The Top Ten Best Christmas Movies - 1. Scrooge (1951)

Hey Everybody,

We had such a good time doing our Halloween top ten that we thought we would do another one! Christmas is upon us and we thought we would try to come up with the ultimate top ten list that, in our minds, embodies the true meaning of Christmas.

Now, lately it seems as if the networks aren't interested in playing the classic Christmas movies of old. I keep seeing these crappy Scrooge rip offs over and over on all of the various networks. Like Mrs. Scrooge, Ebenezer, A Diva's Christmas Carol, A Carol Christmas. (With Tori Spelling, need I say more?) Not to mention these vapid, crappy and sacchrine kid flicks that are so PC they make me want to vomit. Thankfully I got our artist friends over at Cave Drawing Ink to help us conceptulize those memorable Christmas flicks of old. You can see our top ten here on the Bucket and on the Cave Drawing Ink site. Enjoy and have a Happy Holiday!

So far......

2.) How the Grinch Stole Christmas

3,) A Christmas Story

4.) A Charlie Brown Christmas

5.) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

6.) The Nightmare Before Christmas

7.) Scrooged

8.) Elf
9.) Santa Claus: the Movie
10.) Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

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1.) Alaistair Sim's Scrooge (1951) Jacob Marley: "It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow men! If it goes forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death! It is doomed to wanted through the world! Oh, woe is me! And witness what it cannot share but MIGHT HAVE SHARED on Earth and turned to happiness!"

- Sketch by Corey Breen

Jeff: So here we are at number one! The immortal classic Scrooge, this 1951 Black and White film is by far the best version of a Christmas Carol period. Obviously there are other versions that are great fun but none capture the spirit of the Dickens novel quite like this one. Alaistair Sim is the perfect Scrooge he's grumpy as all of the others are but there is also something terrifying about him which I gathered was an important image derived from the book. He has those sunken eyes and he looks like death when he walks through the streets and pushes the kids out of the way. I wouldn't want to see that guy coming at me in a dark alley. The film also is exceptional in showing the travesty of poverty and the effect on average citizens who are forced to suffer in work houses or are brought under the thumb of the poor law. It is a particularly cruel place one that Scrooge relishes in as he makes his fortune. We get to see the full picture of Scrooge and his cold turn. The parallels between his Mother's death and his Sisters' and how the latter one spirals him into the terrible man we first see him as. It's a wonderful story of redemption and reconnection to the world of man. This film is not just a staple at my house it simply isn't Christmas until it has been watched.

Jen Huber: Alaistair Sim as Scrooge ha some fantastic facial expressions in this movie. The best come near the end when he is drunk with happiness and he ends up scaring the crap out of the housekeeper. There is truly something special about a good black and white movie. When Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley, the effects are so simple how they make him look ghostly, but it really works! This is such a classic story and even though there have been many remakes this one will forver stand out as one of the best all time.