Christmas movies | Hollywood Yesterday

Scene from It’s a Wonderful Life: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Carol Coombs, Jimmy Hawkins, and Larry Simms

December 1, 2022 By Joi

James Stewart, Donna Reed, Carol Coombs, Jimmy Hawkins, and Larry Simms

Today happens to be my oldest grandbaby’s 5th birthday, so I don’t have much time… after all, birthday cakes don’t bake themselves and Sonic the Hedgehog decorations don’t put themselves up!.. but it also happens to be the first day of December (or, as it’s known in my world, it’s the first day of Christmas… which happens to last 25 days in this house!).

That means there’s NO WAY I’m not going to carve a few minutes out for an It’s a Wonderful Life post.

The picture of the day today is a beautiful, heart-touching scene from the film. George Bailey thinks he’s on the brink of losing it ALL when, in fact, he has ALL a man could ever hope for. Beautiful movie with the absolute perfect director and cast.

You can buy It’s a Wonderful Life on dvd (Amazon link) or watch the magic on Prime Video.

Now to bake that cake, make that icing, and color it blue… Sonic the Hedgehog blue!

Merry Christmas from My Family to You and to Everyone You Love!

December 18, 2021 By Joi

It’s a Wonderful Life

This week is going to be a beautiful whirlwind of wrapping presents, baking cookies, making candy, and running around like the overcaffeinated elf that I am! So, needless to say the Pictures of the Day will not be regular whatsoever. Truth be told, this may well be the last blog post until the day after Christmas.

In that event, I very much want it to be devoted to two things…

One of the most beautiful, special, and greatest films ever made, It’s a Wonderful Life.
Wishing you a healthy, happy, joyful, and peaceful Christmas!

You honor me by visiting Hollywood Yesterday and I wish you and yours the best wishes from the bottom of my heart. ~ Joi (“Joy”)

You can buy It’s a Wonderful Life on dvd (Amazon link) or watch on Prime Video. It’s funny, even though I’ve owned the movie on dvd for many, many years, I still watch it every single time it’s shown on television. I am simply wildly in love with this movie and with everything about it.

Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O’Hara, and John Payne in the Wonderful Miracle on 34th Street

December 16, 2021 By Joi

Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O’Hara, and John Payne

There are presents to wrap, presents to buy, candy to make, and candy to eat… so I am literally sharing today’s picture of the day and running back to the kitchen! This is a wonderful publicity photo for one of the best movies ever made, Miracle on 34th Street. Directed to perfection by George Seaton, this is one of my favorite viewings of the Christmas season.

I hope you’re enjoying every last drop of the holiday season this year and (even when busy) smiling and maybe even humming a Christmas carol or two!

You can find the iconic 1947 Miracle on 34th Street (Amazon link) on Amazon… and you really, really should!

John Payne and Maureen O’Hara – Miracle on 34th Street

December 13, 2021 By Joi

John Payne and Maureen O’Hara

As I said yesterday, one of the films that launched me into a lifetime of being obsessed with classic movies was It’s a Wonderful Life. Another film and another star that participated in this launch was Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and Maureen O’Hara. I’ve loved the film AND the actress for what seems like my entire life.

George Seaton directed the wonderful Christmas classic and was given a first rate cast to work with: Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood, Edmund Gwenn, William Frawley, and Gene Lockhart.

I love Maureen’s sweet, natural chemistry with John Payne in this film and the magic between Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn is palpable. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful story very beautifully told.

John Payne and Maureen O’Hara

You can find the wonderful 1947 Miracle on 34th Street (Amazon link) on Amazon.

It’s a Wonderful Life Lobby Cards (So Colorful and Lovely!)

December 11, 2021 By Joi

It’s a Wonderful Life Lobby Card

Sorry for the lack of posts (the Pictures of the Day ceased to be of the day completely!) this week – I have been battling the worst case of bronchitis I’ve ever had. Very, very difficult to work at the computer when you can’t stop coughing and your body seems to have completely forgotten how to breathe!

Saw the doctor, got several medicines, and a shot that… shall we say… bruised the backside!… so I am on the mend. Pictures of the day and mayhem will now resume. And what better way to resume than with one of my favorite all-time films and two of my all-time favorite stars… It’s a Wonderful Life with James Stewart and Donna Reed?!

It’s a Wonderful Life Lobby Card

Remember the Night: One of the Best Christmas Films (Deserves So Much More Love!)

December 1, 2021 By Joi

Remember the Night, One of the BEST Christmas Films

Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Beulah Bondi, & Elizabeth Patterson star in the WONDERFUL 1940 film Remember the Night (directed by Mitchell Leisen).

A shoplifter (played deliciously by Barbara Stanwyck) goes home with the assistant DA (the always lovable Fred MacMurray) to spend Christmas with his family. Few stars consistently captured the “lovability” level Fred MacMurray hit with his good guy characters. There’s just something about him that makes you feel like he’s a friend.

Barbara Stanwyck, Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson, and Sterling Holloway are absolutely wonderful as well. This is one of the absolute best Christmas movies – in fact, I put it right up there with It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, and Christmas in Connecticut (three films I’m admittedly completely in love with). I have no idea why this one isn’t shown often on television – it isn’t even on Prime Video (hopefully that’ll change one day). Until then… I’d suggest doing what I did – buy the dvd (Amazon link)!

