It’s the hap-happiest season of all. We bring nature inside as we adorn our living spaces with seasonally appropriate trees, and we light up the longer nights with bright and colourful lights. Music from generations long since passed is re-played and re-contextualised, and centuries old iconography is re-evaluated and repurposed.

There’ll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and carolling out in the snow. If we’ve been good, we’ll receive gifts (thanks Santa!), and if we’re lucky we’ll eat so much food we can barely move. Almost certainly, we’ll watch a movie. From the Netflix Originals of the current era to the silver screen classics of wartime Hollywood, Christmastime movie watching doesn’t discriminate based on picture quality, colour or the lack thereof, acting powerhouses or barely trained actors – if it works, it works. And if it’s good, we’ll hold onto it forever.

In this Movie List from The Film Magazine, we’ve scoured the annals of Christmas movie history to bring you the very best of the best to watch this holiday season. These films are Christmas classics and beloved cult hits, some culturally significant and others often overlooked. These films are seasonal treats; two advent calendars worth of movie magic from the big-wigs in Hollywood and beyond.

Short films (those with a runtime of under one hour) will not be included here, nor will films that cross multiple seasons but feel like Christmas movies – sorry You’ve Got Mail and Bridget Jones’s Diary. Debatable Christmas movies like Gremlins have also been omitted because of their inclusion in our alternative list “10 Excellent Non-Christmas Films Set at Christmas“. Seasonal classic The Apartment has also been disqualified on the grounds that it covers Christmas and beyond, and is arguably more of a new year’s movie.

These are 50 Unmissable Christmas Movies as chosen by The Film Magazine team members. Entries by Mark Carnochan, Kieran Judge, Martha Lane, Sam Sewell-Peterson and Joseph Wade.

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1. Remember the Night (1940)

Golden Era stars Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray (who would go on to star in The Apartment) spark an unlikely romance when Stanwyck’s Lee Leander steals a bracelet from a jewellery store and MacMurray’s John “Jack” Sargent is assigned to prosecute her over the Christmas holidays.

One of the era’s many beloved studio romantic comedies, Remember the Night features all the elements that would come to define the genre while encompassing some screwball comedy and classic transatlantic accents. The tagline read “When good boy meets bad girl they remember the night”, and it’s likely you’ll remember this seasonal treat too. JW

2. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Few things signal classic Hollywood Christmases like Jimmy Stewart, and 6 years before arguably his most memorable performance in the iconic Frank Capra Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life, he starred in a seasonal favourite that was just as beloved by critics, The Shop Around the Corner.

This holiday romance from Ernst Lubitsch (who also directed Heaven Can Wait) sees Stewart’s Alfred fall in love with his pen pal who, unbeknownst to him, is the colleague he most despises at his gift store job – You’ve Got Mail has got nothing on this. With some hearty moments and all of the circumstantial comedy of the best movies of the era, The Shop Around the Corner will make you laugh and fill your heart in that special way that only the best Christmas movies can. JW

3. Holiday Inn (1942)

Early sound pictures were revolutionised by famed tap dancer Fred Astaire, and by 1942 he was a certified movie musical megastar. In Mark Sandrich’s seasonal musical Holiday Inn, he teams with would-be Christmas icon and man with a voice as sooth as silk, Bing Crosby. The result is one of the most iconic and influential Christmas movies ever made.

The film’s outdated attitude towards race are cringe-inducing and inexcusable in a 21st century context (there’s a whole sequence featuring blackface), but its other dated sensibilities shine bright amongst more modern and commercial Christmas films; its wholesome aura, classic dance scenes, and era-defining songs making for an unmissable experience. To top it all, Bing Crosby sings “White Christmas” for the first time in this film, cementing it in history as a seasonal classic. JW

4. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Widely acknowledged as one of the holiday season’s best-ever films, Vincente Minnelli (An American in Paris) illuminates his would-be wife Judy Garland in arguably her most established performance, bringing Christmas cheer to all without sacrificing any of the harsh realities facing the American people in the first half of the 20th century.

Featuring the original (and arguably the best) rendition of Christmas classic “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, and being anchored by some heartbreaking story elements, Meet Me In St. Louis maintains its power and relevance 80 years on. It offers a Christmas movie that will forever mark the height of its sub-genre, as well as the two filmmaking careers (of Minnelli and Garland) that helped to define the era. JW

Recommended for you: There’s No Place Like St. Louis at Christmas

5. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Remember the Night star Barbara Stanwyck is once again front and centre for a Golden Era Hollywood Christmas movie, this time playing a city magazine editor whose lies about being a perfect housewife are put to the test when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her house.

This is screwball comedy with all the spirit of the festive season is as romantic as it is funny, and prominently features the shadows of World War II to gift the film a unique emotionality that has ensured it is rewatched year on year. JW

In this Movie List from The Film Magazine, we’re looking into what makes this off-kilter Christmas movie so memorable in this, the 10 Best Bad Santa Moments.

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10. The Opening Credits

Willie props up a bar, dressed in his red and white finery, and makes it abundantly clear he is furious at the world. Within seconds the audience is completely clear about Willie as a character. He doesn’t look the part, and certainly doesn’t act the part. He is as miserable as he is scrawny. Within a few minutes we are subjected to a drunken St Nick puking orange onto freshly fallen snow as the words Bad Santa appear on screen next to him. It sets the tone perfectly. Does a more fitting opening in cinematic history exist?

