I hate Christmas, and when I say hate, I mean through and through, I hate Christmas. The problem is most of the rest of the world kind of disagrees with me. I think we should make it a law that any person in America has to work in retail for at least one Christmas. The holiday would die faster than Steve Irwin in a tank of stingrays. Well, after I'm done stealing from South Park, I guess I should get to the point. Even though with the suckage that Christmas produces in real life, some really fine movies have been made from the holiday. There have been several great Christmas movies made in the history of film. You can go from Christmas Vacation to Miracle of 34th Street to Love Actually, all classics. Yet for the return of The Showdown (of which hasn't been on Matchflick since July) I'm going with what I feel are the two foremost Christmas movies. I give you A Christmas Story vs. It's a Wonderful Life -
A Christmas Story
A Christmas Story was made in 1983, but takes place in the idealistic 1940's America. The movie is about a young boy and his quest for a BB gun, or more correctly, a Red Ryder BB gun. The young boy, named Ralphie, must persuade his parents, teacher and eventually Santa Claus himself (or a mall version) that the Red Ryder BB gun is the right gift for him. The problem is that everyone who can help him achieve his dreams of a Red Ryder BB gun are completely cornball, but no one more so than Ralphie himself. Ralphie is an absolute dreamer, but who wasn't when they were young? His dream of a Red Ryder BB gun mirrors everything we ever lived for as kid. Christmas was the biggest day of the year when we were young. We'd wait for months to get that squirt gun, Batman action figure and whatever cliché toy girls want when they're young (I'm not going to be sexist enough to guess). As much as I may have wanted A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Ralphie wants the BB gun much, much more.
The movie absolutely plays on our visions of a simpler time. All that was innocent before the Cold War or all that came in the 1960's. Now from what my grandparents have told me life in 1940's wasn't as picture perfect. A Christmas Story works more in the mold of a movie like The Sandlot (yes, I know The Sandlot came after A Christmas Story) in that the idea of the movie is very much the American dream that we all want from our childhood. We all want a father and mother who are quirky and loving, friends that are straight from Our Gang but mostly we want to think our childhood consists of adventures that are exhilarating and always turn out okay. It's that dream that A Christmas Story plays on perfectly. The kids' innocence and enthusiasm is always very sweet and cute that it makes for a perfect family movie. The only thing that kind of surprises me when going back and watching this classic is the language. By today's standards A Christmas Story would be PG-13. Never the less, if you're not a wimp and aren't afraid of you're kids hearing the word "Bitch", A Christmas Story is a classic Christmas movie that is perfect for this time of year. Should I say perfect again?
It's a Wonderful Life
A Christmas Story may have been set in the 1940's, but It's a Wonderful Life was made in the 1940's. So that may give it a bias for me. That's up to you to decide. The story is of a young man named George Bailey (James Stewart) who wants more than anything to see the world. Bailey wants to leave the mundane life in Bedford Falls and become a man of adventure. Sadly, life has a different path chosen for him. George's father runs a loan office that helps people get out of slums and own their own homes. When that father passes away George is the only thing standing between his father's business and the town slumlord, Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore). So George has to put his world-shaking on hold and stay at home with the family business. Fast forward a few years and George's younger brother has seen the world as George himself had wanted to and George is married with several kids. His life is that of his father's. One day when dropping off a payment at the bank, George's dim uncle (Thomas Mitchell) accidentally loses the loan office's payment. George, knowing that he will be ruined and go to jail for embezzling, plans to take his own life. Upon planning to jump off a bridge he's beaten to the punch when George must rescue a man who's fallen into the river below. The man claims to be an angel and grants George his wish of never being born.
George gets to see what life would've been like if he'd never existed. His mother has become an old bitter lady, his brother is dead since George wasn't there to save him when they were young, his wife became an old maid and Bedford Falls has become Pottersville, taken over by the evil slumlord. George wants nothing more than to live again after seeing how horrible his world would be if he wasn't in it. George runs home to his family and several townspeople there to give them the money that he owes the bank. The movie ends with George's many, many friends who are all there to help George after all the help he's given them. Despite never achieving his dreams, George helped so many others achieve their dreams. He had a truly wonderful life (cheesy, yeah). George enriched the lives of everyone around him unbeknownst to him. The ending to It's a Wonderful Life is one of the most inspiring in movie history. As it was with the case of A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life is a fantasy of how we wish our lives could be. Despite all the trouble we might face, we'd love to think we had friends who would help us out in such dire times. In real life, George would've went to prison, but It's a Wonderful Life isn't real life. It's a Christmas movie with Jimmy Stewart. Is there anything better? Well.....
WINNER: It's a Wonderful Life
The answer is simply, NO! A Christmas Story is a sweet movie and a great holiday flick, but It's a Wonderful Life is a classic beyond the holiday. It's was the pinnacle for Frank Capra, who's career would never be the same after the movie. It was the legendary director's best and last great movie. It wasn't quite the best movie for James Stewart, but that's only because of the richness of his career. His performance in It's a Wonderful Life would easily be one of the top 25 in movie history. Beyond Capra and Stewart, the quality of performers never ends. Whether it's the best Barrymore as the evil Mr. Potter or Donna Reed as the dream wife, it's the most heartwarming and endearing movie of all time. No one could do it better than Frank Capra and James Stewart. Which together, are still among the best director/actor duos in movie history. There are a few better movies than It's a Wonderful Life, but none that are Christmas movies.
********************
While both movies are classics in every sense of the word, It's a Wonderful Life is the obvious choice and I apologize. Next time I throw up a Showdown I will try to make it less of landslide. Maybe it's just that It's a Wonderful Life is that great of a movie. It's just that much of a classic, and that's what I write about, right? Since I write about classic movies how about the next Out of the Past be about classic foreign movies? I've only written one column about classic foreign movies back in March with my Ingmar Bergman Showdown. In two weeks I will be posting my second column on the subject, but not about Ingmar Bergman. The next edition of Out of the Past will be a guide to the most accessible foreign director, Akira Kurosawa. Until then, enjoy Christmas! I know I won't.....
 email this column to a friend
|
| Out of the Past |
Every other Thursday
Discussing classic films from City Lights to Apocalypse
Now and everything in between and beyond.
|
| Andy York |
Andy is a life long movie fanatic. The first movie he saw in the theater was Back to the Future, Part 2 at the age of 3 and he has loved movies ever since.
|
| Contact |
If you have a comment, question, or suggestion, you can send a message to Andy York by clicking here.
|
|
