Buzz
Contemporary viewers are well-versed in the seasonal trends of television programming: war-themed narratives around Memorial Day, horror films preceding Halloween, and festive stories in December. Interestingly, the initial release dates of these seasonally themed movies often didn’t align with their respective holidays, whether due to challenges, oversight, or deliberate choices.
10. The Shop Around the Corner
The charming romantic comedy The Shop Around the Corner is set in the days leading up to Christmas, following two coworkers in a Budapest leather goods store who constantly clash, oblivious to the fact that they are secretly falling in love through anonymous letters. Despite its holiday setting, the film premiered on January 10, 1940, long after the festive season had ended.
Director Ernst Lubitsch aimed to start production before 1938 concluded, but the project was delayed. Further setbacks occurred when he switched studios. Lubitsch filled the gap by directing Ninotchka (1939) while waiting for his ideal cast, James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, to free up their schedules. Once filming commenced, the entire movie was completed in just twenty-eight days.
This storyline might seem recognizable, as it has been adapted twice without the festive backdrop. In the Good Old Summertime (1949) shifted the setting to a music shop, serving as a platform for Judy Garland. You’ve Got Mail (1998) modernized the love-hate dynamic with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks portraying rival bookstore owners in the digital era.
9. Holiday Inn
In Holiday Inn (1942), Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire showcase their singing and dancing talents while vying for the affection of the same woman at a countryside inn that operates exclusively during specific holidays. Despite its holiday-themed musical sequences, the film premiered in New York City during the non-festive month of August. It later gained popularity as a December television favorite, largely due to its Oscar-winning song “White Christmas.” (Today, the “Abraham” segment for Lincoln’s Birthday is frequently omitted because of its use of blackface as part of the storyline.)
The film’s content was heavily shaped by contemporary events. The attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred during production, led to heightened patriotic elements in the Independence Day segment, featuring visuals of weapon manufacturing, military drills, General MacArthur, and President Roosevelt. Similarly, Astaire’s performance in “Let’s Say It with Firecrackers” included so many real pyrotechnics around his feet that the crew had to wear protective goggles.
In a lighter vein, the November segment features an animated turkey hopping between Thursdays on a calendar, a nod to the confusion before Congress established Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of the month to extend the Christmas shopping period.
8. Christmas in Connecticut
In a striking seasonal contradiction, Christmas in Connecticut (1945) debuted on Independence Day. Barbara Stanwyck portrays a magazine columnist who captivates her audience with tales of her homemaking prowess in a countryside abode shared with her husband and child. In reality, she is unmarried, child-free, resides in a New York City flat, and lacks basic cooking skills. When her editor demands she host a homemade meal for a World War II hero, chaos unfolds as she assembles a makeshift farm, family, and festive dinner.
The film itself was not without its deceptions. The New England farmhouse showcased was the same California set from Bringing Up Baby (1938). The sleigh sequence was shot on a Warner Bros. soundstage, with artificial snow made from soap flakes as fake as the protagonist’s culinary abilities. Yet, with the war nearing its conclusion, this tale of love and returning soldiers resonated perfectly with audiences, even if they exited the Christmas fantasy into the heat of summer.
7. It Happened on 5th Avenue
The release of It Happened on 5th Avenue on April 5, 1947, in Miami, Florida, was an equally odd decision for a narrative set during Christmas in Manhattan. This romantic comedy was initially slated in 1945 as the debut project for director Frank Capra’s new production company, but he opted to create It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) instead.
Capra later transferred the rights to Monogram Pictures, a studio typically associated with B-movies and Westerns, aiming to elevate its reputation with more sophisticated productions. Shooting commenced on August 5, 1946, and wrapped up by mid-October, yet the film’s release was delayed by nearly half a year.
Despite a shift in directors, the film is brimming with Capra-like motifs: a homeless man and others seeking shelter occupy the empty estate of “the world’s second-wealthiest individual,” who has relocated south for the winter. Tensions escalate when the millionaire’s grown daughter unexpectedly arrives. Posing as impoverished, she develops feelings for one of the other “residents” and eventually helps reconcile her divorced parents.
The screenplay earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Original Story but was bested by another Christmas-themed film released later that spring, set just across the city.
6. Miracle on 34th Street
Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox, believed summer attracted larger moviegoing crowds, prompting the June 4, 1947, release of Miracle on 34th Street (1947), with “Christmas” omitted from its title. The enigmatic trailer avoided any holiday references or plot hints, simply highlighting the cast and lauding the film as “Hilarious! Romantic! Delightful! Charming! Tender! Exciting! and even Groovey!”
Several cameras were positioned along the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade route on November 28, 1946, to seize this single-take moment. Edmund Gwenn, as Santa Claus, interacted with the actual crowd in front of Macy’s entrance, while interior store scenes were shot at night after closing. Though viewers may have entered theaters to escape the summer heat, the onscreen winter was authentic. During the final scene, where young Susan dashes to her dream home, the extreme cold froze the cameras, prompting a neighbor to invite the crew indoors to warm up while repairs were made.
Zanuck initially dismissed the story as overly sentimental, yet this Christmas classic secured three Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Gwenn and Best Original Story for screenwriter Valentine Davies, alongside a Best Picture nomination.
