Avanti! (1972) - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or one or the other

"Please keep in mind that it's Sunday, and this is a Catholic country!"

Director

Billy Wilder

Cast
Jack Lemmon - Wendell Armbruster Jr.
Juliet Mills - Pamela Piggott
Clive Revill - Carlo Carlucci

Edward Andrews - J. J. Blodgett
Gianfranco Barra - Bruno the valet
Franco Angrisano - Arnoldo Trotta
Franco Acampora - Armando Trotta
Giselda Castrini - Anna the maid

American playwright Neil Simon is among my favorite writers and directors. I also enjoy a lot of movies from director Billy Wilder, who seems like a daringly sarcastic or perhaps slightly ribald version of Neil Simon. 

Uppity critics probably love to look down on Neil Simon. He has a knack for sticking characters in relatable and plausible, though often mundane comedic situations so the audience can watch them deal with it. That's his genius.  

Simon's characters have, well, a lot of character. And the audience knows just what kind of people they are. His plots are tight with some roundabout conclusions. And audiences react with laughs. 

Billy Wilder has a knack for writing sharp dialogue and can draw out characters as well who are clearly defined. Like Simon, his plots are tight often with much more roundabout conclusions. He seems to add a little more...ahem...bold sauciness to his stories but not always for its own sake. His movies are also well cast, primarily because Jack Lemmon stars in a lot of his movies. 

I've already reviewed three other Billy Wilder movies - "Buddy, Buddy," "The Apartment," and "The Fortune Cookie." They, like this movie, star Jack Lemmon. What I love about Lemmon is his demeanor and style, which is comedic with just enough tragedy that fits his roles, especially in Wilder's movies. 

In "The Apartment," which also stars Shirley MacLaine,  Wilder makes a statement about the lack of morals within business circles. Wilder's movies are often satirical. Sometimes, it feels very subtle. In fact, in cases like his 1972 movie, "Avanti!" I can't tell if I'm correct in pointing out where the satire is. 

By the way, both Lemmon and MacLaine star together in another of Wilder's comedies, "Irma la Douce." I plan on getting to that later. Jack Lemmon is particularly known for starring in Billy Wilder's popular 1959 movie "Some Like it Hot" in which he and fellow actor Tony Curtis disguise themselves as women. 

Anyways, in "Avanti!" Lemmon plays Wendell Armbruster Jr. who's on his way to Italy after his father dies from an auto accident. He has to travel to the volcanic island of Ischia to claim the body.  

Juliet Mills, Clive Revill and Jack Lemmon.

During his travelling, which is not without its comedic difficulties, Armbruster runs into Pamela Piggott (Juliet Mills) who's on her way to Italy from London. 

She lets Wendell in on something about his father that he didn't know. His father had been having an affair over the last 10-years with Pamela's mother, Catherine. And she was in the car when he had the accident, and also died. This is despite his father having a wife in Baltimore.  

So, she's there to claim the remains of her mother.  

Of course, Wendall is shocked at this dirty secret. Pamela suggests his father and her mother be buried together on Ischia. Wendall, of course, doesn't like that idea. He wants to take his father's remains back home for a proper memorial. 

The manager of the hotel, Carlo Carlucci (Clive Revill) where Pamela and Wendall are staying, and where Wendall's father often stayed, works on funeral plans and trying to get dad back to the states. But a variety of obstacles fall in his way one after the other. Those obstacles reach a peak when the bodies disappear from the morgue. 

Wendall's wife, by the way, who's awaiting his return back in the states, uses her connections to high-ranking officials to help out her husband transport the father's body. 

Things get ever more insane when Wendall and Pamala decide to recreate their parent's longstanding secret fling. Of course, a fling like that can only lead to romantic feelings. 

Jack Lemmon makes a great everyman. He seems to dive into that ordinary guy aspect of his characters rather than play up them up for laughs. Lemmon plays up his characters for their relatability so audiences can identify themselves to some degree or another. 

