Customer Reviews

American Movie Classics' Great Christmas Movies: Celebrating the Best Christmas Films of All Time

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In the acknowledgments, the author admits that this book was rushed to print, apparently to be timed with an AMC special, and the rushing shows, both in the production--several typos, a rather poor selection of photos (too many photos from the MGM "Christmas Carol" and none at all from the silent versions or the Seymour Hicks version, all of which get several pages of text attention)-- and in the odd imbalance of film coverage. Imagine a book on Christmas movies that gives 11 pages over to "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, but only 4 1/2 pages to "It's a Wonderful Life"!! Because the author interviewed people like June Lockhart, Margaret O'Brien, and Chevy Chase, he apparently felt the need to include almost every word they said, even though most of the interviews have little light to shed on the movies under discussion. This is especially wasteful when 15 pages are devoted to an "oral history" of "A Christmas Story"; some judicious editing would have helped greatly. The space would have been much more wisely used for some deeper analysis of the Christmas movies. As it is, the author settles mostly for plot summary and the odd production detail and, despite mentioning the interesting fact that Fred Astaire bowed out of "White Christmas" because he hated the script, the author doesn't even get around to summarizing the plot at all, not even noting that it's basically a remake of "Holiday Inn." The chapters on silent films and the various "Christmas Carol" films are interesting, and he justly notes some overlooked gems like "Remember the Night" and "Come to the Stable." Still, my advice is to skip the book and wait for the TV special.

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Thanks Frank Thompson, for a starting place for a thorough listing of Christmas Movies.

This book is a REFERENCE book in that you can breeze through it rather quickly.

It's critiques and reviews are the reason you picked it up, but background stories and personal rememberances of the actors are the true backbone of the book.

Lots of picutres, well designed, all the classics (except SCROOGED, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS and CHARLIE BROWN'S CHRISTMAS) are listed and given coverage including Jesus films, the Monty Python LIFE OF BRIAN and the Christmas Horror classics.

A VALUABLE ASSET FOR CHRISTMAS CELEBRATORS!

Christmas movies are without a doubt one of my favourite movie theme areas and I'm sure I'm correct in saying that the festive season for many people would not be complete without the regular screenings of many of the well known classics. Each year come December 1st I eagerly look forward to working my way through an ever growing list of films whose main theme is centred around this most special of holidays. Christmas movies have been produced in one form or another since the silent era began and there are now so many memorable and greatly loved Christmas themed classics out there that come back each year via television and now DVD to charm us, allow us to shed a tear, and importantly to remind us in this cynical present day of the true meaning of Christmas. Classics such as "It's a Wonderful Life", "White Christmas", "Miracle on 34th Sreet", and of course the immortal "A Christmas Carol", in its countless versions automatically come to mind as the standout films in this genre however there are so many other less well known films centred around Christmas that deserve to be better remembered. In his wonderful book "Great Christmas Movies", author Frank Thompson examines in detail these famous classics while also managing to bring back into the spotlight many obscure Christmas films now largely forgotten. His book takes the reader on an entertaining look at the famous, the infamous, the obscure, and the down right weird film titles that can be included under the theme of Christmas movies and which for all their own unique reasons have become an essential part of so many people's festive celebrations.

This glossy book would make an excellent festive gift for any movie buff who has even a passing interest in Christmas movies. Covering films old and new, running from the obscure to the true classics, the author makes an obvious effort to explore the different issues raised by the genre as well as looking at changing audience tastes over the years. The chapters are organised thematically, there are many illustrative photos and good interview material. Although it doesn't cover anything beyond the millennium (obviously, given its publication date), if you're looking for a well-presented guide to Christmas cinema from the good old days up until the nineties then you can't go wrong with this.