I am not usually a big fan of lists, especially those year-end lists of the top ten films of the year. Most of the time they are pictures I haven’t seen and don’t want to see. But having recently seen A Christmas Carol (the 1938 MGM version with Reginald Owen as Scrooge) on TCM, I began to wonder which ones were my favorites of all time. I began to surf the net and found that there are literally thousands of other such lists, some quite amusing. There’s even one for the worst Christmas movies of all time! Luckily I had not seen any of those, although I remember when Silent Night, Deadly Night came out. It’s the one about a crazed Santa Claus serial killer. It was pulled from theatres almost instantly, a rare case of good taste prevailing over big business.

Anyway, for what it is worth, I’ve compiled my own list. The ones I picked have something very unique about them. They are certainly not the best, per se, but they are my favorites.  A few here are not on any of the other lists I’ve seen. I hope you will discover them for the first time and enjoy them as much as I did.

(I’ve decided to list them in reverse order, otherwise there is no fun in coming to the top pick.)

10. CHRISTMAS IN JULY (starring Dick Powell, 1940) — While this film does not qualify as a true Christmas classic, as it takes place in the summer, it always makes me smile and think of Yuletide greetings while the rest of the country is blowing off fireworks.

09. THE HOMECOMING (the pilot episode of The Waltons TV series, 1971) — Warm-hearted and faithful nostalgia about a poor family’s Christmas in the midst of the Great Depression, 1933.

08. THE GIFT OF THE MAGI (one of the episodes in the 1952 O. Henry film Full House). Jeanne Crain cuts off her beautiful hair to buy her husband, Farley Granger, a platinum fob chain for a Christmas gift, while he sells his favorite watch to buy her some combs. The perfect Christmas message.

07. WINTER MEETING (perhaps Bette Davis’ most underrated film, made in 1948, which takes place in New York and Connecticut during a snowy holiday season. Co-starring Jim Davis, who played a military hero with a religious calling, the film bombed at the box office and nearly ruined both their careers. Still it is one of my favorites for a cold December night when I can sit back and watch Bette in her prime.)

06. BABES IN TOYLAND (aka March of the Wooden Soldiers). Starring Laurel & Hardy, this classic flick is hilarious and heart-warming with a scary Bogey Man that will give you goosebumps. It’s one of the best holiday comedies ever and a staple of my childhood television viewing.

05. HOLIDAY INN (the original film, later turned into the full-color White Christmas). A perfect parfait of a movie musical. From 1942. It has the classiest music, the best dancing and the finest dialogue even if it does drag in a lot of other holidays to make its point.

04. CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (1943). How can you not love a movie starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan and my all-time favorite movie star Sydney Greenstreet!!? I am surprised this zany classic is not on many more lists. Its fast-moving plot and screwball comedy is topnotch.

03. A CHRISTMAS MEMORY (Truman Capote’s touching tale of a poor lonely boy’s Christmas in the South is perfectly rendered in the 1966 TV version starring Geraldine Page. No other version comes close to this one, although I had to use the image from the Patty Duke DVD at left.)

02. THE HOLLY AND THE IVY (scarcely known in this country, this moving British film from 1952 stars Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson and the ever chic Margaret Leighton. It’s a powerful story of two sisters rivaling for their stern father’s attention during the Christmas holiday and the sacrifices each must make to hide a shocking secret.)

01. SCROOGE: A CHRISTMAS CAROL (for my money there is no better version of Dickens’s timeless short story than the British one from 1951 entitled Scrooge, starring Alastair Sim. The MGM version with the Lockharts is pure pablum next to it. Only Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol can hold a candle to it, although I do like the musical version starring Albert Finney. But Sim takes Scrooge to a level all his own and I am sure this is the one even Dickens would have taken with him to his grave. It’s a brilliant rendition of a timeless classic, one that continues to remind us each year that Christmas is not about money or gifts, but about the spirit of good will towards all men. Come to think of it, isn’t that what Linus told us in Charlie Brown’s Christmas Special? Maybe I should make that my 11th favorite!)

Last night, arriving home after a late trip back from a marvelous Thanksgiving dinner with friends, I found I couldn’t sleep. It must have been the pecan pie. So I watched the film Callas Forever, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, about the final days of the opera diva Maria Callas. It’s a movie that deserves a much wider audience and reputation. It did not get the fanfare here that it deserved, although it was well-received in Europe and is a popular rental on Netflix. Seeing it again reminded me of a piece I wrote for Opera News back in April 2002, about Zeffirelli and the making of the film. I was able to visit one of the sets at Cinecitta and meet Fanny Ardant and Jeremy Irons. Franco was bouncing back from some physical problems but had not lost any of his legendary zest or zeal.