I tend to compare some comedic actors (Jack Lemmon for instance) to the legendary comedian of comedians, Charlie Chaplin. Of course, Chaplin also portrays the everyman in his early movies when scampering around as the famous "little fellow." But Chaplin plays up his character for laughs. 

When Chaplin received an honorary Oscar in 1972, Jack Lemmon presented him the award. How absolutely appropriate that moment is! 

In fact, Lemmon later commented on Chaplin in an interview for "The Hollywood Collection" that he was of course talented and funny, and that there was an "identification with [Chaplin]." 

"I think if there was one quality that endeared him to the public, and without the public ever knowing

why, the fact that he was constantly in dire straights and great trouble, never ever did he let it make him feel sorry for himself. He never did that because that is distasteful to most people." 

Lemmon said that the characters he plays in what he considers to be his important films have something in common. Those characters of his need to make a choice in determining what their priorities are, and figure out what's right or what's wrong. That's definitely true with his role in "The Apartment" and in this movie as well. I said all that just to point out that Lemmon's character in "Avanti!" taps into that everyman persona amidst a storm of struggles. 

This movie reminds me a bit of Neil Simon's 1970 movie, "The Out-of-Towners" which also stars Lemmon. 

With "Avanti!" I wanted to like this movie. I like Lemmon's performance. Maybe I'm biased.

He has an amazing talent of making an audience take to his character.  But, I'm sorry to say, I didn't like the movie overall. Aside from being too long, it's too uncomfortable to sit through by the last act of the movie. 

It tries to be lighthearted where it shouldn't have be. Wendall ends up cheating on his wife. And it's presented as inevitable and charming. Call me a prude, but there's nothing charming and lighthearted about a man dealing with the death of his father and then turning the situation into a marital affair. Initial Lemmon's character tells Pamela that he's not going to indulge in any of her desires towards him. After she breaks down feeling sorry for herself, he agrees. 

At the same time, I want to dig into this movie's history and purpose as I have this lingering feeling that Billy Wilder is making a statement that I might be able to get behind. The premise seems too bold and too unsubtle to be taken on face value. If there's some underlying commentary there, I'm having trouble finding what that is. Maybe my opinion might change a little if I missed something. Until then, I loved the performances from Lemmon and Mills, though I didn't sense much chemistry. Otherwise, I didn't like "Avanti!" over-all. 

Conclave (2024)

"Hell arrives tomorrow when we bring in the cardinals."

Director
Edward Berger

Cast

Ralph Fiennes - Cardinal Thomas Lawrence

Stanley Tucci - Cardinal Aldo Bellini

John Lithgow - Cardinal Joseph Tremblay

Isabella Rossellini - Sr. Agnes

Sergio Castellitto -Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco
Lucian Msamati - Cardinal Joshua Adeyemi
Carlos Diehz - Cardinal Vincent Benitez

The marketing for the 2024 ecclesiastical political drama "Conclave" made it seem like this would be a story about the secrets behind Papal elections. 

The Catholic Church holds papal conclaves, which take place in complete secrecy, upon the death of a pope. 

The College of Cardinals gather at the Vatican to elect a successor of St. Peter by voting for the Cardinal they think will be an ideal fit for the papacy. During the process, they're secluded and not permitted to have contact with the outside world. 

When watching "Conclave" I anticipated a political thriller centering on the secret process along with the politics, turmoil, challenges, corruption, and the general workings that surely take place during these conclaves. And all of the above are there in the movie. All in all, I found this movie not only intriguing and well made, but also frustrating, grating and pitiful.

"Conclave" is based on Robert Harris's book of the same name. Since this is a movie involving the Catholic Church, and I happen to be a practicing Catholic, the story lit a fire under me. So, I have to make specific points at the risk of sounding preachy. Though I may be a bit prejudice, I do want to be fair...and completely correct, which of course I am. Also, spoilers! 

The movie begins with the death of the pope, whose name isn't mentioned in the film. 

Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) from England is the Dean of the College of Cardinals and heads the conclave now called to elect a new pope. 

