TCM in December: Christmas Movies

Here's a close look at the many wonderful Christmas movies on this month's TCM schedule, starting on Thursday, December 4th.

Christmas movies will be shown in primetime on Thursday evenings, as well as during daytime hours on Sundays. Many Christmas films will also be shown on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and there are even a couple of film noir titles with Christmas settings airing near month's end.

Viewers should be advised that while some films are shown multiple times, others air only once.

The festivities kick off Thursday night with a lineup which includes two Barbara Stanwyck films, REMEMBER THE NIGHT (1940) and MEET JOHN DOE (1940), followed by two Judy Garland musicals, IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME (1949) and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944). Of this group I especially enjoy REMEMBER THE NIGHT and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS. The lineup wraps up with a tearjerker I've frankly avoided to this date, ALL MINE TO GIVE (1957).

On Sunday, December 7th, the options are the amusing THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER (1942), the lesser-known gem IT HAPPENED ON FIFTH AVENUE (1947), and the musical SCROOGE (1970).

Errol Flynn night on December 9th includes NEVER SAY GOODBYE (1946), which features a lengthy sequence in which Flynn runs around in a Santa Claus suit!

On Thursday, December 11th, there's the original version of the previous week's IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME, THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940) starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. It's followed by another "department store" movie, the excellent HOLIDAY AFFAIR (1949) with Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh.

The evening's theme then switches to Christmas in a mansion in IT HAPPENED ON FIFTH AVENUE and FITZWILLY (1967), then switches back to the department store setting with BACHELOR MOTHER (1939). The evening wraps up with one of my favorites, Dick Powell and Debbie Reynolds in SUSAN SLEPT HERE (1954).

The Christmas movies on Sunday, December 14th, are the BACHELOR MOTHER remake BUNDLE OF JOY (1956) followed by back-to-back airings of THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER and its remake, IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME.

It's Dickens night on Thursday, December 18th with MGM's A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1938), the musical SCROOGE, and a '30s British SCROOGE (1935). They're followed by the TV-movie A CAROL FOR ANOTHER CHRISTMAS (1964), starring Sterling Hayden and Eva Marie Saint, and the fantasy BEYOND TOMORROW (1940) with Jean Parker and Richard Carlson.

On Saturday, December 20th, THE THIN MAN (1934) will be shown. It's not a Christmas movie but does have that great scene of William Powell shooting ornaments off the Christmas tree with his new air gun! AUNTIE MAME (1958) will be shown that day as well.

On Sunday, December 21st, the first two films are about soldiers celebrating Christmas: I'LL BE SEEING YOU (1944) with Ginger Rogers and Joseph Cotten, followed by Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan in CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (1945). They're followed by a rerun of HOLIDAY AFFAIR, in which Janet Leigh plays a young mother who lost her husband in the war.

On December 24th the movies include SCROOGE (1935), BUNDLE OF JOY, IT HAPPENED ON FIFTH AVENUE, and I'LL BE SEEING YOU, plus the special A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES: MERRY CHRISTMAS! (2011).

Robert Osborne's Christmas Eve picks usually include a non-Christmas film, and this year there are two: Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth in the musical COVER GIRL (1944) followed by Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in INDISCREET (1958).

Christmas Day films include a few which are not scheduled earlier in the month: 3 GODFATHERS (1948), TENTH AVENUE ANGEL (1948), LITTLE WOMEN (1933), and LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY (1938). Curiously, no 1949 MGM version of LITTLE WOMEN is showing in December this year! Christmas Day will also feature reruns of several of the films which are listed above as showing earlier in the month.

There's also a touch of Christmas noir later in December, with LADY IN THE LAKE (1947) on December 28th and BEWARE, MY LOVELY (1952) on December 29th.

LADY IN THE LAKE, starring Robert Montgomery (who directed) and Audrey Totter, features cheery Christmas card opening credits, with the film's Christmas setting offering an unusual contrast to the murder mystery. BEWARE, MY LOVELY finds Ida Lupino trapped in her home with mentally disturbed handyman Robert Ryan. One of the best shots in the movie is of a Christmas tree ornament!

For more on TCM in December, please visit TCM in December: Highlights, TCM Star of the Month: Cary Grant, and TCM Friday Night Spotlight: Charles Walters.