One of my favorite ways to ring in the holiday season is certainly by enjoying some Christmas-themed classics from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Unsurprisingly, there are so many holiday films to enjoy that either take place during the holiday season, have pivotal moments during the holidays, or at least allude to the holidays for a scene or two. Moreover, there is so much to learn and appreciate about well-known holiday classics as well as some that do not receive quite as much attention.
Jeremy Arnold’s Christmas in the Movies: Revised & Expanded Edition offers essays about 35 film classics to further celebrate the holiday season. This volume, expanding upon the 2018 release, offers entries about five additional holiday films as well as additional discussion about some of the films already covered in the prior version. Moreover, this book is beautifully supplemented with photographs in addition to highlighting key classic holiday movie moments.
This book offers information about Golden Age holiday classics as well as contemporary holiday classics. While I immensely enjoyed reading about individual classic holiday films, I also really appreciated the chapters that tackled multiple films usually grouped by a similar theme; for example, some chapters deal with variations on A Christmas Carol, an in-depth examination of holiday films released in 1947, or exploring the intersection of Christmas and Film Noir.
This book makes an excellent holiday gift but is sure to be enjoyed by classic film fans at any time of year.
Hometowns to Hollywood 