There are four cardinals in particular who are primary potentials to be elected. One is Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), an Italian cardinal who is very traditional minded. He wants to see the Catholic Church return to saying the Traditional Latin Mass, often called the Tridentine Mass, which was the mass said in all Roman churches throughout the centuries until Pope Paul VI's new liturgy introduced in the late 1960s. He also wants to see Latin used on a wide scale within the Roman Church for the sake of unification. 

However, Cardinal Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci) from the U.S. is much more progressive and liberal. He wants the Church to continue on the progressive path the previous pope was leading the Church on.
Cardinal Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), a Nigerian Cardinal, is a social conservative. And Cardinal Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow) of Canada is considered a moderate, but he's got issues. 

Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence.

As the Cardinals start arriving at the Vatican and prepare to go into hiding, Lawrence receives all kinds of informative tidbits from advisors. 

He's told the pope had recently demanded Trembley to resign. Of course, when Lawrence confronts Trembley about this, he denies it. 

After all the cardinals arrive and are accounted for, a cardinal named Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz) arrives late, and very unexpectedly. In fact, none of the other cardinals know who he is. 

Evidently, he was the Archbishop of Kabul until the pope made him a cardinal in a manner the Church calls, "In pectore" which means done in secret. 

Lawrence confirms his legitimacy and allows Benitez to take part in the conclave. He has no reason not to include him. 

The electoral process is not without its tumultuous moments and pressures felt all around the College of Cardinals. 

In one scene, Lawrence witnesses a heated moment between Adeyemi and a nun named Sr. Shanumi (Balkissa Maiga) who had been transferred to Rome from Nigeria.

It turns out the Cardinal and Sr. Shanumi had a sinful relationship several years ago, I think before he was a cardinal, which led to the birth of a child. 

Also, Trembley is found to have committed the sin of simony as he paid other cardinals for their votes. Not only that, but he also arranged for Sr. Shanumi's transfer to Rome as an obstacle to Adeyemi's potential election, which Trembley claims he had done under the late Holy Father's request. 

Lawrence and Bellini have a heated discussion about the direction the Church needs to go or, rather where Bellini thinks it needs to go. For that to happen, again Bellini thinks Tedesco must not be elected. 

Bellini and Lawrence later reconcile, and Lawrence agrees to back Bellini in stopping Tedesco from obtaining the papacy.  

After multiple ballots over several days, the cardinals finally elect a pope. And the new pope carries a secret that is a first for the papacy in all of Church history. 

The parts of this movie I like, I like. The parts I hate, I really, really hate. 

"Conclave" has some beautiful cinematography and gorgeous composition. The scenes are brilliantly shot, and that's mixed with amazing acting from brilliant actors. That much, I really like. I also think the depictions of what the political strife among the different factions within the hierarchy (the traditionalist versus the progressives) must look like, especially during a papal conclave are pretty accurate. It's no secret the hierarchy of the Church is stained with scandals, unfortunately. 

Both political sides want to take the wheel of the Church in completely opposite directions. 

Sergio Castellitto as Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco.

In one scene, Tedesco talks to Lawrence during dinner and comments that around the time of Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, and especially before his papacy, when the Church still said the Latin Mass which is now commonly referred to as the traditional Latin Mass, the College of Cardinals were much more unified. They spoke to each other in Latin so they could understand each other. Latin is a unifying language, after all. Of course, Latin went by the wayside in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, and the Latin Mass was largely replaced around the world with the Novus Ordo liturgy said in the vernacular. 

"Without the tradition of Rome, things fall apart," Tedesco says. 

He points out how the Church isn't so unified now thanks to the abandonment of tradition. Now, as he says to Lawrence, the Cardinals are all isolated and only speak with those who speak their native language. The story makes a valid point through Tedesco. 

Bellini, being progressive, is gung-ho about the modern liberation theology that plagues the minds of too many church leaders. These left-wing ideas of his have emptied pews, poisoned the faithful, and killed vocations especially since the Second Vatican Council. 

He wants to continue the destruction of barriers the previous pope tried tearing down, insisting that all religions lead to God. 

