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DEL.ICIO.USTime for the best tannenbaums in movies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I haven’t bought a Christmas tree yet this year. I’m waiting for my once-wee sons Cecil B. and D.W. to come home. Cecil B. arrives first — about a week before Christmas. We’ll get one and decorate it with all the ornaments we’ve gathered over the years — the little bell commemorating “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the ornament shaped like “The Alamo,” and, even though I don’t particularly relish “Gone With The Wind,” the tiny Tara that needs to rest on a sturdy limb.
Perhaps like you, I like a good tree. And the movies often provide fine ones.
Here are a few movie Christmas trees I really like:
“WHITE CHRISTMAS” — It’s the big one at the end I like — unveiled just before Bing sings the title song for the second time. The tree is huge (and so are the ornaments) and the actors strut around it in those ridiculous red and white outfits.
“NUTCRACKER: THE MOTION PICTURE” — The sets, designed by Maurice Sendak for the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s production are mind-blowing. And the absolute best of the lot is the Christmas tree that grows and grows into a gigantic skyscraper.
“ELVIS” — This TV movie is flat-out amazing with a terrific performance by Kurt Russell as Elvis Presley. But one thing etched in my memory is Shelley Winters as once dirt-poor Gladys Presley, sitting at a table in her son’s mansion in new finery and watching a small, turning tree overladen with puffy, fake snow.
“NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA” — Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece (he had several) contains the best depiction of a Christmas celebration on film. And my memory is that the best part of the wonderful tree are the lighted candles that give off such a warm glow in cold, cold Sweden.
What are your favorite Christmas trees in movies?
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By Racebaiter
December 3, 2007 9:09 AM | Link to this
Hey! You said Christmas tree! Unbelievable. Now if we can just get the mall Santas to say Christmas, or hand out something besides a “Holiday Activity Book” (with no mention of Christmas inside), then we’ll be over the first hump.
By Vicki
December 3, 2007 9:33 AM | Link to this
Hands down, the best Christmas tree movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life”!
By Snoopy
December 3, 2007 10:23 AM | Link to this
The best by far was Charlie Brown’s threadbare Christmas tree that turned into a light and ornament laden masterpiece after the kids decorated it with all the stuff from my doghouse.
By andrew
December 4, 2007 10:28 AM | Link to this
ITS FANNY AND ALEXANDER.
You should see it