# Movies set (at least partly) at Christmas that aren't Christmas movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 22, 2020, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645 "2020-12-22T13:55:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/21 "2022-12-21T18:46:18Z")
I think of **You’ve Got Mail** as a Christmas movie, but it isn’t really. It takes place over a period of six months or so, and Christmas is a particularly emphasised segment, but otherwise you can’t really argue it convincingly. It is, however, my Christmas tradition. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/22 "2022-12-22T00:21:53Z")
`_The Thin Man_ mostly takes place on Christmas. There’s a scene where Nick and Nora are exchanging presents, and the final dinner party is a Christmas dinner. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/23 "2022-12-22T00:40:07Z")
_The Ref_ takes place at Christmas, and it’s our Christmas tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/24 "2022-12-22T01:51:06Z")
Has nobody mentioned _Gremlins_? Also, the excellent _[Tokyo Godfathers](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Godfathers)_. Connie Willis had a list in one of her collections–here is one from her blog: [https://azsf.net/cwblog/?p=514](https://azsf.net/cwblog/?p=514) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/25 "2022-12-22T01:53:37Z")
_It’s a Wonderful Life._ ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/26 "2022-12-22T02:56:16Z")
_Brazil_ _The Ice Harvest_ ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/27 "2022-12-22T03:16:30Z")
_Eyes Wide Shut_ ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/28 "2022-12-22T20:52:48Z")
_The Lion in Winter_. Christmas is the pretext for calling the family together, but Goodwill to Men is not really on the agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/29 "2022-12-25T01:22:54Z")
Yesterday I was browsing through movies to watch and just happened to pick _The Proposition_, which I had seen before but almost completely forgot. Turns out the whole thing revolves around a Christmas deadline. > **[The Proposition (2005 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Proposition_(2005_film))** > > The Proposition is a 2005 Australian Western film directed by John Hillcoat and written by screenwriter and musician Nick Cave. It stars Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, John Hurt, Danny Huston and David Wenham. The film's production completed in 2004 and was followed by a wide 2005 release in Australia and a 2006 theatrical run in the U.S. through First Look Pictures. The film was shot on location in Winton, Queensland. > In 1880s Australia, Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) and his gang enga... ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/30 "2022-12-25T01:26:35Z")
While it’s more of a New Year’s movie, **The Hudsucker Proxy** takes place partly at Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/31 "2022-12-25T02:17:43Z")
Two war films. ‘Oh! What a Lovely War’, which features the 1914 Christmas truce between combatants. ‘The Victors’, in which a deserter is shot to the tune of Frank Sinatra singing, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/32 "2022-12-25T02:39:09Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > _The Lion in Winter_. Christmas is the pretext for calling the family together, but Goodwill to Men is not really on the agenda. A great film, marred mostly by how badly they portray John. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/33 "2022-12-25T04:40:50Z")
I just watched the film I traditionally watch every Christmas: John Waters’ Female Trouble. The first act takes place on Christmas and it is the act of not getting Cha Cha heels for Christmas that sets the story into motion. Of course the rest of the film takes place over different periods of the character’s life, but Dawn Davenport (Divine) stomping on Christmas presents is enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/34 "2022-12-25T12:19:41Z")
I saw the end of “Rambo: First Blood” the other day. As he is shooting and blowing up the town many buildings have christmas lights and decorations. I don’t recall Christmas ever being mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/35 "2022-12-25T16:15:15Z")
Bette Davis, in **The Man Who Came to Dinner** , set at Christmastime. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c8/ff/21/c8ff218aabbbb6d28ecbaea864bdda40.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c8/ff/21/c8ff218aabbbb6d28ecbaea864bdda40.jpg) (colorized) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/36 "2022-12-25T20:36:29Z")
_ **Battleground** _, set during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. > **[Battleground (1949) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041163/)** > > Battleground: Directed by William A. Wellman. With Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy. True tale about a squad of the 101st Airborne Division coping with being trapped by the Germans in the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium... Much better than **this** movie: > **[Battle of the Bulge (1965) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058947/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0)** > > Battle of the Bulge: Directed by Ken Annakin. With Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan, Dana Andrews. A dramatization of Nazi Germany's final Western Front counterattack of World War II. Except for **this** scene: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8JDkdc246QQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Panzerlied (Battle of the Bulge with english intro)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JDkdc246QQ) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/37 "2022-12-25T20:52:36Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > _The Ref_ takes place at Christmas, and it’s our Christmas tradition. How is The Ref _not_ a Christmas movie? It’s as much a Christmas movie as Home Alone. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/38 "2022-12-25T21:19:02Z")
_Christmas Holiday_ (1944) - On Christmas Eve, whore Deanna Durbin tells a total stranger she married irresponsible lout Gene Kelly and doesn’t regret it even though he’s now a convicted murderer. Not much holiday spirit in this gloomy flashback-dominated story based on a W. Somerset Maugham novel. _Lady on a Train_ (1945) - Christmas Eve and Deanna Durbin (_again?!_): she sees a murder on a train and senselessly investigates. Her rendition of “Silent Night” (into a phone) is conspicuously well-lit and as glamorously sanctimonious as it gets. Let’s see if you can take it: > **[Deanna Durbin - Silent Night - Video Dailymotion](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2tdzgr)** > > Deanna Durbin - Silent Night _Lady in the Lake_ (1946) - Christmas - and the mystery - gets overshadowed by the subjective camera gimmick. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/39 "2022-12-25T21:19:47Z")
I especially like **this one** : > **[We're No Angels (1955) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048801/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0)** > > We're No Angels: Directed by Michael Curtiz. With Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, Peter Ustinov, Joan Bennett. Three Devil's Island escapees hide out in the house of a kindly merchant and repay his kindness by helping him and his family out of several... ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645/40 "2022-12-25T21:24:16Z")
Oh, I like _Lady on a Train._ Dan Duryea was great. Harmless piffle, but I hated that they styled Durbin’s hair in braids that flipped up when she was wearing a raincoat and rain hat. There’s no way her hair would have stayed that way without wires holding it up. No one IRL would do that. Bothered me even when I was a kid when I saw the movie for the first time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-at-least-partly-at-christmas-that-arent-christmas-movies/928645.md?page=3)