Bellini goes to Lawrence to persuade him to forget tradition and steer the Church along the progressive route. And he'll say whatever needs to be said to make that happen. It's not Tedesco he dislikes; it's tradition. It's the 2000-year-old history of the Church he wants to stop. This mirrors the current crisis in the Catholic Church so well.   

"If we liberals are not united, Tedesco will become Pope. You have no idea how bad it became, Thomas. The way he and his circle attacked the Holy Father towards the end - the smears, the leaks to the press - it was savage. He fought him every single day of his pontificate, and now that he's dead, he wants to destroy his life's work. If Tedesco becomes Pope, he will undo sixty years of progress," Bellini says.
"You talk as if you are the only alternative, but Adeyemi has the wind behind him," Lawrence replies.
"Adeyemi? Adeyemi, the man who believes that homosexuals should be sent to prison in this world and Hell in the next? Adeyemi's not the answer to anything, and you know it. If you want to defeat...." 
"Defeat? This is a conclave, Aldo. It's not a war," Lawrence says.
"It is a war, and you have to commit to a side." 

Like too many cardinals and bishops, Bellini forgets that sodomy is one of the four deadly sins that cry to Heaven for vengeance. And "60 years of progress" - the "progress" that has emptied Churches, tossed out Church doctrine, and spread confusion, confusion, and confusion among Catholics - should not nor cannot replace 2000 years of Church history and tradition. The Church doesn't change because Christ cannot change. 

Tedesco is the potential successor who's against the progressive ideas plaguing the Church. He wants a return to tradition. He wants the traditional Latin Mass to be restored and embraced once again.

Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Aldo Bellini

So, he's the big ol' bad guy in the story. And, of course, the movie resist portraying him as a racist on top of being "outdated." Being labeled "racist" is the dirtiest thing a left-wing progressive ideologue can label their enemy. "Racist" with a capital 'R.' That's when the story began to feel like propaganda. Hollywood despises the Church specifically, and Christianity in general. It's no surprise Hollywood producers would make a movie to proselytize what teachings they arrogantly think the Catholic Church needs to recant, and what ideas of theirs the Church needs to embrace. I wouldn't expect Hollywood writers to know anything about the Catholic Church nor its history prior to yesterday, nor be bothered to do any sort of research. 

As Pope St. Pius X said in his encyclical, "Notre Charge Apostolique," "The true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries, nor innovators, but traditionalists." 

The Church has had leaders unfortunately involved in scandalous behavior as far back as Judas Iscariot betraying Jesus for money, and St. Peter, the first Pope, denying our Lord three times.  As Hilaire Belloc once adequately observed, “The Catholic Church is an institution I am bound to hold divine – but for unbelievers a proof of its divinity might be found in the fact that no merely human institution conducted with such knavish imbecility would have lasted a fortnight.”

Once the idea of returning to tradition is spit upon, the movie gets worse. Where the movie takes that plot point regarding corruption and claims what the resolution ought to be is where the movie completely loses me. 

Benitez, who's portrayed as a wise and humble prelate among all the other cardinals, admonishes the other cardinals for being so involved in fighting. He tosses out some empty platitudes about how we all have to be kind and nice to everyone, and that'll solve everything. And as if the cardinals have never heard that before, they elect Benitez, who takes the name Innocent.

Earlier, Lawrence's assistant and opposition researcher, Msgr. Raymond O'Malley (Brían F. O'Byrne) tells him that the pope had paid for Benitez to travel to Geneva for a medical appointment of some kind that ended up getting cancelled. 

After his election, Benitez tells Lawrence that he was born a male but with both a uterus and ovaries. He didn't know he was a hermaphrodite until he underwent an appendectomy. That appointment in Geneve was for a laparoscopic hysterectomy to remove his uterus. However, Benitez decided not to go through with it because, as he says, it's the way God made him. It's certainly a unique situation, and Lawrence allows the new pope to ascend the chair of St. Peter.