5. Easter Parade
When Irving Berlin sought a nostalgic melody for a 1933 musical revue, he adapted the tune from his 1917 song “Smile and Show Your Dimple,” adding fresh lyrics to craft “Easter Parade.” Years later, he incorporated the song into Holiday Inn, and, much like “White Christmas,” this heartfelt favorite eventually inspired its own standalone film.
However, the film missed its intended spring release, premiering on June 30, 1948, due to delays from casting changes. Gene Kelly, the original lead, fractured his ankle during a volleyball game and was replaced by Fred Astaire. Ann Miller took over for Cyd Charisse, who sustained a knee injury on another project.
Despite the recast, the production faced its own challenges. Judy Garland, a costar, had just been discharged from a sanitarium after treatment for mental health struggles and substance dependency. Her psychiatrist advised removing director Vincente Minnelli, her then-husband, from the project to alleviate her stress. Meanwhile, Ann Miller executed her fast-paced tap routines while wearing a back brace, recovering from an injury inflicted by her intoxicated (soon-to-be-ex) husband, who had thrown her down a flight of stairs during her pregnancy.
4. We’re No Angels
We’re No Angels features Humphrey Bogart in an unusual comedic performance. Alongside Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray, he portrays one of three Devil’s Island escapees who, on Christmas Eve 1895, intend to rob a struggling store owner to finance their escape. Moved by the family’s generosity, the trio decides that “slitting their throats might ruin their Christmas.” Instead, they conspire to rescue the couple and their daughter from exploitative relatives, aided by a venomous snake named Adolphe.
Paramount secured the rights to the French original in February 1952. Throughout the prolonged development process, trade publications alternately reported Van Heflin, Audrey Hepburn, Irene Dunne, Gig Young, and even two Los Angeles Rams players as potential cast members.
After Bogart joined the project, Michael Curtiz, who had won an Oscar collaborating with Bogart on Casablanca (1942), was hired to direct. Filming wrapped in early August 1954, but this unconventional Christmas story remained shelved until its release on July 7, 1955.
3. Die Hard
Despite its profanity, an eighteen-person body count, and a July 12 release, Die Hard (1988) is celebrated for its holiday touches, starting with Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis” on its soundtrack. The action intensifies as Bruce Willis’s John McClane and his estranged wife, aptly named Holly, attend a corporate Christmas party. The besieged building is adorned with festive trees and decorations. McClane even leaves a villain in an elevator donning a Santa hat and a sweatshirt that declares, “Now I have a machine gun ho-ho-ho.”
Director John McTiernan has stated that Die Hard became a Christmas movie during production, a sentiment 20th Century Fox later embraced. The studio re-released the film in theaters in November 2018 and issued a “30th Anniversary Christmas Edition” Blu-ray, marketed with a trailer calling it “the greatest Christmas story ever told” and the tagline: “CHRISTMAS MOVIE? YIPPEE KI YES!”
Peter Billingsley, who portrayed young Ralphie in A Christmas Story (1983), supported the Christmas classification during a December 2023 podcast with Die Hard cinematographer Jan de Bont. Billingsley remarked, “Most importantly, I think it embodies the themes of Christmas—acceptance, forgiveness, love, and family.”
2. Ben-Hur
The enduring Easter epic, Ben-Hur, runs just eight minutes shorter than its Old Testament counterpart. Its journey from conception to its November 18, 1959, release was equally lengthy. MGM aimed to start filming in July 1954 but faced setbacks due to numerous script rewrites, director and producer changes, and shifts in studio leadership.
By the time production commenced in Rome in May 1958, set construction had been ongoing for months. The chariot race track spanned 18 acres (7.3 hectares) and took half a year to complete. The race sequence, though only ten minutes on screen, required ten weeks to film and consumed a quarter of the $15 million budget ($162 million in 2024). Despite director William Wyler’s grueling sixteen-hour, seven-day-a-week schedule, shooting lasted nine months. Recording the extensive musical score alone took twelve sessions across seventy hours.
MGM’s patience and financial risk were rewarded with a fivefold return at the box office and a record-breaking eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Charlton Heston, marking his sole career nomination.
1. The Ten Commandments
Though now a staple of Easter and Passover broadcasts, The Ten Commandments (1956) first captivated audiences on October 5. Even without a holiday connection, Cecil B. DeMille’s final film dominated the box office that year. This three-hour-and-forty-minute Technicolor masterpiece expanded on DeMille’s 1923 silent film of the same name, which depicted Moses leading his people from Egypt, followed by a modern story illustrating the consequences of violating the commandments.
Bringing the film to life was nothing short of miraculous. Realizing DeMille’s ambitious vision demanded not only the iconic parting of the Red Sea but also 1,200 storyboard drawings, over 14,000 extras, and 15,000 animals. After years of preparation, the 73-year-old DeMille experienced a severe heart attack in 1954 while filming in Egypt for three months.
Returning to Hollywood, he wrapped up nearly four months of studio shooting, followed by fourteen months of post-production. Though release timing may not have been a priority, DeMille reportedly scheduled filming to allow Charlton Heston’s three-month-old son, Fraser, to portray baby Moses.