Meeting him at his home outside Rome was an absolute pleasure as he lived up to his reputation as a prankster and a seductive raconteur. Thanks to Adam Wasserman at Opera News for the link. Click on the link below. And enjoy! And while you’re at it, check out the latest issue of the magazine. It’s terrific.

CLICK HERE: Franco Zeffirelli

Last night I happened to be watching the CMA Awards Show on ABC which celebrates the nation’s top-selling country music artists. As I was listening to Martina McBride, who has an absolutely amazing voice, I was struck by how similar the worlds of opera and country music really are.

First of all, country music often offers soaring, lyrical melodies sung, usually, by singers with appealing voices. Think not only of Martina but of Faith Hill, Reba McEntire and Trisha Yearwood (who can out-sing many opera singers) but also Clint Black, Garth Brooks and newcomer Josh Turner, who has a voice of pure velvet with a stunning chest voice. In country, the music is king. It’s not, as in rap or today’s current pop music, all about screeching or flashy riffs which emphasize the singer over the tune (if there is one at all). Go ahead and listen to an old Merle Haggard album. That man had a voice that was sheer honey. He milked a melody like no other country singer, and he did it all without pinched high notes and gulping passaggios.

Then there are the themes: poverty, loneliness, abandoned children, drunkenness, divorce, adultery, and even murder. Is there really much difference between the story line of Otello and Reba’s hit “The Night The Lights Went out in Georgia” (originally sung by Vicki Lawrence of The Carol Burnett Show)? Or the mysticism of Marguerite’s final aria in Faust vs Martina McBride’s faith in “God’s Will”?

Some might argue that opera is high brow and country music merely redneck low brow. But they are mistaking the current elitist attitude about opera over the historic appeal of this type of theatre. In Europe, opera has always been the art form of the masses just as country music is here.

The CMA awards ceremony included some real lows — The guys of Rascal Flatts were perfectly awful in their two sets. It seems to me that the minute they leave a studio they lose whatever talent they might have had. Kenny Chesney won for Entertainer of the Year, but his performance of “Don’t Blink” was mediocre to say the least and the audience was barely stifling yawns during it. I much preferred Miranda Lambert, who reminds me a bit of Susan Graham, feisty and fulsome (both seen below).

The real highlight of the evening was a complete surprise. Kellie Pickler, of American Idol fame, sang her heart out in a song about abandonment which she wrote about her own painful childhood. Singing it in Nashville caused her to break down in the middle of the song and to start crying. She sang the hell out of it even as she choked back tears, and brought the house down. How different is that, in spirit at least, from watching a true diva like Teresa Zylis-Gara give a gut-wrenching performance of Suor Angelica about a mother lamenting over the dead child she had abandoned? (see both stars below).

Something else I noticed while watching these performers do their thang on TV is how similar some of them are in terms of personality and charisma to the great opera stars of today and yesterday. Looking at Sarah Evans in her strapless gown one might mistake her for Anna Moffo in her prime, both of them oozing stylish looks that belie their talent.

And handsome baritione Josh Turner has the matinee idol looks and the talent of heartthrob divo Nathan Gunn. (both seen below)

Isn’t Carrie Underwood the Elizabeth Futral of country music? Gorgeous to look at, with a golden voice that may not be as jaw-dropping as a Sutherland or a Sills, but it gets the job done beautifully. And one could easily compare Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland to the fabulous Finn Karita Mattila. (both below)

So during the commercials last night, I made a list of other similarities. Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, who are country’s power couple, can certainly hold their own against Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna.

Alison Krauss is the Renee Fleming of Nashville; there is nothing she can’t sing.

Shania Twain could be Sylvia McNair’s twin, even to the extent that neither are seen that much today.

When you look at Wynnona Judd there are echoes of Marilyn Horne celebrating the American Song.

I would say Trisha Yearwood, who is married to Garth Brooks (the Pavarotti of opry?), has all the appeal of Deborah Voigt and now that Voigt has lost so much weight, they are about the same dress size.

Dark-haired crooner Brad Paisley could be the Juan Diego Florez of country, although his roulades are not quite as good. But he has the same degree of sparkling wit and lithe sex appeal. Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts is Anthony Dean Griffey with a twang, so long as he is in the studio and not performing live.

Next time you listen to Clint Black (whose fine high tenor is as plangent and poignant as Jussi Bjoerling’s), Keith Urban, Clay Walker or that ballsy redneck woman Gretchen Wilson, try to imagine them on the stage of the Met working their blue-collar magic on a black-tie crowd.