Granted, it's not Cardinal Benitez's fault, of course. Thanks to original sin, nature is corrupted and can fail. So, these types of deformations happen. Being a hermaphrodite is treated as being a part of the transgender movement. Transgender activists make it a part of their cause as a means to justify the delusion that a person can actually change their sex. They'll claim a person's sex isn't determined by their body parts but will then chop off body parts, or construct body parts, to make them male or female. And then they'll point to hermaphrodites to somehow "prove" that people can change their sex.

Using a rare deformity as some form of proof doesn't do their cause justice. Regardless, this plot point about Benitez plays into this notion. And because of that, this twist in the story gives the impression that the movie is claiming the Church needs a transgender pope to bring the Church...where? Only a transgender can make the Church acceptable to...whom? 

The movie left me with the notion that Catholics who adhere to true Catholic teachings, traditions, and morals are outdated, ignorant and evil. 

The movie certainly isn't insinuating nor even hinting that what the Catholic Church needs is a truly Catholic Pope who has the faith and will work to restore all things in Christ (Ephesians 1:10). 

"Instaurare Omnia in Christo" (To restore all things in Christ) was the motto of Pope St. Pius X, the predecessor of Pope Leo XIII who already saw corruption infiltrating the Church during his papacy between 1878 to 1903. However, the hierarchy has leaned farther and farther from that mindset to the point where the first commandment is ignored, Christ's words about Himself in St. John 14:6 is disregarded, and the condemned idea that "all religions lead to God" is haphazardly preached by Catholic clergy. Two contradictory things can't be right at the same time. 

This movie starts well, but ends up being another preach-fest of emotionally driven far-left non-sense that means absolutely nothing when you get down to it. 

"Conclave" concludes with the premise of how terrible, awful, and bad the Catholic Church is for not embracing current ideologies. What was it Christ said about being a sign of contradiction? The frustrating part, aside from this, is that the movie was marketed as being a story about the mysteries surrounding the paper conclave as seen in the trailers. 

The movie uses the beauty of Catholicism to snag audiences' attention and make them watch as Catholicism is smacked around by left-wing producers who believe Catholicism is an acceptable prejudice, and worthy of disdain. Audiences are left with the notion that the Church needs a dude with a uterus to guide and save it. It's just another channel for this tired progressive screed. Who needs it? 

Generally put, the movie wants me to think that for the Catholic Church to ever hope to be great is by embracing progressive leftist ideologies. "Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter." (Isaiah 5:20). Woe, indeed! 

"Conclave" starts off well, but crashes good and hard by the end. It's painfully frustrating to sit through a sermon from Hollywood about how evil, and bad, and evil some more, the 2000-year-old Catholic Church is for not believing what Hollywood elites demand everyone believe. 

 

The Fortune Cookie (1966) - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movies, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or one or the other

"This guy is so full of angles and gimmicks and twists; he starts to describe a doughnut, and it comes out a pretzel."

Director

Billy Wilder

Cast

Jack Lemmon - Harry Hinkle
Walter Matthau - William Gingrich
Ron Rich - Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson
Judi West - Sandy Hinkle
Cliff Osmond - Chester Purkey
Lurene Tuttle - Hinkle's mother
Harry Holcombe - O'Brien
Les Tremayne - Thompson

The 1966 comedy "The Fortune Cookie" is a trio of comedic perfection. So much so, it truly, truly deserves every ounce of praise and acclaim. It should stand among classic films that have withstood time and are highly regarded to this day. 

I think it might get some of that but not as much as it deserves. 

Not only does it mark the first movie Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, whom my mind will sometimes call "Lennon and McCartney" instead of Lemmon and Matthau, but it's directed by the legendary director, Billy Wilder. 

Wilder sat in the director's chair for some of Hollywood's most notable and easily recognizable titles such as "Double Indemnity" (1944), "Sunset Boulevard" (1950), "Stalag 17" (1953), "Sabrina" (1953), "The Seven Year Itch" (1955) and a load of others.

He directed Lemmon in "Some Like it Hot" "The Apartment" and "Irma la Douce" before pairing him with Matthau in this flick. 

