THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – MRS. MIRACLE 2, MIRACLE IN MANHATTAN

 

Mrs. Merkle (Doris Roberts) as if by holiday magic pops up in a family-owned New York City department store as a sassy saleswoman, but no one remembers hiring her.

She gets to work quickly on her boss Jake (Eric Johnson) and his dad, JR (Tom Butler) who have a strained relationship to say the least.

Her mission is to help JR rediscover the magic of Christmas while helping along a romance with Jake and Holly (Jewel Staite).

Holly is a beautiful but put-upon assistant to a fashion designer, Lindy Lowe (Lauren Holly), and is also the legal guardian to her nephew, Gabe, while her brother is overseas with the army.
But before long with her unquenchable and infectious spirit, she has things under control at the store but Mrs. Miracle still had a lot work ahead of her in order that it is a magical Christmas for all.

WHEN I WAS A KID @ XMAS

 

When I was a kid

On Christmas Morning

The day began

With excited howls

Of “Has he been?”

Because we didn’t get gifts

Until my Dad

Had evacuated his bowels

A BELL RINGER GOT THE BELL ROPE

 

A Bell ringer got the bell rope

Tangled around his thigh

And as a result, he caught

His ding dong merrily on high

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE BISHOP'S WIFE (1947)

 

Directed by Henry Koster, the Christmas classic, The Bishop's Wife, tells the tale of an Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham played by David Niven, who has been working for months on the plans for a new cathedral, paid for by a selfish and stubborn widow Mrs. Hamilton, (Gladys Cooper).

As a result he begins to lose sight of his wife, Julia, (Loretta Young) and daughter Debbie (Karolyn Grimes) and of why he joined the church in the first place, so Dudley, an angel in human form, played by Cary Grant, is sent to help him, with the task of building a new cathedral and repairing his fractured marriage.

Dudley help’s everyone he meets, but not always in the way they would have chosen, nonetheless everyone liked Dudley, with the exception of Henry.
As Christmas approaches Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace him, at work, and in his family’s affections.

He even manages to affect his maid Matilda (Elsa Lanchester) and Secretary Mildred Cassaway (Sara Haden).

Even the cynical old atheist family friend Professor Wutheridge (Monty Woolley) falls under his spell, eventually, but Dudley must be careful not to become too fond of earthly distractions.

It’s a gem of a movie which can be appreciated any time of year and has many memorable scenes but my favourite is when Sylvester, the taxi driver (James Gleason) befriends Julia and Dudley and they go ice skating in the park, in fact the sequence is one of the best things you’ll see in many a film, enjoy.

I WAS PUNCHING BUTTONS ALL DAY

 

I was punching Buttons all day

But I got the sack though

Which was a little disappointing

Because I liked doing Panto

MICROSOFT ADVENT CALENDAR

 

I got a Microsoft Advent Calendar

This year, but if you should open

Too many Windows, They will,

For no apparent reason all close again

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – FAREWELL MR KRINGLE

 

Anna Walls (Christine Taylor), a sceptical magazine writer who is assigned to chronicle the 50th anniversary of Kris Kringle (William Morgan Sheppard) in the town of Mistletoe.

The town in fact wasn’t always called Mistletoe it was originally Summertown but it was such a Christmas town the inhabitants renamed it.

Mistletoe’s Santa Claus is hanging up his hat After 50 years (don’t panic he’s not THE Santa Claus) and Anna Walls is assigned to see what makes him tick.

This is complicated by the fact that because of a personal tragedy in her life Anna is a nonbeliever, not only in Santa but Christmas itself.

So slowly through her interactions with the townspeople, in particular Mark Stafford (Christopher Wiehl), Anna quickly discovers how much Kris Kringle means to the small town, and how much Christmas means to Kris Kringle.

But through her investigations will Anna recapture her Christmas spirit? That is the big question.

Well, it is Christmas after all.