Kat's Christmas Movie Recommendations

I have often times been asked to share what some of my favorite Christmas movies are so I thought I would share some of them with you. Mind you, they have changed over the year and as I have gotten older, my tastes have been refined a bit by the classics most people don't even know about. In no particular order they are:

1. White Christmas: I mean nothing gets better than Bing Crosby. I prefer the simplicity of the story. The tale of love that is struggling to find a place in people's hearts, in this case Bing's character. It also blends the story of Bing's past serving in WWII, and we find him returning back to help his old General save his historic inn. The music is beautiful and the wardrobe is classic in every way. When women still dressed up no matter what they were doing.

2. It Happened on Fifth Avenue. I actually found this one while looking for Christmas Classic movies that I might have missed and it truly does offer something that will embed itself in your heart long after you finish watching it. It tells the story of a homeless man who finds lodging during the Christmas season by taking advantage of wealthy homes that are left vacate. It is a true classic comedy in every way with a compelling message.

3. Holiday Inn: Once again back to Bing Crosby in which case you can never go wrong. He stars with Fred Astaire as a couple of entertainers who have now decided to break up their act. Bing decides to open an Inn that is only open on holidays. It isn't so much a Christmas movie but it wraps up with the opening at Christmas time in which old relationships are mended and new ones formed.

4. The Bells of St. Mary: Another Bing Crosby classic. This movie tells the tale of a home for wayward boys who suddenly find themselves looking for funds to rebuild. Bing plays the Catholic Father O'Malley for the home and soon finds himself at odds with one of the Sisters played by Ingrid Bergman. They hope that a wealthy real estate man will offer to donate a new home for the boys if they can only persuade him to give up his latest project which is adjacent to their home.

5. It's A Wonderful Life: Life truly doesn't get any better during Christmas than watching Frank Capra's beloved classic about George Bailey (James Stewart) and Mary (Donna Reed) who fall in life during their childhood and soon marry after George returns home from college to handle the Bailey Building and Loan for his ailing father. The message of hope and redemption is a clear as the ringing bell on the Christmas Tree and this one is by far one of my all time favorites.

6. Miracle on 34th Street (1994) I love the more recent remake of this movie over the classic 1947 version. There is something wonderful of watching an underdog rally the city and it's residents to help fight the greater good in the belief of Santa Claus. I love watching this one during Thanksgiving and love Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins and Dylon McDermott. Their chemistry gives you the "Ah!" factor.

7. The Shop Around the Corner - This is the original movie where You Got Mail was remade. Once again James Stewart plays a shop clerk Alfred Kralik and Margaret Sullivan plays Klara Novak who find that the person they have been writing letters to are actually the same person.

8. Christmas in July - I actually discovered this one way before Christmas for the first time, browsing Turner Classic Movies one day and wondered, how did I ever miss it. An office clerk, James MacDonald (Dick Powell) loves entering contests in the hopes of someday winning a fortune and marrying the girl he loves Bettie Casey (Ellen Drew). His latest attempt is the Maxford House Coffee Slogan Contest. As a joke, some of his co-workers put together a fake telegram which says that he won the $25,000 grand prize. As a result, he gets a promotion, buys presents for all of his family and friends, and proposes to his girl. When the truth comes out, he's not prepared for the consequences.

9. Holiday Affair - The Christmas-season romance of a young widow and a sales clerk who (thanks to her) is unemployed. Hol­i­day Affair is a roman­tic com­edy star­ring Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wen­dell Corey, and Harry Morgan. Set dur­ing the Christ­mas sea­son, this clas­sic movie cen­tres on a war widow who can­not afford to buy her son a toy train for Christmas. When a war vet­eran dis­cov­ers her plight and offers to buy the toy, a com­pli­cated hol­i­day romance begins, one that is not with­out lively com­pe­ti­tion for the widow’s affections.

10. Boys Town - While not exactly a Christmas movie per say, the theme surrounding this one has it in my much watched collection each Christmas. Against all odds Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracy)starts "Boys' Town" after hearing a convict's story. Whitey Marsh(Mickey Rooney) comes there. He runs away but, hungry, returns. He runs away again but, when friend Pee Wee is hit by a car, returns. He runs away and joins his brother's gang. Flanagan and the boys capture the crooks and the reward saves the town.


That wraps up my Christmas Classic Movie list. If  you haven't taken the time to watch any of these, trust me you'll want to add them this year. I'll be adding my Hallmark Movie Channel favorites tomorrow! Let me know what your favorite Christmas movies are in the comment box below.

An Old Fashioned Classic Christmas Girl!

In keeping up with my Christmas Trivia Posts on Facebook, where I pose a trivia question based on some of the favorite Christmas movies to date. I have often times been asked to share what some of my favorite movies are so I thought I would share some of them with you. Mind you, they have changed over the year and as I have gotten older, my tastes have been refined a bit by the classics most people don't even know about. In no particular order they are:

1. White Christmas: I mean nothing gets better than Bing Crosby. I prefer the simplicity of the story. The tale of love that is struggling to find a place in people's hearts, in this case Bing's character. It also blends the story of Bing's past serving in WWII, and we find him returning back to help his old General save his historic inn. The music is beautiful and the wardrobe is classic in every way. When women still dressed up no matter what they were doing.

