George-C-Scott/dp/B00000K3CJ/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1195495971&sr=8-2) with George C. Scott; the best version of this classic, IMO. [/QUOTE] It’s NOT bad, but it’s no Alistair Sim or Patrick Stewart versions. Too me, a quality version has to include Marley’s restless phantoms. IIRC, though, the Scott version does include the two ghastly urchins, another mark of quality. Scott’s certainly better than the Reginald Owen was, of course. Of course, you can’t beat Mr. Magoo’s for the musical number with the ghouls at the pawn shop! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/73 "2007-11-20T15:39:43Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] Well, I’ve got to chime in with my usual note of Rankin-Bass’ _The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus_—from the story by L. Frank Baum. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a stop-motion Christmas movie on crack…this is a stop-motion Christmas movie on _peyote_. [/QUOTE] Oh dear God, I was in Grad School when it came out and thought- Rankin-Bass + L. Frank Baum + Santa Claus. How can that go wrong? Again- oh dear God! As I tried in vain to describe to a friend in Grad School how bad it was, he summed it up “So basically it tried to supply an explanation for every Christmas tradition… and did so quite badly.” BINGO! But it’s better than The Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold! What the hell is that?!?! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/74 "2007-11-20T15:43:44Z")
One I’d like to see (but which, to my knowledge, has only been broadcast once, and has never been available on any video format) is Rod Serling’s **A Carol for Another Christmas**. That certainly has to qualify as obscure. Written by the creator of The Twilight Zone at the top of his form in 1964: > **[Carol for Another Christmas (TV Movie 1964) ⭐ 6.5 | Drama, Fantasy](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057916/)** > > 1h 24m Apparently there’s a copy at the NY Museum of Broadcasting. Might have to make a special trip. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/75 "2007-11-20T17:10:55Z")
A couple of TV movies from the '80s that should be watched at least once: [Christmas Comes to Willow Creek](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092756/) and [The Night They Saved Christmas](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087797/). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/76 "2007-11-20T17:17:21Z")
I strongly recommend _The Hebrew Hammer_, in which Santa and Tiny Tim are the bad guys. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/77 "2007-11-20T17:18:29Z")
[A Wish For Things That Work](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103272/), with Opus and Bill the Cat is fantastic and hardly ever mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/78 "2007-11-20T17:42:36Z")
[QUOTE=xizor] [A Wish For Things That Work](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103272/), with Opus and Bill the Cat is fantastic and hardly ever mentioned. [/QUOTE] And now out on DVD. I just remembered one that has never AFAIK been released on video & is rarely seen at Christmas- and which I saw BEFORE “It’s A Wonderful Life”- the gender-switching “It Happened One Christmas” with Marlo Thomas & Wayne Rogers in the Jimmy Stewart-Donna Reed roles, Cloris Leachman as Clara the Angel, and Orson Welles as Mr. Potter. Apologies to all- I liked it! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/79 "2007-11-20T17:45:33Z")
[QUOTE=xizor] [A Wish For Things That Work](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103272/), with Opus and Bill the Cat is fantastic and hardly ever mentioned. [/QUOTE] [sub]…pssst… it’s “Wings”…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967/80 "2007-11-20T18:31:24Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] **Zebra** —It’s a lot better than it looks from the description (I mean, c’mon…with a bad synopsis, you could make the plots to half the Star Wars movies sound lousy). [/QUOTE] No, it just sounds a whole bunch like another movie that centers around toys that come to life when people aren’t around and they better not get caught and the new space toy that doesn’t know they are a toy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-have-some-obscure-christmas-movie-suggestions/426967.md?page=5)