Comfort and joy. That’s what the song talks about, and that’s what the classic Christmas movies deliver. Whether it’s Die Hard (1988) or It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Home Alone (1990) or White Christmas (1954), we enjoy these films, in part, because they are so comfortable. Time and tradition have made them as familiar as carols, mince pies, woolly jumpers, and avoiding the lancinating gaze of your least favourite aunt over the sprouts.
But, at the end of 2016, perhaps we can upset the usual way of things. The Christmas holiday should also be a time for Christmas Holiday, Robert Siodmak’s chilly noir from 1944. It starts as it continues: a puppy-dog soldier, excited about proposing to his girlfriend while on leave, receives a telegram just before he sets off — she’s married someone else. Storms and diversions then bring him to a seamy New Orleans club on Christmas Eve, where he meets a girl whose wounds are even deeper.
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