Christmas films in the forties and fifties reflected what was happening in the world at the time much like those of today.  In the forties there was a war going on and many Hollywood films were centred around soldiers going to war, coming home, or on families waiting for news of loved ones. Spies were also a very big storyline for Hollywood writers.  Many stars were involved in selling war bonds at the time. One star, Carol Lombard, was killed in a plane crash whilst on a war bond tour. Women in suits became all the rage too as more and more women joined the work force. Slinky evening gowns worn in the evenings only. They still liked to wear fur though and those that could afford it spared no thought for all the little furry animals sacrificing their lives to make them look glamorous in winter.  In the 1950s movies changed along with women’s suits. The pencil skirt was the thing for a slim figure. They still wore fur coats though and even Doris succumbed.

Christmas movies changed too and were mostly about the changing dynamics within families. It was the age of teenage angst and ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ with Natalie Wood and James Dean. It was also the age of the consumer as the war years had deprived so many of the material necessities they craved.

The movies reflected this.  There is a scene in ‘All That Heaven Allows’ where Jane Wyman’s teenage children wheel in a television for her for Christmas so she won’t be lonely after her divorce from their father. Of course they don’t understand that their presence over Christmas would be of far more value to her . Liz Taylor was photographed with the same tele. A ‘Must Have’ just like it is today. Films of the fifties were also fixated on marriage and divorce. The age of melodrama. As in ‘Holiday Affair’. My favourite though would have to be ‘Meet Me in St Louis’ a musical about a family about to dig up roots and move to Boston and all the problems this causes.

Then there is Doris and Gordon MacRae in the wonderful ‘By The Light Of The Silvery Moon’, also a family movie, with some wonderful songs and a turkey with nine lives who avoids being served up for Christmas dinner.
The film also deals with malicious rumour mongering and small town mentality.

A great one indeed for everyone over the Christmas period.