DECEMBER 2021 • 119MEET ME IN ST LOUIS
(1944)
Pure Technicolor
perfection starring the
inimitable Judy Garland,
Meet Me in St Louis tells
the story of four sisters
on the cusp of the 1904
St Louis World’s Fair.
There’s the thrill of
young love, song, dance,
period costumes—
everything you may
want from a timeless
holiday treat. It also
happens to be the film
that introduced Garland
to director Vincente
Minnelli, whom she
later married and had
her famous daughter
Liza with.
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
(1946)
The Citizen Kane of
Christmas movies, It’s
a Wonderful Life tops
every list of the greatest
holiday films ever made.
James Stewart stars as a
desperate businessman
who considers taking
his own life. Fortunately,
his guardian angel
comes to the rescue
and shows him what
his life would have
been like if it hadn’t
been for all his good
deeds. It’s a wholesome,
deeply moving film
that reminds us that
goodness is within all of
us and it’s never too late
to turn your life around.THE APARTMENT (1960)
Perhaps not the
most traditionally
Christmassy film (it
deals with extramarital
affairs and the action
extends up to New Year’s
eve) The Apartment
is nevertheless a
heartwarming story of a
man and woman thrown
together under ill-fated
circumstances over the
holidays and—you’ve
guessed it—they fall
in love. Starring Jack
Lemmon and Shirley
MacLane in what were
arguably their greatest
roles, and masterfully
directed by Billy Wilder.4 Of the greatest classic Christmas films
FANNY AND ALEXANDER (1982)
The dreamiest, most magical entry on our list, Fanny and
Alexander was one of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman’s final
films, inspired by his own childhood. It follows the lives of the two
eponymous children and their large, colourful family in a small
Swedish town. Intimate, emotional and breathtakingly beautiful, it
won four Academy awards, including Best Foreign Language Film.