This isn't the only movie Wilder would direct with Lemmon and Matthau starring together. There's a few more I'll mention later.

"The Fortune Cookie" is the best introduction to Lemmon and Matthau. Right away, there is so much chemistry between these two guys that if Louis Pasteur were alive to see them together, he'd toss his notebooks out and start from scratch. 

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in "The Fortune Cookie."

In this movie, Jack Lemmon plays Harry Hinkle, a CBS cameraman who ends up injured while broadcasting a Cleveland Browns football game. The Brown's star player, Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson (Ron Rich) accidentally runs into Harry on the sidelines, leaving Harry with some minor injuries. 

While he's in the hospital for observation to make sure those minor injuries are, in fact, minor, Harry's brother-in-law William Gingrich (Walter Matthau), who's a shady ambulance chasing attorney, sees dollar signs in Harry's situation. After all, he's known in some circles as "Whiplash Willie." 

Despite his aversion to William's greedy plan to claim both his hand and leg are paralyzed, Harry goes along with it after William convinces Harry that it could help get him back together with his ex-wife Sandy (Judi West). Plus, the insurance company will issue a sizeable indemnity. 

Thanks to an old injury Harry suffered during his childhood, the doctors are convinced Harry is in the amount of pain he claims to be in. 

The insurance company isn't so easily swayed and sends out some attorneys to investigate Harry's demise. William just needs to convince these lawyers that Harry is really injured. Easy? Sure it is, as long as luck is on their side. 

The chemistry between Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau is matchless. Seldom do two comedians pair in a manner that's nothing short of being meant to be. 

I wish they made more films together, and I appreciate the number of movies they made. The seem unofficially a pair, but officially a duo.

Lemmon and Matthau made eight comedy movies together and appear in nine comedies together. They also both appear in Oliver Stone's "JFK" but don't share any scenes. Lemmon also directed Matthau in "Kotch" (1971).
Their respective style and quarks bring a comedy that's incomparable to other comedic pairs. Jack Lemmon is often the fastidious character, or the guy pummeled by day-to-day misfortunes or being forced to put up with the insistences of others. This is true, for the most part, when he's in a movie sans Matthau. "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" (1975) definitely comes to mind when speaking about Lemmon's comedic style.  

Matthau's characters, meanwhile, have to put up with Lemmon's characters. 

When it comes to Lemmon and Matthau, director Billy Wilder is like the third man in the group. 

Though Wilder directed this movie as well as their other movies, "The Front Page" (1974) and "Buddy Buddy" (1981), he's like the Zeppo Marx among the rest of the Marx Brothers. The former movie being a favorite comedy of mine, and the latter being a movie I've already reviewed. 

"The Front Page!" Boy, I can't wait to get to that one! In fact, when it comes to my top ten favorite comedies of all time, three of them have Lemmon and Matthau, and a couple others have either Jack or Walter. 

I just don't know how else to say it without sounding cliché, or whatever. I sat for a difficult three minutes trying to come up with a way to express this sentiment, but all I could come up with is that you cannot be in a bad mood or feel melancholy while watching anything with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, or Jack Lemmon without Walter Matthau, or Walter Matthau without Jack Lemmon.

The only complaint I have about this initial movie of theirs is that it feels a bit slow somewhere in the middle. Still, I enjoyed the entire thing. Maybe I'm biased about it since I love these guys a lot, alone or together. 

As an introduction to Lemmon and Matthau as a comedic pair, "The Fortune Cookie" is perfect. It establishes the unofficial (or official?) team exquisitely. The chemistry is solid right from the start and lasts through their entire career until their last movie together, "The Odd Couple II" from 1998. I can't wait to talk about their next movie. In fact, I'm going to work my way through all of their comedies, except "JFK." Plus, I have some other movies I want to take a look at that star either Walter Matthau or Jack Lemmon. So, I'm all in for more Lemmon and Matthau, or some Lemmon and some Matthau. I'll get to those, too...hopefully.  

The Journey of Natty Gann (1985) - Disney Under the Rug

"She's a good kid, practically takes care of herself. All you got to do is make sure she's eating right and she's getting her sleep...." 

