3 Classic Christmas Films: A Musical, a Romance, and a Christmas Surprise

A moment in the trailer of the 1954 hit "White Christmas." Paramount Pictures

The holiday season is the most sentimental time of the year. Yuletide customs, songs, and decorations that remain popular today originated decades or centuries ago. Perhaps that’s why Christmastime seems like the perfect season for discovering old movies. While many holiday traditions have been changed or canceled this year, we can recapture those feelings with holiday movies from the Golden Era of Hollywood: musicals introducing standard Christmas songs, dramas bringing tears amid festive settings, and comedies inspiring laughter even while warming hearts. There also are those that don’t seem like Christmas films but surprise viewers with holiday scenes.

For your holiday viewing this year, let us recommend three Christmas classics: a musical, a romance, and a Christmas surprise.

A Musical: ‘White Christmas’

One of the greatest Christmas musicals is “White Christmas” (1954). Starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera-Ellen, and Rosemary Clooney, this Technicolor musical is two hours of impressive singing and dancing to Irving Berlin classics. This film is a loose remake of “Holiday Inn” (1942), Berlin’s musical holiday celebration starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, which introduced the hit song “White Christmas.” Although Astaire was originally slated to be reteamed with Crosby for the 1954 film, his role was eventually rewritten for comic Danny Kaye.