The Christmas Film to End All Christmas Films

The ultimate Christmas movie, in my book, is Frank Capra's Its A Wonderful Life. Some think this film is played to death during Christmas time, but I think that is only because of how the sentiments behind the film echo the sentiments of the holidays. Each new generation finds a voice within the film and can identify with its sense of hopelessness and hope found. I'll spare you fancy details about the movie, because we all probably know them so well. Instead, I've got some fun stuff to do with this movie.

The entire film is posted here on YouTube, but if you want a quicker version, you can watch the version that is done in 30 Seconds With Bunnies. You can find a webgroup dedicated to the film here. The town of Seneca Falls, which was the real Bedford Falls, has a site dedicated to the township and preserving the memory of the classic film that was made there, with links to important places, events, and people from the film. Here is a quiz about the movie, so you can test your smarts and tell if maybe you've seen the flick one too many times. And here is a travel blog about the "It's A Wonderful Life Festival" held every years in Seneca Falls.

A few articles also explore the darker side of the film. This article from Newsweek talks about the mortgage crisis and financial lessons to be learned from the film. Another article from The New York Times, talks about the scary since of the movie and how some people love it for all the wrong reasons. And here is an article from Salon about how it would probably be a lot more fun to live in jazzy Pottersville than clean-cut Bedford Falls. Call them humbugs if you want, but I encourage you to check out their stuff all the same.

With all that said, a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Three Wisemen: Western Style

Though it is obviously a western, the film 3 Godfathers is much more than that. It is a feel good move, a drama, and a comedy all in a western package. The film is set around Christmas time, but you wouldn't know it because of the dessert scenery. Then again, though it doesn't fit our stereotypical idea of a white Christmas, it fits in well with the desert scene from the first Christmas and the biblical allusions throughout the film are quiet obvious. It mixes elements of tragedy and hope in a way that embodies the Christmas spirit and the idea of doing the right thing, even after getting yourself into the wrong situation.

Three bank robbers, Robert Hightower (John Wayne), Pedro Rocafuerte (Pedro Armendáriz), and William Kearney (Harry Carey Jr.), come to the town of Welcome, Arizona and first thing they do is meet Sheriff Perley Buck Sweet (Ward Bond) and his wife (Mae Marsh). The second thing they do is rob the local bank, sending Sheriff Sweet and a posse after them across the Arizona dessert. Sweet cuts off all their water supplies and the threesome find themselves backtracking, where they run into a woman in a covered wagon (Mildred Natwick). Her husband has destroyed the water supply, lost his cattle, died, and left her for dead. Worst of all, she is about to deliver a baby. The three robbers help bring the baby into the world and vow to raise it for her when she dies. The robbers turned godfathers find themselves trying to trek to the town of New Jerusalem to bring the baby to safety before Christmas Day, disregarding their own well-being and facing many obstacles in the way.

Done by John Ford, this one is a remake of the 1916 silent film The Three Godfathers. The star of the original film was a long time friend of Ford's, Harry Carey. After Carrey's death, Ford remade the film in Technicolor and cast Carey's son in one of the lead roles. The film also features legendary cowboy ballad "Streets of Laredo", also known as the "Cowboy's Lament" as a lullaby sung to the baby. You can access screenshots of the film, thanks to The Art of Memory blog, and you can find a messageboard about the film, thanks to filmspotting.com.

Though I really like this film, the reviews on it are mixed and there are many places you can look for another opinion. This review is offered by cinema100.com. The Diary of a Mad Movie Fanatic blog has a review, which you can read here. Frank's Movie Blog has a review of the film as does Monstersandcritics.com, which can be read here. As an early Christmas present, here is a trailer for the film.

The Story of The Exodus

To call the over three hour long 1960 film Exodus a modern epic is by no means an understatement. Like Ben-Hur, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Ten Commandments, this film chronicles struggles, triumphs, and tribulations of the Jewish people. However, Exodus has a more modern, recognizable setting in modern times, set in the year 1949 and highlighting the struggle of Jews after the atrocities of World War II and their campaign to create the now independent state of Israel.

