Christmas in Cinema

by Jack Garcia

Sometimes the best Christmas moments in film come from movies that aren't even "Christmas movies" at all, so while none of the following movies qualified for my 25 Christmas Films for December 25th, they definitely contain some music to get you in the holiday spirit.

The first video I'd like to share is Doris Day and Gordon MacRae singing "Christmas Story" in the 1951 movie musical On Moonlight Bay.  The movie is about a tomboy named Marjorie who moves with her family to a small town in Indiana where she meets her neighbor William.  While initially unhappy with the move, she falls for William and puts aside baseball for more ladylike things.  In this scene, the two are beginning to fall in love at Christmastime.



In 2004's comedy Mean Girls by writer Tina Fey, Cady (Lindsay Lohan) is a new student trying to fit into her new high school with the hottest clique of them all:  the "Plastics."  In this scene, Lindsay Lohan and the other girls are performing a routine to a recording of "Jingle Bell Rock" at the school's Winter Talent Show when a technical difficulty causes Lohan to have to sing.




In the 1974 film version of the musical Mame, Lucille Ball plays the title character who is fun-loving eccentric with plenty of money to burn in the 1920s.  Her life changes entirely when she becomes the guardian of her nephew Patrick after her brother passes away.  In this scene, Lucille Ball sings "We Need a Little Christmas" as they decorate her home for the holidays.



In the 2007 live-action/computer-animated reboot of the classic cartoon Alvin and the Chipmunks, Dave Seville (Jason Lee) comes across three adorable chipmunks named Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) who not only talk but sing!  He writes them the song "Christmas Don't Be Late" and it's that song that propels them to stardom.  This scene features the Christmas tune and serves as a montage showing their rising popularity.



To finalize this post, I decided to save the best for last which of course would be Judy Garland's performance of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" which originated in the musical Meet Me in St. Louis.  The movie is about a family who very much loves their hometown of St. Louis and has just found out they will be moving to New York City.  The daughters all prepare for the move in different ways, and in this scene, Judy Garland is singing to her character's little sister, trying to convince her that everything will be okay.



I hope you enjoyed these Christmas music clips from the movies!