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!)