Director

Jeremy Kagan

Cast
Meredith Salenger - Natalie "Natty" Gann
Ray Wise - Sol Gann

John Cusack - Harry
Lainie Kazan - Connie
Scatman Crothers - Sherman
Barry Miller - Parker

As I mentioned in my review of Disney's 1983 movie, "Something Wicked This Way Comes" which I posted back in May, the 1980s were a dark era for Disney. A number of movies Disney released during the decade have quite a sinister and, well, dark tone uncharacteristic of their usual IP. Most of Disney's movies from the 1980s are "dark" in either their story or depictions, such as "Watcher in the Woods," "The Devil and Max Devlin," "The Black Cauldron," and even "Return to Oz."
Disney even released a movie called "The Kids Who Knew Too Much" (1980) which centers around a political assassination plot. Their 1978 "Wonderful World of Disney" movie "Child of Glass" centers on the ghost a young girl who was murdered.  

The 1980s were also a lousy time for Disney until a certain little mermaid pulled the company out of their lack of successful movies slump. 

Not only were a lot of these mostly live action movies have this infamous dark tone to some degree or another, but some were not necessarily aimed at children. 

A lot of these adult oriented movies were released under their distribution company, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Otherwise, most of them Disney would rather forget about. You won't mind most of these titles on the streaming app Disney+. 

However, Disney's 1985 drama adventure movie, "The Journey of Natty Gann" is not as obscure as other movies I've mentioned, it's not completely forgotten nor unrecognized isn't among the most popular and long remembered titles. It's a decent and well-made movie. And it holds a respectable place in the company's history of feature films. It's also available in Disney+. 

So, maybe it's unfair to throw it among my other Disney movie reviews I've been slowly building up and titling "Disney Under the Rug." This movie isn't quite "under the rug" as I've described in previous posts. 

In this movie, Natalie Gann (Meredith Salenger), Natty for short, and her father, Sol, live in Chicago in 1935, and are two among millions of Americans struggling in the midst of the Great Depression. 

Sol is out of work, desperate to find a job, and has been raising Natty by himself as his wife previously passed away. 

A lumberjack position opens up for Sol if he wants it. There's a ton of other men in line waiting to jump at the opportunity. 

Meredith Salenger and John Cusack. 

However, the job is in Washington State and if he wants it, Sol will have to leave later the same day that it's offered. 

He desperately tries to find Natty in and around all the usual neighborhood spots where she generally hangs around. 

Unfortunately, Sol can't find her and has to leave for Washington. So, he leaves her a note with the hotel/boarding house manager Connie (Lainie Kazan) promising he'll send for her as soon as he gets enough money. 

Sol begs Connie to watch over Natty while he's gone, which she reluctantly agrees to do. 

Connie and Natty don't get along well. After Natty gets into some trouble and is dropped off back at the boarding house by police, Connie fumes at Natty. 

She locks the kid in her room, but Natty manages to sneak out. She overhears Connie reporting her as an abandoned child to police over the phone. 

She sneaks out of the house and decides she's going to make her way to Washington to find her dad. In the initial part of her journey, she rescues a wolf from a dog fighting den. It cautiously begins following her after she rides the rails for a bit but has to get off when railroad cops begin pulling homeless people off and haul them to jail. 

The story follows Natty across the country as she meets a variety of people including a young fellow named Harry (John Cusack) who has also been riding the rails to a better life...hopefully, and lives in a chanty town. 

There are several obstacles Natty encounters which she sets her back, tests her determination, and forces her to endure through. 

The two main characters in this movie are, of course, Natty Gann and the Great Depression. The latter being the antagonist. It's personified through the characters who are so adversely affected, and whom Natty runs into on her journey. 

I really like this movie. My mother often rented it in my childhood, especially on those days when I stayed home sick from school. I had a fondness for this movie already. I haven't watched it in years. I think the last time I saw it was about the time my wife and I were still dating over ten-years ago. 