The story begins in Cyprus, where Jewish refugees are being kept in detainment camps by the British because the Jews are not safe in Europe. Widowed American nurse Kitty Freemont (Eva Marie Saint), is in Cyprus after her photographer husband was killed in Palestine. She is a guest of General Sutherland (Ralph Richardson), who along with Major Caldwell (Peter Lawford), is dealing with Ari Ben Canaan (Paul Newman), a Palestini Zionist who wants to smuggle as many Jews as he can into Palestine to convince the UN to give them their own homeland. In the mix are Karen Johansson (Jill Haworth) a Jewish concentration camp refugee who Karen wants to adopt, Karen's friend Dov Landau (Sal Mineo) who is a Zionist extremist fighter, Ari's father Barak (Lee J. Cobb) and uncle Akiva (David Opatoshu), and Taha (John Derek), the Muslin friend Ari has always loved and trusted, all of whom provide further complications to the plot.

The film was made based off of the book Exodus by Leon Uris, most of the characters are composites of historical figures or act as metaphors for types of people in the world. The debates about the truthfulness and portrayal of the historical events in both the book and the film have not ceased over time. In fact, the debate seems to grow sharper with the passage of time. This article from reason.com explores how much of the story is history and how much is myth.

The film was made by Otto Preminger, who gave credit to blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, helping end the Hollywood Blacklist. It is an epic from the setting to the effects to the costuming to the words the actors communicate. The film shows the complexity of troubles in the Middle East and the hope that peace will some day come. The idea of what is a belief worth dying for is a recurring theme in the film. It showcases the need to have a home of one's home and the hope of the Jews to build back their lives after the war.

Though the film is not as popular as it once was, there are still many reviews of if you can access to help make up your mind about it. Emanuel Levy's Cinema 24/7 has done this review. Another review can be found here, thanks to nerve.com. Blog The Flicker Project has a review that can be accessed here. The San Francisco Civic Center blog had this to say about the film. For more fun with the film, you can look here for a timeline of how and where film production took place and some great screenshots can be accessed thanks to Slim Warez.com.

Have you met John Doe?

The 1941 Frank Capra film, Meet John Doe, follows the typical Capra genre of promoting the working man, American values, and doing the right thing. The film was ranked #49 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers because of its grassroots, everyman attitude. The film climaxes at Christmas and Christmas Day is extremely important to the plot.

When she gets fired, report Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) writes a fake suicide letter to publish in the editorial section from an unemployed man named “John Doe” who is sore at the world and is threatening to jump off the courthouse on Christmas Eve as a protest against he way society behaves. John Doe becomes an overnight hit with the community, forcing editor Henry Connell (James Gleason) to rehire Ann and find an impersonator, an out of work baseball player named John Willoughby (Gary Cooper) to play the part of John Doe. Willougby is accompanied a hobo named The Colonel (Walter Brennan), who is disgusted by how the world keeps people down. Everyone in town cheers on John Doe and his campaign, putting political figures like Mayor Lovett (Gene Lockhart) up in arms. Editor D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold) decides to use the John Doe story to his own advantage. Being taken advantage of like the real John Doe, Willoughby soon feels the same was as the original letter and finds himself climbing to the top of the courthouse on Christmas Eve.

The film is set in an America that is between the Great Depression and World War II. It uses music and expressions to communicate during some scenes, in particular the one where the newspaper staff are selecting their John Doe. The idea of the ideas behind one man singlehandedly starting a grassroots political campaign is an wonderful one and the way it is played shows both the spectacle and the feeling behind the ideas in the movie.

Since the making of this film, its has been turned into a musical, which has encountered success. For more on the history and other information about the film, you can check out this site dedicated to Frank Capra and the film itself, as well as the entry about the film here on filmsite.org. For reviews on the film, you can read this entry on the blog Flick Filosopher. The site midnightpalace.com has done this review of the film. A third review can be read here, thanks to roadrunnerreview.com.

