Alonso Duralde’s book reviews classics, from It’s a Wonderful Life to A Christmas Carol

And if Christmas movie trivia is your thing, there are plenty of “fun facts” to feast on with your turkey, too. “If the Connecticut farmhouse [in 1945’s Christmas in Connecticut] looks familiar,” Duralde notes, “that’s because the set is also Raising a Baby (1938).” And, he ingeniously asks, did you know the title? Muscular Santa Claus (1996), starring Hulk Hogan, was “produced by Jordan Belfort, who would later become the subject of Martin Scorsese’s 2013 film.” The Wolf of Wall Street?”

Guy Pearce stars as Ebenezer Scrooge in one of the 23 adaptations. A Christmas Carol.Credit: Robert Viglasky/FX

What the book’s format prevents is a comprehensive examination of the mechanics of the Christmas movie as a genre (albeit detected between the lines). Some of the movies may be about Santa’s sleigh, snow, reindeer, gifts, and the like, but most often they’re about the ways people (families, friends, strangers) come together at Christmas. In most movies, it’s as if the holiday season is the MacGuffin, and the real plot of the movies is about who the characters are, what happens between them, and the so-called “Christmas spirit.”

Also missing is any serious consideration of the cultural aspects of the book’s subject. Duralde admits that movies “can be educational” as well as entertaining, recalling watching Frank Capra’s irresistible 1946 “Christmas classic” as a child: It’s a Wonderful Lifeit provided him with “an early lesson about banks, mortgages, and the Great Depression.”

But he wishes he had thought a little more about Capra’s film, as Nora Gilbert, professor of Literature and Film Studies at the University of North Texas, did recently. Speech – one might conclude that it also, inadvertently, gives us a preview of what America will be like 80 years from now.

Loading

In the same vein, Vincente Minnelli’s article St. with me Meet in St. Louis (1944) – featuring Judy Garland’s harrowing performance of the famous Christmas song that its title knowingly alludes to – is a disappointment. He includes it as one of his “classics” because of its “idyllic” depiction of the Smith family and their “beloved hometown”. But it overlooks how the film gives us a subtle glimpse of the darkness lurking beneath its seemingly sunny surfaces.

Stated limitations Make a Movie for Yourself, Little Christmas That means it’s not exactly an essential addition to Santa’s sack this year. But if you’re looking for a guide to what movies to watch appropriately over the next week or two, you could do a lot worse.

Booklist is Jason Steger’s weekly newsletter for book lovers. Get it delivered every Friday.