Christmas

Look at the broad yuletide spectrum of Hollywood and big screen Christmas movies and you’ll see a pattern. A handful of classics from the forties and fifties, no real interest in the sixties, questionable quality in the seventies, a breakthrough in the eighties, and a steady stream in the nineties, even if the quality remained absent.

Look at the broad yuletide spectrum of Hollywood and big screen Christmas movies and you’ll see a pattern. A handful of classics from the forties and fifties, no real interest in the sixties, questionable quality in the seventies, a breakthrough in the eighties, and a steady stream in the nineties, even if the quality remained absent.

An excellent selection of three must read children's Christmas books. Nothing beats the classics!

Instead of complaining about the commercialisation of this special time of the year, I decided to make the most out of it. Believe me, you will enjoy it more than you’ve ever thought you will. A great way to get into Christmas mood is some nice Christmas music. But don’t worry, I won’t bother you...

Instead of complaining about the commercialisation of this special time of the year, I decided to make the most out of it. Believe me, you will enjoy it more than you’ve ever thought you will. A great way to get into Christmas mood is some nice Christmas music. But don’t worry, I won’t bother you...

The landscape for Christmas movies looked completely different in the nineties than all previous decades. This had everything to do with Bob Clark’s 1983 comedy ‘A Christmas Story.’ The film was released in November of that year but gone before Christmas. However, audiences wanted it back. It took awhile, but Hollywood took notice. Suddenly, Christmas became box-office.

The eighties was the decade when Hollywood’s attitude to the Christmas movie changed. It didn’t necessarily change its output or the way films were distributed, but it proved one thing: despite its belief that no one would really go to see a Christmas movie on the big screen at holiday time – an odd attitude, I realize, but one that was prevalent back then – the eighties saw a turnaround, and it was all because of one film.

The 70’s were odd. There was disco, John Travolta, and three Swedes plus one Norwegian who beat Olivia Newton John at the Eurovision Song Contest then conquered the world starting at Waterloo. But for big screen Christmas movies, studios had yet to tap in to a successful yuletide formula. That’s why these 70’s recommendations are so unique.

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Trying to find a big screen Christmas movie released in the sixties isn’t as easy as you might think. For one thing, there aren’t that many. Hollywood didn’t think there was an audience big enough to warrant regular releases. There are a few which we’ll list, but if you’re interested in finding out why the studios thought as it did, read on.