A Christmas Carol: Fantasy Football Style

Our family sometimes does unusual things with movies. When there are multiple versions of a movie we like to play “Fantasy Football” with them. Basically, what you do is pick the actor, director, style of film, and so on from each film you think is the best and then imagine what it would be like if all of those different elements to make the film together, producing the ultimate film. This year, we watched four different versions of A Christmas Carol and did the same thing. Well, the 1970 musical version Scrooge with Albert Finney at Scrooge was also watched, but this musical version of the classic tale left a bad taste in many mouths and won’t be watched again for quiet some time.

The films we watched were the 1938 version starring Reginald Owen, the 1951 version starring Alistair Sim, the 1984 television version starring George C. Scott, and the 1992 Muppet’s Christmas Carol with Michael Caine in the title role. After analyzing these three versions of the film, this is the results my mother, father, and I came up with (Please forgive any lopsidedness with the chart. Blogger is not very chart friendly):

Categories Scrooge Fred Bob Cratchit Ghost of Christmas Past Ghost of Christmas Present Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come Marley Best Film Best Style (costume, setting, etc.) Best Overall:

Dad Alastair Sim (1951) Brian Worth (1951) Mervyn Johns (1951) Michael Dolan(1951) Donald Austen Muppets 92 C. Konarski (1951) Michael Hordern(1951) Scrooge (1951) A Christmas Carol (1984) (1951)

Mom Alistair Sim (1951) Roger Rees (1984) Gene Lockhart 1938 Ann Rutherford1938 Edward Woodward (1984) RobertTygner Muppets 92 Leo G. Carroll (1938) Scrooge(1951) A Christmas Carol (1984) (1984)/(1938)

Me Alistair Sim (1951) Roger Rees(1984) Gene Lockhart Jessica Fox Muppets Francis De Wolff (1951) Michael Carter (1984) Leo G. Carroll (1938) Scrooge (1951) A Christmas Carol (1984) (1984)

Now I'm going to issue a challenge. What are your favorites from this chart and why?

“Who would ever think that so much can go on in the soul of a young girl?”

For as long as I can remember, by favorite book has always been Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl. Since tonight begins Hanukkah, I was thinking about the book and the movie as well, in particular the Hanukkah scene. I have read the diary around six or seven times, have watched the movie a few times, and have seen two plays about Anne Frank. I think during this holiday season, it is important to talk about the film about Anne’s brief but inspiring life.

The diary was turned into a Pulitzer award-winning play and then was adapted by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett into a film, which was directed by George Stevens. The 1959 film, The Diary of Anne Frank, was a major project of Stevens and he put a lot of himself into telling the story. Stevens spent four years working on the film, used black and white to create more drama, and Otto Frank as well as Johannes Kleiman were consulted during the making of the film.

The role of Anne was offered to both Audrey Hepburn and Natalie Wood. Audrey refused because she had lived in Holland during the same time as Anne and has witness the Nazi occupation and brutality first hand. She did not want to bring back old memories. Millie Perkins, instead, played Anne with Joseph Schildkraut as her father Otti, Gusti Huber as her mother Edith, and Diane Baker as her sister Margot. Shelley Winters played Mrs. Van Daan and won one of the three Oscars for the film for the supporting role. Other roles were Ed Wynn as Albert Dussell, Richard Beymer as Peter, Lou Jacobi as Mr. Van Daan, Douglas Spencer as Kraler, and Dodie Heath as Miep.

There are a plethora of reviews for the film. You can read this one, thanks to Apolloguide.com. Another comes from Altfg.com. This one comes from the Oscar Movies blog. And another great review and synopsis can be found here, thanks to beliefnet.com. If you want more information about Anne Frank, you can access the home site of the American Anne Frank Museum or the site that houses both the one of the house she hid in and the official Anne Frank website. At the bottom of this post, I will place the trailer for the 1959 film.

In one of the last pages of her diary, just before she was captured and taken away, Anne wrote: “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart”. I believe this is a testament to how brave and how hopeful humanity can be, even surrounded by the most fearsome adversity and despair. No matter your religious practices, this is the spirit that the holiday season embodies. And to any Jewish readers out there, Chag Chanuka Sameach.