Remember the Night

Christmas in Connecticut: One of the Best Christmas Classics of All Time

December 5, 2020 By Joi

Christmas in Connecticut

Those of us who love old movies and classic television, each, often have our own personal missions – stars, films, genres, music, and/or television shows we’d love to help become more popular and more celebrated. I have quite a few stars, genres, music, and movies that fall under my own personal missions heading, including Westerns, Jazz, Dorothy Dandridge, Maureen O’Hara, etc.

One of the movies I desperately want to see become better known and more celebrated is Christmas in Connecticut. It’s so fun, festive, beautiful, and boasts such an extraordinary cast – it deserves to be mentioned alongside other greats such as It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, and White Christmas.

I believe that if it were shown on television as frequently as the others, it’d soon become a household name as well.

The wonderful movie stars Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Godfrey, and one of my favorite character actors ever, the always delightful S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall.

You can find Christmas in Connecticut (link to the dvd) on Amazon or watch it on Prime Video.

Speaking of Christmas… please forgive me for not having as many updates during the time from Thanksgiving to Christmas as usual. I stay so crazy busy during this time (online shopping, wrapping, baking, cooking, baking, baking, baking…) that it doesn’t leave me much time for anything else!

Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, and Natalie Wood in the Wonderful Classic, Miracle on 34th Street

November 3, 2020 By Joi

Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, and Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th Street

Halloween has come and gone, so my heart and eyes are fully on Thanksgiving and Christmas! Actually, I’ll let you in on a little secret… my eyes and heart are on them year-round. I experiment with recipes I’ll use at Thanksgiving and Christmas throughout the year and buy gifts and decorations 12 months a year and keep them safely hidden in totes until it’s time to wrap them.

When you have a large family, it might just be the only way from having a mental breakdown when December 1st rolls around!

Since I can finally own up to my all-consuming love of Christmas now, without looking like a complete fruitcake, I decided to go with a scene from one of my absolute favorite movies ever – Miracle on 34th Street. I’ll soon be in my den… visiting Susan, Fred, Doris, and of course Kris Kringle for the first time in 2020.

For as long as I can remember, I kick off the “official” Christmas season with this film, followed by It’s a Wonderful Life and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I’m so anal about it all that I also “end” the official season with the same three.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do know that I’m as mad as a hatter… but I see no reason to change at this stage of the game!

You can find the wonderful, black and white 1947 Miracle on 34th Street (link to the dvd on Amazon) on Amazon for less than $10. Much easier than waiting for it to show up on television.

Maureen O’Hara: The Christmas Box (1995)

December 15, 2019 By Joi

Maureen O’Hara, Kelsey Mulrooney, Richard Thomas, and Annette O’Toole The Christmas Box

The Christmas Box (TV Movie, 1995) was Maureen O’Hara’s first TV film role since The Red Pony in ’73. The film starred Maureen O’Hara, Richard Thomas, Kelsey Mulrooney, and Annette O’Toole.

When asked if anything had changed in the business since she’d last worked, Maureen replied, “I’ll tell you what hasn’t changed. You’re still waiting for the gift of a great writer giving you a great script. And I think The Christmas Box is a wonderful gift.”

It’s a wonderful movie – each of the stars are outstanding. Each time I see it, I always wish Richard Thomas and Annette O’Toole made more movies. I’m a huge fan of both of theirs.

Miracle on 34th Street: Memorable Scenes from One of the Greatest Christmas Movies of All Time

December 22, 2018 By Joi

Lobby Card for Miracle on 34th Street

In a funny little twist of irony, some of my absolute favorite stars have starred in the absolute best Christmas movies:

Jimmy Stewart: It’s a Wonderful Life
Maureen O’Hara: Miracle on 34th Street
Barbara Stanwyck: Christmas in Connecticut
Bing Crosby: White Christmas

I’m not sure why, but Miracle on 34th Street (1947) doesn’t seem to get the attention some of the other Christmas movies do. Yes, the others are outstanding… but so is Miracle on 34th Street.

This has been one of my favorite movies since I was around the age of Natalie Wood’s adorable character Susan. The movie is filled with love, laughter, emotion, and hope – who can ask for more than that from a Christmas movie?

The fact that you often hear people talk about Die Hard as a Christmas movie more than this one is enough to make you as nutty as the cookies you leave out for Santa.

Okay, ranting over. Let’s just celebrate this wonderful, beautiful movie.

Did You Know?

According to a Natalie Wood biography, young Natalie believed that Edmund Gwenn was actually Santa Claus! In fact, it wasn’t until she saw him out of costume at the wrap party that she realized he wasn’t Santa.
Natalie Wood was eight years old when filming Miracle on 34th Street.
Maureen O’Hara had this to say about Edmund Gwenn, “By the time we were halfway through the shoot, we all believed Edmund really was Santa Claus. I’ve never seen an actor more naturally suited for a role.”
The department stores (Macy’s and Gimbel’s) depicted in the movie had to grant permission in order for the producers to use their names. Both stores wanted to see the finished film first before they gave this approval. Fortunately (and for obvious reasons), both stores loved the film and gave their permission!
From Maureen O’Hara’s autobiography: “Everyone felt the magic on the set and we all knew we were creating something special. I am very proud to have been part of a film that has been continually shown and loved all over the world for nearly sixty years. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) has endured all this time because of the special relationship of the cast and crew, the uplifting story and its message of hope and love, which steals hearts all over the world every year. I don’t think I will ever tire of children asking me, ‘Are you the lady who knows Santa Claus?’ I always answer, ‘Yes, I am. What would you like me to tell him?'”

Below are just a few special scenes from this extra special movie.

Santa Won’t Lie to Susan: