These forgotten films offer wonderful holiday entertainment.
Most are available on DVD and usually are shown on Turner Classic
Movies (TCM) during the holiday season.
Babes In Toyland (1934). Stan
Laurel and Oliver Hardy, the classic comedy team, intervene to
keep the "old woman" from being evicted from her "shoe" while
helping along a romance between Bo-Peep and Tom-Tom.
Holiday (1938). Cary Grant plays
a carefree nonconformist who is engaged to Katharine Hepburn’s
snooty sister. Once he gets to know the real person behind the
sister’s façade, it’s Kate who wins his heart.
Bachelor Mother (1939). When a
salesclerk (Ginger Rogers) picks up a baby that had been
abandoned on a doorstep, her coworkers think that the infant
is hers. When Ginger’s employer’s son (David Niven) gets
involved, the results are hilarious.
Remember the Night
(1940). Barbara Stanwyck is a shoplifter who is
arrested just before the holidays. The court’s prosecutor
(Fred MacMurray) takes pity on her and offers to bring her
home to his house for Christmas.
The Shop Around the Corner
(1940). If you liked the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan
movie You’ve Got Mail (1998), you’ll love
the original, starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart,
who dislike each other in real life but adore each other as
pen pals.
The Cheaters (1945). A
self-centered rich family invites a has-been actor (played by
Joseph Schildkraut) to be their guest for the holidays and
eventually are taught the true meaning of Christmas.
Christmas in Connecticut
(1945). Barbara Stanwyck stars as a Martha
Stewart-type who writes an article about what she plans to
prepare for her family for their Christmas meal. Stanwyck is
put on the spot by her boss, who, as a publicity stunt,
invites himself and a famous war veteran (and the press) to
her Connecticut home for Christmas.