Ben-Hur: The Stories Behind the Story

Everyone knows the story of Ben-Hur, how it begins with the birth of Jesus Christ, tells the story of Judah Ben-Hur and his family during the Roman conquest of Jerusalem and the oppression of Jews during this period, as well as the events of the life of Jesus Christ. Of course, most people know Ben-Hur as Charlton Heston and his childhood friend turned enemy Messala as Stephen Boyd. What many do not know is that the bilblical epic Ben-Hur from 1959 is not first or only version of the story.

The original story was written by Lew Wallace, a Union general in the civil war, statesmen, lawyer, and author. Wallace’s book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ was originally published in 1880, making the story close to 130 years old. The book was the bestseller of the Nineteenth Century and has never been out of print since it’s first publishing, though more people know the story of Ben-Hur than they do anything about Lew Wallace. Later, in 1899, the book was turned into a Broadway play, literally setting the stage for it to be filmed when the technology came along.

The first film version of the movie was made in 1907, titled simply Ben Hur. Most versions made of the biblical epic are at least two hours long, since the book is around 575 pages long. Not this version. Canadian director Sidney Olcott managed to condense the film down to a mere 15 minutes, which is some serious talent. You can read two reviews I have found for this version, the first one at the Bible Films blog and another thanks to absoluteastronomy. I have also posted the films below here divided up into two parts. The first is a mere eight minutes and the second is a little over three, so it isn’t a long drawn out film to watch.

The next version is yet another silent one, from 1925, titled Ben-Hur. It followed a similar plot to that of the book and the more famous 1959 version. This version has been preserved by the National Film Registry. You can get some film stills and history on this page and you can access some of the music from the film here, thanks to You Don’t Have to Visit blogspot.
Below is a trailer from this 1925 film.

And finally, we come to the famous 1959 version, which for a long time held the record of the most Academy Award nominated film. If you want more information on this flim, you can access this page, thanks to Filmsite.org, or this one, thanks to reelclassics.com. For a good review, you can read this article, thanks to Associate Content.If you notice, the one thing all of the film versions have in common is that they all include the chariot race scene, perhaps since this is action not to be missed out on. Below is an original trailer from this Ben-Hur for some entertainment.

A Murder Mystery for Christmas

Though it is not necessarily a Christmas movie, the 1934 classic The Thin Man is set around Christmas time and even has some climatic moments during the Christmas holidays. The film was based on the book The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett, who based much of the relationship between comedic and loving couple Nick and Nora Charles on his own relationship with acclaimed playwright Lillian Hellman. The film went on to create Myrna Loy and William Powell as a comedic duo in the Thin Man series of six films, combining humor and mystery.

Nick Charles (William Powell) comes to New York with wife and dog Asta in tow, only to be lured back into the detective business by his sweet, funny, and curious wife Nora (Myrna Loy), the NYPD, and the case of a murderer who Nick might know. Dorothy Wymant (Maureen O'Sullivan) comes to Nick, asking him to help track down her father and Nick’s old friend, Clyde Wymant (Edward Ellis). Soon after Wymant goes missing, his girlfriend Julia Wolf (Natalie Moorhead) is murdered and Chris Jorgenson (Cesar Romero), Wymant’s ex wife Mimi’s (Minna Gombell) new husband, goes missing as well. Everyone believes that Wymant is behind the crime, except for Nick, who has a hunch. During the course of the film, Nick is attacked on Christmas Eve by gangster Joe Morelli (Edward Brophy), getting questionable info from Wymant’s lawyer MacCaulay (Porter Hall), and is surrounded by a loony cast of characters who all could have had a hand in the crime. It is up for Nick to reveal the truth at a dinner party he and his wife are throwing, with a real murder mystery as the main entertainment.

The film was originally intended to be a “B” picture, but gained so much fame it became a profitable series. The “Thin Man” in question was supposed to be Edward Ellis’s character of Wymant but so many audience members and critics assumed that Nick was the Thin Man, and so the name stuck. The films have considerably infiltrated the pop culture and the pair of Nick and Nora Charles was parodied in the 1976 mystery comedy Murder by Death, in which Dame Maggie Smith and David Niven played Dora and Dick Charleston.

The film has a large following and his become somewhat of a cult classic, if not a classic film. The Thin Man series has its own fan site and you can learn more about Nick, Norah, and the original book series here. Filmsite.org does a great review and synopsis, which can be found here. And I also have two reviews for your second or third opinion, this one from cinematical.com and this review from Roger Ebert himself from his site. If you want a good mystery for Christmas, The Thin Man is the way to go, but don’t blame me if you get addicted to Nick and Nora. Just in case you want a watch, here is the cleverly done original trailer for the film:

"Baby, you're what I want for Chrismas"

Another fun romantic comedy for Christmas is the 1949 film Holiday Affair. The film is a change of pace for star Robert Mitchum, who is more famous for his roles in film noir and war films at the time. The film was made on a tight budget by Don Hartman and was released on Christmas Eve.

Steve Mason (Mitchum) is a department store clerk, who meets Connie Ennis (Janet Leigh), a customer willing to spend top dollar. What Steve doesn’t realize is that Connie is a commercial spy, trying to get the goods on his company. Steve comes to the realization that Connie isn’t what she seems, but in the Christmas spirit, he lets her go rather than turning her in. Of course, the store doesn’t see this as an act of kindness and fires him. Steve goes on a date with Connie, despite the complications with Connie’s boyfriend Carl Davis (Wendell Corey). Connie’s son Timmy (Gordon Gebert) , however, despises Carl and would much rather have Steve as his future step-father. As rom-coms go, the plot is very simple and easy to figure out with your basic complications and funny moments. Still, the film is sweet and great for Chris mast time.

The film still has a pretty big following, despite the fact that it is hard to find and not as well-known as other holiday films. You can find some other reviews of the film, however, like this one from Classicfilmguide.com. Frank’s Movie blog has done this review, this one is provided by the blog Out of the Past, and Eltremendo3000 has this to say about the film. The film was also ranked by Dirty Harry’s Place as one of the Top 25 Christmas films. A synopsis can also be found here, thanks to Turner Classic. The film is great if you want to see a romantic holiday comedy as well as see Mitchum in a new light or see Janet Leigh in a picture other than where she gets stabbed in a shower.

Further Proof that Martha Stewart Holidays are Impossible

Since I started doing these blogs for the holidays, I have heard a lot about the 1945 film Christmas in Connecticut, which is generally given top notch ratings by official, amateur, and everyman critics all over. Since it came on Turner Classic Movies, I decided to give it a watch and find out what all of the buzz is about. I quickly learned why the romantic comedy had gained such popularity.

Elizabeth Lane (the lovely and amazingly comedic Barbara Stanwyck) is sort of the Martha Stewart of her generation and her columns about her husband, baby, beautiful farm in Connecticut, and wonderful meals she cooks in fictional magainze Smart Housekeeping make her extremely popular, especially with fan, war hero, and recently rescued naval officer Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan). The only problem? Elizabeth doesn’t have a husband or a baby or a beautiful farm in Connecticut and she is such a terrible cook, she needs a recipe to boil water. The magazine publisher and Elizabeth’s boss, Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet, who is probably more famous for his villainous role in The Maltese Falcon) invites himself and Jones over for the holidays to Elizabeth’s place, putting her in a sticky situation. Elizabeth’s recipes actually come from her Uncle Felix (S.Z. Sakall), a cantankerous bistro owner. Self-involved architect John Sloan (Reginald Gardiner) offers Elizabeth use of his home to set up the charade, only if she will accept his marriage proposal. Before the ceremony can take place, however, the guests arrive and the comedy ensues. The entire plot his hilarious in the way it unravels though my favorite was the side bits between Sakall’s tempestuous Greek character and Una O'Connor’s Irish housekeeper.

If the house looks familiar, its because it is the same one used in the Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant classic, Bringing Up Baby. Elizabeth Lane’s character was actually based on Good Housekeeping columnist, Gladys Taber, who did live on a farm in Connecticut.

