The Big Sleep
December 23, BBC2, 1.05pm
Two years after their electrifying performance in To Have And Have Not, Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart shared screen time again in this 1946 crime thriller. Bacall is Vivian Rutledge, Bogey is maverick gumshoe Philip Marlowe in an adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s iconic novel. Directed by Howard Hawks working to a screenplay co-written by novelist William Faulkner, The Big Sleep regularly tops those Best Films Noirs Ever lists. Watch it and you’ll see why.
It’s A Wonderful Life
December 23, Channel 4, 4.30pm
Would Christmas be Christmas without Frank Capra’s life-affirming classic? No. Does the 1946 film repay repeated viewings? Yes indeed. James Stewart, never better, stars as the community-minded family man driven to attempt suicide but saved by the ministrations of an over-eager guardian angel (second-class). An absolute masterpiece of storytelling and the cinematic art.
White Christmas
December 24, BBC2, 4.30pm
Irving Berlin’s song White Christmas has a life in its own right but it originally featured in 1942 musical Holiday Inn. A decade on, Bing Crosby’s smash hit interpretation becomes the centrepiece of this 1954 musical, set in Europe on Christmas Eve, 1944. Crosby stars alongside Rosemary Clooney and Danny Kaye, and it’s helmed by Oscar-winning Casablanca director Michael Curtiz.
Nine To Five
December 24, BBC2, 10.30pm
Wanting a modern feminist twist on a 1940s screwball comedy, Jane Fonda came up with the idea for a story about put-upon female office workers. This is the result. Written by Patricia Resnick, fresh from a run of three scripts for Robert Altman, it stars Fonda alongside Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton, who sings the wonderful theme song.
Toy Story 4
Christmas Day, BBC1, 3.10pm
Nearly a decade after Toy Story 3 and a quarter of a century after the film which started the franchise, Buzz, Woody and friends return for another outing to infinity and beyond. There’s a new “toy” – christened Forky – and with Andy now grown up and away at college, attention turns to his young sister Bonnie. All the usual voices are back plus (two among a long list of newbies) horror maestro Jordan Peele as Bunny and Keanu Reeves – Mr John Wick himself – as Duke Caboom.
Home Alone
Christmas Day, Channel 4, 5.30pm
Slapstick cartoon violence abounds in this evergreen Christmas caper about eight-year-old Kevin McCallister who is accidentally left behind in his family’s Chicago home when the rest of the clan heads off to Paris for Christmas. Enter the Wet Bandits, aka house-breakers Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern, who think the home is empty. Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin knows otherwise and so the stage is set for a battle royal. Kevin arms himself with (among other things) an air rifle and basically goes: “Bring it on, dudes.”
House Of Gucci
Christmas Day, BBC Three, 11pm
After displaying her acting prowess in Oscar winner A Star Is Born, Lady Gaga swapped lead men – Adam Driver in for Bradley Cooper – and starred in Ridley Scott’s adaptation of Sara Gay Forden’s book about the famous fashion company and the infamous battle for control which resulted in murder. The performances are as solid as you would expect, but just as captivating are the clothes and the retro-styling.
North By Northwest
Boxing Day, BBC2, 2.10pm
What’s your favourite Hitchcock film? If it’s not Vertigo, the chances are it’s this one – Cary Grant in an exquisitely fitting grey suit battling a villainous James Mason, a duplicitous Eva Marie Saint and a low-flying crop duster with a grudge as he tries to figure out: (1) who’s chasing him (2) why they’re chasing him (3) where his next Martini is coming from.
The Mirror Crack’d/Evil Under The Sun
December 27, BBC2, 2.50pm/4.35pm
Director Guy Hamilton followed a decade’s worth of Bond films (from Goldfinger to The Man With The Golden Gun) by helming this pair of Agatha Christie adaptations, airing here in a helpful double bill. The first is a Jane Marple joint, with the great Angela Lansbury doing the honours alongside Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis (and the list goes on). The second stars Peter Ustinov as you-know-who in a follow up to Death On The Nile. Jane Birkin joins him in this one.
Witness For The Prosecution/Murder On The Orient Express
December 28, BBC2, 2.30pm/4.25pm
Another double bill of Agatha Christie adaptations. The first is Billy Wilder’s quirky 1957 take on Christie’s courtroom drama stage play of the same name and stars Marlene Dietrich alongside Tyrone Power. The second is Peter Ustinov’s first outing as Poirot, notable as much for the supporting cast – Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergman among them – as it is the nimble performance of the lead.
Respect
December 28, BBC2, 9pm
Screening as part of an evening of programmes dedicated to the late, great Aretha Franklin – the pick is a 1968 concert filmed in Amsterdam – Liesl Tommy’s 2021 biopic stars Jennifer Hudson as the singer and Forest Whitaker as her father, Clarence. Marlon Wayans plays abusive husband and manager Theodore White, and there’s also room in the cast for 1990s soul star-turned-actress Mary J Blige as blues legend Dinah Washington.
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
December 29, Channel 4, 12.45pm
It isn’t quite up there with The Matrix, Star Wars and Blade Runner in terms of sci-fi game-changers. But Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film about an alien landing and the effect it has on a wide variety of people still pushed the envelope, anticipating movies like The Arrival and reminding successive generations of viewers that he was a master film-maker even then. Always a treat.
Yesterday
December 29, BBC Three, 7pm
It would have been hard to have messed up this what-if-the-Beatles-never-existed romcom given that it’s packed full of all your Fab Four faves. But thankfully director Danny Boyle knows what he’s doing, so as well as the music there’s a steady hand on the controls. Himesh Patel stars as struggling songwriter Jack Malick, who wakes from an accident to find that the world’s collective memory has been wiped of all knowledge of John, Paul, George and Ringo – but Jack still knows all the songs.
Mary, Queen Of Scots
December 30, BBC2, 3.10pm
Though Oscar-nominated following its release in 1971 this historical drama is still relatively under-rated and deserves revisiting, not least for the fact that it has two strong female leads. They are Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson as, respectively, the titular Mary and her regal cousin Elizabeth, who would imprison and then execute her. A pre-James Bond Timothy Dalton plays Darnley, Mary’s second husband. Another Bond connection, if these matter to you: John Barry did the score.
Paddington 2
December 30, BBC1, 6pm
You can argue for the rest of the year about which is the best Paddington film, but if this sequel isn’t better than the marmalade-loving bear’s first outing then it’s every bit as good. Ben Whishaw returns to voice Paddington alongside Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins as Mr and Mrs Brown, and there’s a film-stealing performance from Hugh Grant as conniving old luvvie Phoenix Buchanan.
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