100 Greatest Christmas Movies

Scenes from the Christmas movies "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street"
Criteria: These are the Greatest Christmas Movies of all time chosen and ranked considering their acting, direction, storyline, originality, and displaying the emotions, joy and often chaos of the Christmas holiday. The best english language Christmas  movies.

Last Updated: 2023-11-27
Greatest Christmas Movies
It's a Wonderful Life movie poster  Miracle on 34th Street movie poster  Scrooge - Alastair Sim  Holiday Inn movie poster  Scrooge 1970 movie poster  A Christmas Carol movie poster
  Title - (Year, Director) (Main Actors)
  1. It's a Wonderful Life - (1946, Frank Capra) (James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore)
  2. Miracle on 34th Street - (1947, George Seaton) (Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, Natalie Wood)
  3. Scrooge (aka A Christmas Carol) - (1951, Brian D. Hurst) (Alastair Sim, Meryvn Johns, Michael Hordern)
  4. Holiday Inn - (1942, Mark Sandrich) (Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds)
  5. Scrooge - (1970, Ronald Neame) (Albert Finney, Alec Guinness, Edith Evans)
  6. A Christmas Carol - (1938, Edwin L. Marin) (Reginald Owen, Gene Lockhart, Leo G. Carroll)
  7. White Christmas - (1954, Michael Curtiz) (Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney)
  8. Scrooge - (1935, Henry Edwards) (Sir Seymour Hicks, Maurice Evans, Robert Cochran)
  9. How the Grinch Stole Christmas - (1966) (TV) (Animated) (Boris Karloff as voice of the Grinch)
10. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - (1964) (TV) (Animated) (Narration by Burl Ives)
11. A Christmas Carol - (1984, Clive Donner) (TV) (George C. Scott, David Warner, Susannah York)
12. A Christmas Story - (1983, Bob Clark) (Darrin McGavin, Melinda Dillon, Peter Billingsley)
13. The Bishop's Wife - (1947, Henry Koster) (Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven)
14. A Charlie Brown Christmas - (1965, Bill Melendez) (TV) (Animated)
15. A Christmas Wish (aka The Great Rupert) -(1950, Irving Pichel) (Jimmy Durante, Terry Moore)
16. Beyond Tomorrow - (1940, Edward Sutherland) (Richard Carlson, Jean Parker, Charles Winninger)
17. A Christmas Carol - (1999, David Hugh Jones) (TV) (Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Joel Grey)
18. The Muppet Christmas Carol - (1992, Brian Henson) (Michael Caine, Dave Goelz-voice)
19. Christmas in Connecticut - (1945, Peter Godfrey) (Barbara Stanwyck, Reginald Gardiner, S.Z. Sakall)
20. The Christmas Wife - (1988, David Hugh Jones) (Jason Robards, Julie Harris, Patricia Hamilton)
21. The Nightmare Before Christmas - (1993, T. Burton) (Animated) (Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara)
22. Scrooged - (1988, Richard Donner) (Bill Murray, John Forsythe, Karen Allen)
23. Christmas Vacation - (1989, Jeremiah S. Chechik) (Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid)
24. A Christmas Without Snow - (1980, John Korty) (Michael Learned, John Houseman)
25. Home Alone - (1990, Chris Columbus) (Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern)
26. An American Christmas Carol - (1979, Eric Till) (TV) (Henry Winkler, David Wayne, Dorian Harewood)
27. Elf - (2003, Jon Favreau) (Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel, James Caan)
28. The Christmas Star - (1986, Alan Shapiro) (Edward Asner, Rene Auberjonois, Jim Metzler)
29. Silent Night - (Canada) (2002, Rodney Gibbons) (Linda Hamilton, Romano Orzari, Martin Neufeld)
30. A Christmas Visitor - (2002, Christopher Leitch) (William Devane, Meredith Baxter, Dean McDermott)