Tons of reviews have been done about this movie for you to access. This one comes from Times Record News, this one from the blog Flick Filosopher, another from T-G.com, this one from Screenhead.com, a review from Foster on Film, and finally, one from The Record. The site Dirty Harry’s Place also rated this film as its #14 on the best of holiday films.So, take some time this holiday season and enjoy Christmas in Connecticut.

A Dark Christmas Holiday

Yes, yes, it is possible to turn the Christmas holidays into film noir, which you can see in the film Christmas Holiday. Don’t be fooled by cheerful sounding Christmas-y title. This film features a dark plot with some familiar characters in the early days of their careers, playing parts that seem to go totally against the grain of the characters they became most famous for.

Deanna Durbin, more frequently known for being a “girl next door”, Abigail Martin, falls for a Robert Manette who is charming but also has a murderous side to him, played by Gene Kelly. Yes, song and dance man Gene Kelly, the same Gene Kelly from Singin’ in the Rain. Even after she finds out her husband is a louse and a killer, and that his mother (Gale Sondergaard) is an overbearing, sort of Mother Bates type. Abigail moonlights as Jackie Lamont who is a whorehouse singer, even though the film never explicitly says so. In this film, Kelly shows his complexity as an actor and Durbin nails the role of a femme fatale. The film weaves in suspense, remorse, and forgiveness.

If you’re tired of the same old, same old, happy cheery Christmas movies, this is the one for you. Don’t believe me? You can read some of the reviews others have written on it. Noir of the Week his written this review and this one comes from Movie Martyr. Yammering Magpie has also done a review and you can buy the film from them. If you want a most officious sounding source, you can read this review from The New York Times. And for a special treat, here is footage of Durbin singing the song “Always” from the film.

The 1947 MGM film The Bishop’s Wife is one of those Christmastime stories that explores the true meaning of Christmas and what is really important in your live. The film was nominated for Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Picture and it won for Best Sound. The film is based on a novel of the same name written by Robert Nathan.

It begins when Episcopalian Bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven) is trying to build a cathedral financed by a widow Mrs. Hamilton (Gladys Cooper). What Brougham doesn’t notice is that his wife Julia (Loretta Young) is miserably unhappy, he is forgetting why he became a minister in the first place. He prays that someone will come to help with his troubles surrounding the new cathedral and is answered by an angel named Dudley (Cary Grant). Dudley helps everyone meet their needs and is well-loved among the parishioners, even by non-religios Dr. Wutheridge (Monty Woolley). Brougham is the only person not enchanted by Dudley, especially with Dudley’s relationship with Julia, which has become increasingly complicated the more they bond and the more absent her husband is. Brougham has to stand up to Dudley and realize what about is life is the most important.

If the plot sounds familiar, its because the film was remade in 1996 and retitled The Preacher’s Wife, which starred Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington. Also, if the character of Matilda looks familiar, its because she is legendary scream queen Elsa Lanchester, most famously known as playing the title role in The Bride of Frankenstein.

For some reviews of this film, you can look to Cary Grant's personal website, which has a reivew of the film here. Crazy4cinema.com also has a review of the film, which you can read here. The blog Reflections in the Afternoon has this post, which talks about the film. Mymerrychristmas.com has this review as well. As an added bonus, here is the films trailer, thanks to Turner Classic Movies.

A Bio Pic of Biblical Proportions

With a name like The Greatest Story Ever Told, your film pretty much has to be guaranteed good. Of course, with a cast as star-studded as this one, it was pretty hard for director George Stevens and writer Henry Denker to go wrong with their 1965 biblical epic. The film was based on a book of the same name by Fulton Oursler, who wrote several novels, plays, and short stories. The film chronicles the life of Jesus of Nazareth from birth until death.

