# Underrated/lesser known Christmas movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2019, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864 "2019-12-14T19:04:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/21 "2019-12-16T01:27:50Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > Emmett Otter’s Jugband Christmas That’s pretty well liked and well known in my social circle. As for TV specials, i would nominate _Ziggy’s Gift_ featuring the comic strip character Ziggy. > **[Ziggy's Gift](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziggy%27s_Gift)** > > Ziggy's Gift is a 1982 American animated holiday television special based on the Ziggy comics. Directed by Richard Williams, the special first aired December 1, 1982, on ABC. > Written by Ziggy cartoonist Tom Wilson, the special includes animation by Eric Goldberg and Tom Sito. The original song "Give, Love, Joy" was composed by Harry Nilsson. > Ziggy takes a job as a street Santa to raise money for the poor, accompanied by his faithful dog Fuzz. Surrounded by crooked Santas, sneaky thieves, and a... ---
**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:** [December 16, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/22 "2019-12-16T01:44:12Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I never saw it until about 10 or 12 years ago. I love TCM for things like this. They dig up some lost and nearly forgotten gems. > > You’re correct by the way, it was Agent 99s first movie. I never heard of _Many Happy Returns_ was it any good? Typical 1960s sitcom fare. McGiver played the head of the Returns department at a large department store. I don’t recall much beyond that. > **[Many Happy Returns (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many_Happy_Returns_(TV_series))** > > Many Happy Returns is an American sitcom that ran on CBS for twenty-six episodes, from September 21, 1964 to April 12, 1965. General Foods sponsored it from 9:30 to 10 Eastern Time on Monday nights. > The show starred John McGiver as widower Walter Burnley, the manager of the Adjustments and Refunds Department at the fictitious Krockmeyer's Department Store in Los Angeles. Elinor Donahue played Burnley's daughter, Joan Randall. Mark Goddard played Joan's husband, Bob Randall. The Randalls' daught... ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/23 "2019-12-16T05:26:40Z")
I saw another one this evening on TCM, called Remember the Night, 1940, Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, 4 years before they committed murder and (gasp!) insurance fraud. The whole middle part of the film depicts the kind of loving American family that everyone is nostalgic for, and also how it feels to be among such a family but not part of it – a feeling that I am a sucker for in any movie. It was written by Preston Sturges, and what I absolutely love about it is that there is no magically contrived happy ending, a difficult thing is going to happen and maybe it’s for the best in the long run. I’ve seen it on TCM before, I don’t know if it was at Christmas last time but it probably was. So you may need to either wait until next year to see it, or you can probably find it online somewhere. Highly recommended; Sterling Holloway in a featured role sings beautifully. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/24 "2019-12-16T07:40:36Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > \*\*Fitzwilly \*\*from 1967 starring Dick Van Dyke & Barbara Feldon is my other nomination. It is a great little comedy and heist film in one. [The cast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzwilly#Cast)is outstanding with lots of faces you’ll recognize. I first saw this film when I was at the height of my puberic (sp?) pubescent (?) period. It was also at the height of a tremendous crush that I had with Barbara Feldon that lasted for many, many years. (Yes. I did see that “Mad About You” episode and I loved it.) She seemed to me to be the single most sexy lady in this world and I would have done anything at that time just for a whiff of her perfume. I could not have imagined feeling that way about any other lady and I still feel that way about her. What a beautiful lady! I always imagined her to be the epitome of God’s most perfect creations. I once wrote her a very passionate love letter and signed my name. She wrote me back but misspelled my name. I was crushed. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/25 "2019-12-16T13:46:21Z")
_Three Days Of The Condor_, the film based on the novel _Six Days Of The Condor_ (WTF is up with _that_?) takes place during xmas. It’s weird. Xmas is not in any way integral to the story. Nobody ever directly mentions xmas. But over and over again there are reminders; xmas decorations, a bell ringer, etc, all in the background. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/26 "2019-12-16T13:55:18Z")
In the lesser known category I’ll throw out [Holiday Affair](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041473/). Kind of a run of the mill common Christmas story similar to Miracle on 24th Street. It stars Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh, two big stars, and the kid is played by Gordon Gebert. I happen to know Gordon which is the only reason I know about this movie, although it does show up on TCM every year. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/27 "2019-12-16T13:56:51Z")
Not unknown but possibly underrated: **The Muppet’s Christmas Carol** is far better than one might expect for a goofy children’s show take on a classic story. ---
**Author:** ![Indyellen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/indyellen/32/4176_2.png) [@Indyellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indyellen)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/28 "2019-12-16T14:01:10Z")
My SiL brought [The Man Who Invented Christmas](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6225520/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0) to our family celebration this past weekend. Excellent cast, very well done movie about Charles Dickens trying to write A Christmas Carol. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/29 "2019-12-16T15:28:35Z")