31. Prancer - (1989, John D. Hancock) (Sam Elliott, Cloris Leachman, Rutanya Alda)
32. The Year Without a Santa Claus - (1974) (TV) (Mickey Rooney, Shirley Booth)
33. A Christmas Wish - (1998, Ian Barry) (TV) (Debbie Reynolds, Neil Patrick Harris)
34. The Santa Clause - (1994, John Pasquin) (Tim Allen, Wendy Crewson, Judge Reinhold)
35. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York - (1992, Chris Columbus) (Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern,)
36. Mrs. Santa Claus - (1996, Terry Hughes) (TV) (Angela Lansbury, Charles Durning, Michael Jeter)
37. Santa Claus - (1985, Jeannot Szwarc) (Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, Burgess Meredith)
38. The Fourth Wise Man - (1985, Michael Ray Rhodes) (TV) (Martin Sheen, Alan Arkin, Eileen Brennan)
39. All I Want for Christmas - (1991, Robert Lieberman) (Harley Jane Kozak, Leslie Nielsen, Lauren Bacall)
40. Klaus - (2019, Sergio Pablos) (J.K. Simmons, Jason Schwartzman) (Animated)
41. Eve's Christmas - (2004, Timothy Bond) (TV) (Elisa Donovan, Sebastian Spence)
42. A Boyfriend for Christmas - (2004, Kevin Conno) (TV) (Kelli Williams, Patrick Muldoon, Charles Durning)
43. I'll Be Home for Christmas - (1998, A. Sanford) (Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jessica Biel, Adam LaVorgna)
44. How the Grinch Stole Christmas - (2000, Ron Howard) (Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen)
45. Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas - (1977) (TV) (Muppets, voices of Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz)
46. Jack Frost - (1998, Troy Miller) (Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston, Joseph Cross)
47. Joulutarina (aka Christmas Story) - (2007, Juha Wuolijoki, Finland) (Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Otto Gustavsson)
48. A Christmas to Remember - (1978) (TV) (Jason Robards, Eva Marie Saint, Joanne Woodward)
49. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - (2002, John Shepphird) (Connie Sellecca, Corbin Bernsen)
50. The Angel Doll - (2000, Alexander Johnston) (Betsy Brantley, Beatrice Bush, Pat Hingle)
51. The Christmas Chronicles - (2018, Clay Kaytis) (TV) (Kurt Russell, Darby Camp, Judah Lewis)
52. A Smoky Mountain Christmas - (1986, Henry Winkler) (TV) (Dolly Parton, Lee Majors, John Ritter)
53. Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus - (1991, Charles Jarrott) (TV) (Richard Thomas, Edward Asner)
54. Frosty the Snowman - (1969) (TV) (Animated, narration by Jimmy Durante)
55. Christmas in My Hometown - (1996, Jerry London) (TV) (Tim Matheson, Melissa Gilbert, Travis Tritt)
56. The Miracle of the Bells - (1948, Irving Pichel) (Fred MacMurray, Alida Valli, Frank Sinatra, Lee J. Cobb)
57. The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus - (1985, Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.) (TV) (Animated)
58. A Carol Christmas - (2003, Matthew Irmas) (TV) (Tori Spelling, Dinah Manoff, William Shatner)
59. Miracle on 34th Street - (1994, Les Mayfield) (Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins)
60. It Happened One Christmas - (1977) (TV) (Marlo Thomas, Orson Welles, Cloris Leachman)
61. The Night They Saved Christmas - (1984, Jackie Cooper) (TV) (Jaclyn Smith, Art Carney, June Lockhart)
62. Jingle all the Way - (1996, Brian Levant) (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson)
63. A Mom for Christmas - (1990, George Miller) (TV) (Olivia Newton-John, Juliet Sorcey, Doris Roberts)
64. One Magic Christmas - (1985, Phillip Borsos) (Mary Steenburgen, Gary Basaraba, Harry Dean Stanton)