The cast, as I mentioned before, is one of the greatest assemblages of acting talent in motion pictures. The leading role of Jesus was portray by Swedish actor Max von Sydow, an acclaimed actor who has done mostly foreign language films. Michael Anderson Jr. played John the Baptist, Carroll Baker as Veronica, Pat Boone as the Young Man at the Tomb, and Charlton Heston as St. John the Baptist. Mary and Joseph were respectively played by Dorothy McGuire and Robert Loggia. I won't name every single part, but the cast list continues on with such fine actors and actresses as Claude Rains, Martin Landau, Roddy McDowall, Sidney Poitier, Shelley Winters, Ed Wynn, John Wayne, Angela Lansbury, Van Heflin, Sal Mineo,Telly Savalas, Paul Stewart, Harold J. Stone, Joseph Schildkraut, Victor Buono, Jose Ferrer, Robert Blake, Donald Pleasence, Richard Conte, Jamie Farr, David McCallum, Ina Balin, Janet Margolin, and Cyril Delevanti. This film figures in at Christmastime not just because of the Jesus element but also because of his retrospective on faith and its meaning.

Darryl F. Zanuck was the one who acquired the rights for the film from Oursler, who was then a senior editor of Reader's Digest. Zanuck, as many of you know was working for Fox and now the film is in the hands of MGM. George Stevens at the time was directed the film version of The Diary of Anne Frank (which we'll get to on Hanukkah) and since the studio wasn't doing anything with the rights, decided he wanted to produce the epic of biblical proportions. The American southwest was chosen for many of the films locations, since Stevens wanted to give a dramatic look to the film he did not think he would find in the settings of the Middle East. The film took years to right and an estimated $20 million to make. Critics were divided when the film was released, though Stevens thought the film was a masterpiece.

You can watch the film divided up into short segments here thanks to YouTube and Google Video. MGM now owns the film and has a site for it with trailers, info, and still shots from the movie, which can be found here. Some wonderful screenshots from the film can be found at the Movie Screen Shot Blog and more info and a synopsis can be found here, thanks to Mahalo.com. You can read two reviews, one from The New York Times and another from soulfoodcinema.com. And if you want to see the film on your TV rather than your computer, Turner Classic Movies is running the film on Christmas Day, which you can read about here.

A Little Hope for the Holidays

If you need a little Christmas cheer, look no further than Bob Hope starring in the 1951 film The Lemon Drop Kid . This film, not to be confused with the champion thoroughbred race horse also named The Lemon Drop Kid, is another great Hope comedy involving gambling, Santa suites, Christmas, and ends with a smile. The film has been broken into 9 to 10 minute segments, but those who are patient enough can view it here, thanks to YouTube and Google video.

The premise of the movie begins when the Lemon Drop Kid aka Sidney Melbourne (Bob Hope) comes from New York City to work the Florida racetrack. He falls in with the beautifully dumb Stella (Andrea King) and persuades her to change her bet. When the bet looses, The Kid finds out Stella is the girl of gangster Moose Moran (Fred Clark), who wants The Kid to reimburse him for the money his girl lost him at the racetrack. The Kid tries to get the money from girlfriend Brainy Baxter (Marilyn Maxwell) and then from fellow miscreant "Oxford" Charlie (Lloyd Nolan). He spies a man dresses as Santa Claus and decides collection donations as Santa is the perfect scheme. After a night in jail, he realizes he needs a backer for this scheme and puts his so-called charitable intentions towards Nellie Thursday (Jane Darwell), a woman who can't get a home because of her incarcerated husband's reputation. A bunch of fellow small time crooks get involved in The Kid's scheme to collect the money under Nellie's name and use it for himself. Of course, no one knows that The Kid is collecting for himself and this is where things get tricky. The plot ties itself up and then unravels wonderfully with just the hint of suspense that comedy needs to make it truly funny.

A little bit of trivia, this song introduced the Christmas tune "Silver Bells", which is sung by Hope and Maxell. Also, William Frawley appeared as "Gloomy" Willie Dunhill in this version and the 1934 version of The Lemon Drop Kid. The film was even included as an example in an article about the Law and Popular Culture from the University of San Francisco.

For some reviews, you can always check out this one from The New York Times or this one from eltremendo3000.com. More info can be found here thanks to cinema.theiapolis.com. And this film ranked as #12 on Dirty Harry's Place's Top 25 Christmas films. So, there you have it, a little Hope for the holidays.