2. It Happened on Fifth Avenue. I actually found this one while looking for Christmas Classic movies that I might have missed and it truly does offer something that will embed itself in your heart long after you finish watching it. It tells the story of a homeless man who finds lodging during the Christmas season by taking advantage of wealthy homes that are left vacate. It is a true classic comedy in every way with a compelling message.

3. Holiday Inn: Once again back to Bing Crosby in which case you can never go wrong. He stars with Fred Astaire as a couple of entertainers who have now decided to break up their act. Bing decides to open an Inn that is only open on holidays. It isn't so much a Christmas movie but it wraps up with the opening at Christmas time in which old relationships are mended and new ones formed.

4. The Bells of St. Mary: Another Bing Crosby classic. This movie tells the tale of a home for wayward boys who suddenly find themselves looking for funds to rebuild. Bing plays the Catholic Father O'Malley for the home and soon finds himself at odds with one of the Sisters played by Ingrid Bergman. They hope that a wealthy real estate man will offer to donate a new home for the boys if they can only persuade him to give up his latest project which is adjacent to their home.

5. It's A Wonderful Life: Life truly doesn't get any better during Christmas than watching Frank Capra's beloved classic about George Bailey (James Stewart) and Mary (Donna Reed) who fall in life during their childhood and soon marry after George returns home from college to handle the Bailey Building and Loan for his ailing father. The message of hope and redemption is a clear as the ringing bell on the Christmas Tree and this one is by far one of my all time favorites.

6. Miracle on 34th Street (1994) I love the more recent remake of this movie over the classic 1947 version. There is something wonderful of watching an underdog rally the city and it's residents to help fight the greater good in the belief of Santa Claus. I love watching this one during Thanksgiving and love Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins and Dylon McDermott. Their chemistry gives you the "Ah!" factor.

7. The Shop Around the Corner - This is the original movie where You Got Mail was remade. Once again James Stewart plays a shop clerk Alfred Kralik and Margaret Sullivan plays Klara Novak who find that the person they have been writing letters to are actually the same person.

That wraps up my Christmas Classic Movie list. If  you haven't taken the time to watch any of these, trust me you'll want to add them this year. Let me know what your favorite Christmas movies are in the comment box below.

George Bailey Moments

I'm sure if you're like most people you've heard about if not seen the movie, "It's A Wonderful Life!". It comes out every Christmas and was created by Frank Capra during the 1940's. It's funny because it wasn't designed as a Christmas movie but over time, the profound message to be found gleaned within is that when it's all said and done, our lives are pretty wonderful. Sometimes we just need a closer look. That's just what happens to George Bailey in the movie.

If you've never had the pleasure to enjoy this classic, you want to make sure you pick it up or perhaps rent it from your local video retailer. In this movie, George Bailey has always did the right thing in life, and most of the time it was to the benefit of someone else. George got the credit but someone else got the prize. George saved his brother, Harry from a fall into the ice while sledding. Harry's life was spared but in the process, George lost the hearing in one ear. Another time, George was going to head off to college but when his father has a stroke and dies, the Bailey Building and Loan, created and run by George's father is about to be sold to Mr. Potter, the wealthiest and stingiest man in town. George knows that if it wasn't for the loans his father provided for most of the town's residents, Mr. Potter would have placed them in run-down tenements and charged them more money than they were worth. So George forfeits leaving for college and instead sends his brother Harry while he sees to the Bailey Building and Loan until Harry is finished. However as luck would have it, Harry meets a young woman who's father is well to do and is offering Harry a great job. George knows he can't stand in the way of true happiness and once more concedes to do the honorable thing.

When George finds himself down on his luck, he feels life has finally caught up with him and knows he is worth more dead than alive. Unable to save himself from jail, and scandal, George offers up a prayer to the heavens asking God to show him what his life would be like if things were different and then attempts to jump from a bridge into a icy river. As luck would have it, God's got plans for George Bailey and grants him just such an answer to prayer. He provides George the opportunity to see that his life would be like if he'd never been born. To George's surprise, he never realized how his actions lead to more significant ones and the lives of the people he knows and even his own town and family all have a much more wonderful life with George in it.

I sometimes often wonder what our lives would be like, if God answered us with our own George Bailey moment. To see how our life makes a difference in the lives of the people we interact and deal with daily. Sometimes I believe it's just what we need to shake us from our dull ruts we find ourselves trapped in. Doing the same thing over and over and yet wondering why our lives never get any better and we never move ahead. Could be the saying that finds its way to my lips so often. "If nothing changes, NOTHING changes!"

I think we need to stop and think about all the things in our lives that are going great instead of dwelling on the ones that aren't. I think we need to stop taking advantage of people and staying showing more respect to people. We need to stop believing we are entitled to anything and start trying to find out what our part is that are supposed to play in this role of a lifetime. I believe we need to stop complaining, judging, pointing fingers and get busy doing what's right, no matter what people think or who is or isn't watching. The most important person of all is watching and that's God. When it's all over and done, God will be asking not what we have done with our time, but who have we served, how have we given back, how have we made this place a better one because we were in it. Not what's in it for us, but what's in it for the betterment of someone else. After all isn't that truly what makes this life, a wonderful one after all?

Think about that and reflect on your own George Bailey moment, would you like what you see or would you like the opportunity to change it before it's too late?