65. Christmas Eve - (1986, Stuart Cooper) (TV) (Loretta Young, Arthur Hill, Trevor Howard)
66. Holiday Affair - (1949, Don Hartman) (Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Harry Morgan)
67. Christmas Mountain - (1981) (Mark Miller, Slim Pickens, Barbara Stanger)
68. The Nutcracker - (1993, Emile Ardolino) (Macaulay Culkin, Darci Kistler)
69. It Came Upon the Midnight Clear - (1984) (TV) (Mickey Rooney, Scott Grimes, Annie Potts)
70. The House Without a Christmas Tree - (1972) (TV) (Jason Robards, Lisa Lucas, Mildred Natwick)
71. Mixed Nuts - (1994, Nora Ephron) (Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Adam Sandler, Robert Klein)
72. The Holly and the Ivy - (1952, George More O'Ferrall) (Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson, Denholm Elliott)
73. It Nearly Wasn't Christmas - (1989, Burt Brinckerhoff) (TV) (Charles Durning, Beverly Rowland)
74. Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus - (2004, Harvey Frost) (TV) (Steve Guttenberg, Crystal Bernard)
75. Meet the Santas - (2005, Harvey Frost) (TV) (Steve Guttenberg, Crystal Bernard, Marcia Ann Burrs)
76. Miracle Down Under - (1987) (TV) (Dee Wallace-Stone, John Waters)
77. The Kid Who Loved Christmas - (1990) (TV) (Cicely Tyson, Michael Warren, Della Reese, Ben Vereen)
78. The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story - (1983, D. Mann) (TV) (Lee Remick, Angela Lansbury, Polly Holliday)
79. Christmas on Division Street - (1991) (TV) (Fred Savage, Hume Cronyn, Kenneth Welsh)
80. The Christmas Stallion - (1992) (TV) (Daniel J. Travanti, Lynette Davies)
81. Bad Santa - (2003, Terry Zwigoff) (Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham)
82. The Homecoming: A Christmas Story - (1971) (TV) (Patricia Neal, Richard Thomas, Edgar Bergen)
83. The Lemon Drop Kid - (1951, Sidney Lanfield) (Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, Jane Darwell)
84. Dear Santa - (1998, Fred Olen Ray) (D.L. Green, Harrison Myers)
85. Angel in the Family - (2004) (TV) (Meredith Baxter, David Chisum, Ronny Cox)
86. Office Christmas Party - (2016, Josh Gordon) (Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, T.J. Miller)
87. The Gathering - (1977) (TV) (Edward Asner, Maureen Stapleton, Stephanie Zimbalist)
88. Ernest Saves Christmas - (1988, John R. Cherry III) (Jim Varney, Douglas Seale, Noelle Parker)
89. Eloise at Christmastime - (2003, Kevin Lima) (TV) (Julie Andrews, Sofia Vassilieva, Kenneth Welsh)
90. A Christmas Memory - (1997) (TV) (Patty Duke, Piper Laurie, Jeffrey DeMunn)
91. Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol - (1962) (TV) (Animated, voices by Jim Backus, Morey Amsterdam)
92. Christmas with the Kranks - (2004, Joe Roth) (Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd)
93. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - (1983) (TV) (Loretta Swit, Jackson Davies, Anthony Holland)
94. Babes in Toyland - (1961) (Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, Tommy Kirk)
95. Amahl and the Night Visitors - (1963, Kirk Browning) (TV) (Richard Cross, Martha King, Willis Patterson)
96. The Juggler of Notre Dame - (1970, Milton H. Lehr) (Barry Dennen, Jessica Benton, Christopher Ellis)
97. A Dream for Christmas - (1973) (TV) (Hari Rhodes, Beah Richards, Lynn Hamilton)
98. Christmas Every Day - (1996) (TV) (Robert Hays, Erik von Detten, Bess Armstrong)
99. The Curious Case of Santa Claus - (1982) (TV) (Animated, narration by Jimmy Durante)
100. Guess Who's Coming for Christmas? - (1990) (TV) (Richard Mulligan, Beau Bridges)








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