Posted by
Bungaloe Bill on Wednesday, December 06, 2006 11:30:19 AM
For me, Christmas (after its religious implications, of course) is all about movies. One of the best is A Christmas Story. The movie is not to everybody's taste: It's episodic, more a series of unrelated vignettes than a cohesive movie, and Jean Shepard's tart take on the holiday is not exactly the kind of sugary-sweet tale many folks like for the holiday. But I love it; it's real, unvarnished Americana and, well, the dad reminds me a bit of my dad, so there's that too.
Another one that resonates for me is White Christmas, largely because it was a traditional view in my house as a kid. We used to watch it every year, and after VCRs arrived, we watched my copy of it annually, to the point where the whole family had it memorized. It's a permanent part of my mental furniture. Having learned about a decade ago that Danny Kaye was gay only adds to the amusement of the thing--note how his shoes match his suit in EVERY scene--especially the scene in which the lucious Vera Ellen throws herself at Danny and he cringes away in terror. In those days, you said: "Oh, those incorrigible bachelors!" The undertones of the scene today are much funnier.
The various versions of A Christmas Carol also deserve inspection. The 1951Alistair Sim version is, to me, the Gold Standard by which all other straight versions must needs be judged. The 1938 Reginald Owen version runs a close second, suffering mostly from that 1930s stink almost every movie from that era bears. Beyond that, the rest of pack files in behind. Captain Picard did a memorable turn in 1999, so did George C. Scott, in 1984.
For the non-straight versions, the winner, hands-down is Bill Murray's inspired turn from 1988--mainly because it's the only version the Dickens classic I know of that features large amounts of gunplay (and it's also pretty much the last great role for Karen Allen, who I think is beautiful).
Then of course, there's the separate category of the animated Scrooges. The portrayals run the gamut. In my opinion the superlative performance is by that noted thespian Mister Magoo. The Magoovian treatment is rich and deep and heartfelt--oh, and if you think Frasier starred in the first musical version, think again: Magoo was warbling about Christmas four decades ago. Much of the credit for the charm of the Magoo version goes to composer-lyricist Jule Styne (who wrote "Gypsy" the same year), who provided incredibly memorable music for Jim Bacchus to croak out. Other noted cartoon performances include the bombastic Flintstonian portrayal and the pedestrian typecasting of Scrooge McDuck (who else?) in Disney's attempt. The less said about the awful Yosemite Sam outing the better.