10. Home Alone (1990)

Taking place in a Chicago suburb over the few days leading up to Christmas, Home Alone asks what an inventive young tyke would do all alone in a large house, if left to his own devices. Without any parental supervision or restrictions, Kevin McAllister (Macaulay Culkin) realizes every kid's dream, that of turning the house upside down in order to have a blast, until a bumbling pair of would-be robbers (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) show up to put a stop to his fun, causing a memorable battle of wits to ensue. There's little doubt in anyone's mind that Culkin helped turn this Chris Columbus comedy into an instant classic upon its release almost twenty years ago.
9. Scrooged (1988)

Director Richard Donner's modernized take on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol makes for great comedy when vain TV executive Frank Cross (Bill Murray) discovers the true meaning of the Christmas spirit, after being visited by three ghosts on December 24th. Though the original story has been told many times by now, fans can still enjoy the creativity with which writers Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue spin all of the original elements into the electronic age. Bobcat Goldthwait and Carol Kane are but a few of the dozens of famous faces appearing in this gem of a film.
8. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Christmastime is the setting for this war-time romantic comedy of errors starring Dennis Morgan, Barbara Stanwyck and Sydney Greenstreet. Successful writer Elizabeth Lane (Stanwyck) is known for her magazine column detailing blissful married life cooking recipes on a Connecticut farm. When war hero Jefferson Jones (Morgan) is to be sent to stay at her farm as a holiday publicity stunt, Lane must think on her feet to conceal the truth: she is unmarried, can't cook worth a damn, and doesn't own a farm. With a little help from generous friends, she manages to organize the trip, which results in a messy love triangle between Jones and her publisher (Greenstreet). Now a classic holiday staple, it helped shape the modern comedies that followed.
7. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

After having hijacked the Wallyworld amusement park and terrorized most of Europe in their first two films, the Griswold family inevitably finds a way to destroy the spirit of Christmas, lest they see a blemish on their impeccable record of wanton destruction. Clumsy patriarch Clark's (Chevy Chase) Christmas doesn't pan out and is filled with one disastrous event after another, unfolding over a madcap holiday season in which literally everything goes wrong. Keen observers will notice the house next door is in fact the Murtaugh family house from the Lethal Weapon films.
6. White Christmas (1954)

Casablanca director Michael Curtiz helmed this enduring musical gem about a pair of US soldiers turned song and dance men (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) who meet a similar pair of ladies (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen) in a Vermont Inn threatened with foreclosure over the holidays. The real strength of this film rests in Irving Berlin's memorable songs, superbly performed by the film's leads. White Christmas was also the very first film to be released in Vistavision, a high resolution version of 35mm film that was an innovation at the time. This resulted in rich colours which have stuck in viewer's minds for over half a century.
5. Holiday Inn (1942)

Another fine example of Old Hollywood succeeding at mixing memorable love triangles with impeccable dance and song numbers, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire star as two vaudeville performers vying for the attention of leading lady Marjorie Reynolds at a club called Holiday Inn (which later inspired the famous hotel chain) which is only to open during major holidays, including Christmas. Ironically, Holiday Inn was the first film to feature the song 'White Christmas', twelve years prior to the later movie of the same name, also starring Crosby.
4. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

The penultimate tale of how powerful the ideology of Santa Claus can truly be, Miracle follows the tale of a friendly old man (Edmund Gwenn) who is asked to replace a drunken Santa at Macy's during the holidays. When the old man announces his name is Kris Kringle and he is the real Santa Claus, he risks being committed as insane, unless young idealistic lawyer Fred Gailey (John Payne) can argue that his claims are true. Gwenn still remains undefeated as the most watchable Santa on film, though Sir Richard Attenborough did give it a go in the lesser 1994 remake.
3. A Christmas Story (1983)

A Canadian/American production which remains one of the most identifiable Christmas comedies by Generation Xers, Christmas Story left indelible images of kids' tongues sticking to flagpoles, and the potential dangers of losing an eye in a pellet rifle accident. Peter Billingsley plays young bespectacled Ralphie Parker, a kid who sets out to convince his family that an Official Red Ryder Carbine Action BB Gun is the only true Christmas present he should be receiving that year. The film competes with It's a Wonderful Life every year as the most aired classic on TV.
2. A Christmas Carol (aka Scrooge), 1951

Despite the twenty-odd versions of Dickens' classic tale of redemption (including our own pick Scrooged at #9,) it's near impossible to beat Alistair Sim's masterful portrayal of miser Ebenezer Scrooge as he learns the true meaning of Christmas. Sim's animate eyes conveyed the ever changing mood of the curmudgeonly protagonist as he makes his way to becoming a better citizen come Christmas morning. Sim arguably inspired every actor who followed in his footsteps, including Jim Carrey in the recent CGI film. Watch this classic first, so you may compare later performances.
1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

One of the most inspiring films ever made, Frank Capra's masterpiece remains the most watched holiday classic to date. The tale of George Bailey and his visit to an alternate reality in which he didn't exist remains the finest example of how every day should be lived to the fullest, lest an opportunity be missed to see how life truly is wonderful. Jimmy Stewart is irreplaceable as George, the protagonist contemplating suicide until a guardian angel named Clarence (Henry Travers) shows him the error of his ways. Ranked #20 on AFI's newest list of the 100 best films of all time.