Not The Usual Holiday Fare

The television stations are awash in holiday classics. Why do they play the same movies over and over ad infinitum? As a public service, I have compiled a list of some of my favorites. These usually don't make the airwaves, or if they do it's on a obscure network during the early morning hours.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians - a 1964 film that has been on many worst movie lists. Look for an eight-year-old Pia Zadora as one of the Martian children.

We're No Angels - a 1955 film about 3 escaped convicts on Devil's Island, not your usual Christmas setting. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Rey as the title characters, with Basil Rathbone as the dastardly, Uncle Andre, this movie doesn't have the standard holiday plot.

The Dead - a 1987 John Huston film based on a short story from James Joyce's "The Dubliners", quite a title for a yuletide movie.

The Shop Around the Corner - this 1940 film starring Jimmy Stewart is  more typical. I've listed it here because it's a hard find on TV even at this time of year. 

Holiday Affair - a 1949 film with Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh. Casting Mitchum in this light, holiday, romantic comedy was a bizarre decision. At the time he was at the height of his film noir/war movie popularity. 

So, if you're sick of the same films, try one of these for an eclectic holiday jolt. - as ever BB

"...every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.." Ebenezer Scrooge