Nine Lesser-Known Classic Christmas Movies from the 1940s

Are you looking for a good Christmas movie to watch this holiday season? Nothing beats escaping the cold like a mug of hot chocolate, a plate of baked goodies, and a cheerful holiday film. For something different this year, consider one of these nine lesser-known Christmas classics from the 1940s.

Many television stations feature popular Christmas movies throughout the holiday season, and fans already own copies of holiday staples like White Christmas, It's A Wonderful Life, and Miracle On 34th Street. Other classics are a little harder to find, but the search is definitely worth the effort.

This year, start a new tradition with one of these 1940s Christmas classics. You may be able to find them at a movie rental store or public library, on a movie download website, or on a cable television station. To purchase the film for your personal collection, shop the major entertainment retailers in-store or online.

What is your favorite Christmas movie? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

Beyond Christmas is the colorized version of the black-and-white fantasy romance, Beyond Tomorrow. This 1940 classic is a rare holiday gem.

The story centers on the ghosts of three old men determined to help two young people they knew (and befriended on Christmas Eve) when they were still alive.

Richard Carlson and Jean Parker star as the young romantics. Harry Carey, Charles Winninger, and C. Aubrey Smith are the trio of match-making ghosts.

This sentimental movie is a classic treasure that begs rediscovery by modern audiences. The Internet Archive works to collect everything that resides in the public domain, and you can now watch Beyond Tomorrow online for free.

Remember The Night is another lesser known 1940 film. The romantic comedy features Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Beulah Bondi, and Sterling Holloway.

When a young woman is arrested for shoplifting during the Christmas season, the assistant district attorney assigned to her case moves to have the trial postponed.

During the holiday break, the two fall in love. But a series of unfortunate events could ruin the young man’s future and send them both to jail.

The scriptwriter, Preston Sturges, summarized the movie in a sentence: “Love reformed her and corrupted him.”

Penny Serenade is often classified as a Christmas film because it has a holiday setting. The melancholy drama stars Cary Grant and Irene Dunn as a young married couple whose big dreams for life shatter into unexpected pain and sadness.

As they struggle to overcome their problems and keep their marriage together, the couple wonder if their relationship is worth saving.

The story unfolds in flashbacks, triggered by music recordings played by the wife as she prepares to leave her home for good.

This 1940s Christmas classic should not be missed, and you can view Penny Serenade online at the Internet Archive. But watch it with a box of tissues!

Christmas Holiday, a film noir, is another rare gem. Loosely based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham, the movie stars Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly.

The dark drama centers on a cabaret singer in World War II New Orleans who starts a conversation with a soldier stranded during the holidays. Through a series of flashbacks, she recounts the tragic story of her marriage to a murderous Creole scoundrel.

This bleak film is one of the more obscure Christmas movies of the 1940s. Although it is hard to find, it is well worth the search, especially for fans of film noir. You may be able to find it online.

I’ll Be Seeing You is a tender-hearted wartime movie starring Joseph Cotten, Ginger Rogers, and Shirley Temple. An old-time radio drama inspired the classic film.

The story follows a kindhearted soldier suffering from shell-shock and battle fatigue. After being released from a mental hospital for the Christmas holidays, he meets a young female convict on a holiday furlough from prison to visit her family.

Their mutual loneliness blossoms into romance. Both long for a normal life, but they wonder if that is possible once the truth about each is known.

Meet Me In St. Louis is a fun romantic musical starring Judy Garland, Mary Astor, Margaret O’Brien, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, and Marjorie Main.

The movie was adapted from a series of Sally Benson short stories, first published in The New Yorker, and later as the novel 5135 Kensington.

Set on the brink of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, the film follows four sisters as they learn about life and love.

Not exactly a Christmas movie, the film does feature a holiday setting. It also introduces “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time.

Star In The Night is a short Christmas drama starring J. Carrol Naish and Donald Woods. It was director Don Siegal’s debut film.

A modern version (1940s modern) of the biblical Christmas story, the movie includes elements of the Charles Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol.” As Turner Classic Movies describes it, the story is told "from the point of view of a Scrooge-like jaded man with little use for the Christmas holiday."

Like Christmas Holiday, this obscure film is hard to find. But the Academy Award winner is certainly worth the search.

It Happened On Fifth Avenue is a Christmas comedy starring Don DeFore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles, Victor Moore, and Gale Storm.

The story is set on New York City's Fifth Avenue, "the richest avenue in the world."

A homeless man and his friends secretly take up residence in a Fifth Avenue townhouse, while the owner and his family winter in the South for the Christmas holiday.

A song from this classic 1940s film, “That’s What Christmas Means To Me,” became a 1950s hit for Eddie Fisher.

Holiday Affair is a romantic comedy starring Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey, and Harry Morgan.

Set during the Christmas season, this classic movie centers on a war widow who cannot afford to buy her son a toy train for Christmas.

When a war veteran discovers her plight and offers to buy the toy, a complicated holiday romance begins, one that is not without lively competition for the widow's affections.

This film inspired a 1996 made-for-TV remake, starring Cynthia Gibb and David James Elliott.

Copyright © 2010. Annette R. Smith. All rights reserved.

Published November 30, 2010. Updated February 24, 2012.