Not a movie, but a 15min comedy sketch: Watching _Dinner for One_ is an established festive season institution in Germany and some other European countries, but it’s virtually unknown in the US and UK - despite being in English. It’s a comedy short made in 1963. [Dinner for One](https://youtu.be/zVd_VLO9xcc?t=2m25s) ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/30 "2019-12-16T15:28:54Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I keep mentioning _Arthur Christmas_. Like all Aardman animations, it’s funny and very smart. > > Arthur is the younger son of Santa Claus, which is basically a hereditary position: each Santa delivers gifts until they retire. Santa is expected to retire and hand the reins\* to his son Steve (Hugh Laurie), since Arthur is enthusiastic but inept. But due to a mistake, one child doesn’t get her Christmas present, and Arthur won’t let that happen. So Grandsanta finds his old sled and goes out to deliver it. But things start to go horribly wrong… > > The movie is very funny with a lot of great Christmas spirit. > > \*pun alert LOVE this movie! The grandpa and his old reindeer are hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/31 "2019-12-16T15:31:55Z")
Rotten Tomatoes has a list of 55 best Christmas Movies of All Time: [https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/best-christmas-movies/](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/best-christmas-movies/) ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/32 "2019-12-16T15:38:56Z")
Danny Boyle’s _Millions_ is an overlooked Christmas movie. It was a critical success but I don’t think it ever had a chance of commercial success outside of the UK because of the accents. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/33 "2019-12-16T21:17:38Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Not a movie, but a 15min comedy sketch: > > Watching _Dinner for One_ is an established festive season institution in Germany and some other European countries, but it’s virtually unknown in the US and UK - despite being in English. It’s a comedy short made in 1963. > > [Dinner for One](https://youtu.be/zVd_VLO9xcc?t=2m25s) Thank you for sharing this! It was hilarious. Same procedure next year. ---
**Author:** ![NJ\_Kef\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b487fb/32.png) [@NJ\_Kef\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NJ_Kef_1)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/34 "2019-12-16T22:58:58Z")
Bell, Book, and Candle is my favorite Christmas movie. I watch it every year without fail. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/35 "2019-12-16T23:01:17Z")
> [@Indyellen](#): > > My SiL brought [The Man Who Invented Christmas](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6225520/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0) to our family celebration this past weekend. Excellent cast, very well done movie about Charles Dickens trying to write A Christmas Carol. This is an amazing movie! We just watched it this weekend. Highly, highly, highly recommended. I can’t say enough good things about it. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/36 "2019-12-16T23:02:26Z")
This was also pretty good, as a kid-friendly/adult relatable Santa Claus origin story: [Klaus (2019) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4729430/) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/37 "2019-12-18T15:04:54Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > This is an amazing movie! We just watched it this weekend. Highly, highly, highly recommended. I can’t say enough good things about it. I agree. I rented it based on this thread’s recommendations and loved it. I think it’s now in the annual rotation. Christopher Plummer was outstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Awgrimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Awgrimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Awgrimm)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/38 "2019-12-18T19:19:13Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > A classic in the UK that’s practically unknown here in the States is _The Snowman,_ a fantastic animated short film. This is what I was going to mention. We found it on DVD at the library when my oldest was a toddler and she liked it so much we bought a copy. It’s become a holiday tradition in our house. ---
**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 18, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/39 "2019-12-18T21:53:48Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I saw another one this evening on TCM, called Remember the Night, 1940, Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, 4 years before they committed murder and (gasp!) insurance fraud. The whole middle part of the film depicts the kind of loving American family that everyone is nostalgic for, and also how it feels to be among such a family but not part of it – a feeling that I am a sucker for in any movie. It was written by Preston Sturges, and what I absolutely love about it is that there is no magically contrived happy ending, a difficult thing is going to happen and maybe it’s for the best in the long run. > > I’ve seen it on TCM before, I don’t know if it was at Christmas last time but it probably was. So you may need to either wait until next year to see it, or you can probably find it online somewhere. Highly recommended; Sterling Holloway in a featured role sings beautifully. Oh, I thought it was that one. Loved it, too. I’m a big fan of Barbara Stanwyck. She even looks a lot like my mom. For a less sentimental Christmas story, _The Ref_ is a lot of fun. “Slipper socks. Medium.” ---
**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 18, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864/40 "2019-12-18T22:01:43Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Not a movie, but a 15min comedy sketch: > > Watching _Dinner for One_ is an established festive season institution in Germany and some other European countries, but it’s virtually unknown in the US and UK - despite being in English. It’s a comedy short made in 1963. > > [Dinner for One](https://youtu.be/zVd_VLO9xcc?t=2m25s) Eh, I kept waiting to laugh. It’s 15 minutes, but like 10 seconds of comedy repeated endlessly so that it seemed much longer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-lesser-known-christmas-movies/844864.md?page=3)