I want to watch a couple of the holiday noir movies to count against my Christmas movie challenge, but I suspect that some of them just have Christmas as a light backdrop and I wouldn't feel great about calling them Christmas movies. Which ones are the most Christmas forward? Which ones are very light on Christmas content?
Posted Dec 15, 2023, 7:01 AM UTC
Light on Christmas content, but really fun: Repeat Performance (1947). It’s much more about New Year’s. There’s a Christmas tree at one point, but it’s not much of a Christmas movie.
I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes (1948) also isn’t very Christmas-focused, and it’s not as good. Entertaining enough to check out, but with low expectations for a flawed B-movie.
Not on the Channel or Criterion-related at all, but I highly recommend Crime on Demand (1961), a British crime movie that’s very much about Christmas. You don’t see much Christmas imagery, and it’s mostly a confined-space movie set in a bank (think Dog Day Afternoon, or Hitchcock’s Rope). But the framing of the movie is about Christmas. I don’t want to give away anything more; this is a hidden gem that’s great to go into cold. You can stream it for free with ads on Tubi.
Do you mean Cash on Demand ? I haven't seen it but the online synopsis sounds like your film. And I have the Powerhouse Blu-ray! It would make a great Christmas watch for me.
Lady in the Lake felt barely Christmas-oriented, other than an opening credits sequence that felt almost hilariously bait and switch.
Not sure if it's in the Holiday Noir collection, but I've always felt Mr. Arkadin was very much a Christmas Noir.
It's not in the collection, though it is on the channel. Here's a Letterboxd list with the movies in the collection, for reference.
I’ve only seen Blast of Silence so far. It takes place on Christmas, there is Christmas music, and there is even a Christmas party.
I don’t know if it is a “Christmas movie”; that depends on what you mean by that phrase. There is no “spirit of the holidays” silliness or a kid trying to get adults to believe in Santa Claus again. It is about a hitman on a contract during Christmas in NYC.
Seconding the Blast of Silence recommendation
Thanks for that. I watched it and really enjoyed it.
Some people can't bear Christmas, this is the ultimate Christmas film for them.
I love Christmas and still love this film and absolutely consider it a Christmas film!
Yeah, it's hard to know what counts as a Christmas movie. I just watched Blast of Silence and it passes my threshold with flying colors. Christmas isn't just a backdrop; I think there is a lot of the spirit of the holidays in it. The killer is a lonely and miserable man, but he's so filled with Christmas spirit after playing Christmas party games, watching orphans playing at an orphanage and reflecting on his past, etc., that he decides to reform. He's Scrooge! It's A Christmas Carol!
There's also that scene where he says, "Bah! Humbug!" before blowing his target away.
(Okay, I made that last bit up.)