9. Willie Beats Up the Bullies

Willie is nearly always in his Santa suit during the film, even if it has dropped around his ankles. So, when he attacks Thurman’s tormentors he is indeed dressed as Santa Claus. It’s not big and it’s not clever but the image of Kris Kringle attacking children is certainly striking. Willie’s heart is in the right place, but this misguided move is almost too much to stomach. Even if these kids definitely belong on the naughty list. The vigorous arm swinging is such a stark contrast to the previous scene – Willie in a car, suicidal and alone. The need to protect Thurman revives him but even when doing something good, he’s doing something terribly terribly bad.

Bad Santa is one of those Christmas films that has a tendency to slip under the radar. It never seems to be a well-known film, but equally it’s not unheard of. In truth, it’s not a typical Christmas film and it’s certainly not one of the first films shown on TV leading up to the festive season; it’s no family favourite. Bad Santa is a comedy that goes against the traditional Christmas film, it glorifies crooks who commit robberies during Christmas and depicts a sex and drink obsessed Santa Claus. With the most profanities in any Christmas film, Bad Santa is the perfect film for those who don’t enjoy traditional Christmas films, but it’s still a film that deserves more recognition as an enjoyable holiday season movie.

Bad Santa is a story about a depressed and miserable con man, Willie (Thornton), who dresses up as Santa every December with his partner in crime Marcus (Cox), Santa’s chief elf. Together they go from shopping centre to shopping centre posing as Santa and his elf for children but, on the last night, they break into the stores and rob them before Christmas. This year Willie’s heightened bad behaviour has gotten worse as he shows little regard for clashing his frequent inappropriate behaviour with his work. This alerts the security chief of the shopping centre (Mac), who slowly becomes aware of their plan. All the while, Willie’s miserable approach to Christmas begins to change as he befriends a troubled child and starts dating a local barmaid, Sue (Graham), who both show him the true meaning of Christmas and slowly influence him to change his ways.

The image of a drunk Santa Claus stopping to vomit in an alleyway amidst heavy Christmas snow is the not so picturesque opening and tone for a Coen brothers-devised screenplay of the most audacious Christmas film ever produced. Bad Santa parodies the happy, festive and family side of Christmas by creating the character of Willie who is the complete opposite: he has no family, he hates Christmas and he’s miserable. In fact, Bad Santa is almost a live-action retelling of The Grinch. Willie is a man who distances himself from everyone else, with one exception. He hates Christmas and he’s envious of those who are happy and celebrate it so, like the Grinch, rather than embrace it, he steals it. Willie doesn’t necessarily steal from the townspeople like the Grinch does, but he does steal from its main source of Christmas gifts, which is perhaps more of a symbolic reference. Just like the Grinch, Willie’s feelings and attitudes are changed when he meets a small child, who teaches him the true meaning of Christmas and influences him to change his ways and celebrate Christmas like everyone else. Willie is more of an ‘adults’ Grinch: he drinks, smokes, he’s a sex pest and has little to no regard to anyone else’s well-being.

Thornton does an exceptional job at playing the troubled Santa impersonator. Everything he does just seems so natural and believable for the character he’s playing – most of this could be down to the fact he was genuinely drunk during some parts of filming. Thornton simply epitomizes the low-life booze addict and nails every single mannerism and detail you would expect from his character. Whilst he doesn’t expel likeability, we can appreciate that he his a tragic character. At the very start of the film he accepts his miserable life through a dark monologue, which has made him who he is, and he acknowledges and accepts that he’ll never be able to change. Yet, throughout the film he has moments where he shows not only that he can be a good person, but that he even enjoys it. Willie’s occasional moments of redemption clash with his persistent outbreaks, which help maintain a consistent feeling of sympathy towards his tragic character. This balance is further portrayed through Marcus, who spends most of his time criticising and insulting Willie, insisting he’s on a constant downward spiral and through Sue, who sees and helps bring out the best in him. Further credit goes to Cox and Mac for their hilarious comedic performances – Cox whose memorable one-liners and insults get better as his relationship with Willie gets worse and Mac whose on-screen presence dominates anyone he shares the screen with.

The only criticism I could really give the film is where it borders on being believable. A film doesn’t necessarily have to be believable to be good, even more so in comedy films as more often than not comedy plot-lines sit on top of a ridiculous idea or circumstance. However, there’s still a degree of it being believable that’s required. In Bad Santa it’s very difficult to believe that Willie and Marcus get away with a lot of their behaviour, the film doesn’t go into detail on how they’ve pulled off seven successful jobs prior, but that’s not really the issue. The issue lies in Willie himself who makes little to no effort in being a believable santa to the children; drinking on the job, falling asleep and showing no joy or effort in general at being a convincing Santa. This issue is raised by the shopping centre’s manager, who is blackmailed into keeping them on until Christmas, but it doesn’t explain the parents themselves who would surely not want to expose their children to such a character. It’s hard to believe they get as far as they do, let alone that they have been successful for seven years.

Director Terry Zwigoff creates a festive atmosphere without going too cheesy and overboard whilst maintaining a dark comedic undertone. It’s not a Christmas film for everyone, it’s a film that draws in comedy, Christmas and even non-Christmas fans. It’s a film that doesn’t take itself too seriously and I know I’ve explained this before, but people often forget that films don’t have to be award winners to be good, some films are simply made to entertain and Bad Santa is one of them. Not the most creative or thought-out story, but a decent script, convincing acting and a wonderfully festive soundtrack.

16/24