The characters are memorable and easy to get invested in, especially Natty. The emotion and turmoil are sharp and well-honed. 

It's not necessarily dark but for a Disney family picture from the 1980s, it has some elements that seem, well, pretty un-Disneylike. Namely, there are a few choice words here, but not enough to merit a rating over PG. There's also a scene where Natty thumbs a ride and is picked up by a guy who at first genuinely seems friendly before he tries to take advantage of the young kid. It doesn't amount to anything that needs to be fast forwarded as the wolf attacks the driver and Natty is able to get out of the car and run into the woods. Still, how un-Disneylike!

Ray Wise as Sol Gann in "The Journey of Natty Gann."

It also has a more honest depiction of Depression era America than what other family-oriented movies of the time may have been reluctant to show. That's not to say I wouldn't recommend this movie for parents to watch with their children. I showed it to my children the other day and had to explain various things to them as we watched. 

It goes to show that at the time, Disney was certainly making an attempt to draw more adults to their movies than before. It's a tactic they seem to be repeating today. Except this time, Disney isn't trying to make good movies. Rather, they're trying to make "correct" movies, and it's hurting their audience numbers big time. 

I personally think Disney needs to return to its animated and live action roots and make movies that tell good and wholesome stories, especially ones depicting wholesome or historical Americana rather than a story that'll appease a political demographic that's out its mind. They should return to their family-oriented traditionally minded roots that Walt intended. 

Above all, Disney needs to overcome this shame it seems to have over its own IP. More on that when I comment on the live action "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" which has been making headlines recently, ever before that movie comes out, and all with pretty much nothing but controversy and negativity. 

Meredith Salenger and John Cusack have great chemistry on screen. It's a shame they don't share more screen time. Though he's on the poster, John shows up around the beginning and then again near the end. He's not quite as main a character as the poster might make him seem to be.

It's Salenger who carries this movie right to the end. And she makes the audience take her side and cheer her on. 

Legendary actor and musician, Scatman Crothers, also has a supporting role as food vendor out in Chicago whom Natty looks to for advice. Crothers can be heard as "Scat Cat" in Disney's "The Aristocats," he's probably more well known for his role as Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick's horror classic, "The Shining." 

The shots, too, in this movie are fantastic. I mean, there are some spectacular and stunning views that are both gorgeous and show the audience what Natty is up against. 

The movie has a proper amount of warmth, heart, generous appeal and a welcoming timelessness that audiences expect (or used to) in a Disney movie.

Ragtime (1981)

"I want my car cleaned!"

Director
Miloš Forman

Cast
James Cagney - Commissioner Rhinelander Waldo
Howard Rollins - Coalhouse Walker Jr.

Elizabeth McGovern - Evelyn Nesbit
Kenneth McMillan - Fire Chief Willie Conklin
Pat O'Brien - Delmas
James Olson - Father

Mary Steenburgen - Mother

Brad Dourif - Younger Brother

Edwin Cooper - Grandfather
Mandy Patinkin - Tateh
Moses Gunn - Booker T. Washington
Debbie Allen - Sarah
Jeffrey DeMunn - Harry Houdini
Robert Joy - Harry Kendall Thaw
Norman Mailer - Stanford White
Jeff Daniels - P.C. O'Donnell
Fran Drescher - Mameh

The 1984 film "Amadeus" is certainly among my top five favorite movies of all time. Honestly, I don't know with absolute certainty what the other four of my top five movies are. I just know "Amadeus," directed by Milos Forman, is among them. 

The only other of Forman's films I've seen is his 1975 movie, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." I need to watch that again as it has been over 20 years since I've seen it. Anyways, both pictures won several Academy Awards including best picture. 

Not only did the 1981 film "Ragtime" catch my attention because it's another Milos Forman movie, but the 1920s is my favorite era. I have an affinity for the music and films of the 1920s. Scott Joplin. Charlie Chaplin. George and Ira. Bowler hats. All that jazz! The best of times, and the worst of times. Prohibition. Speak-easies. Side cars. Gin Rickeys. Singapore Slings. Flappers. The bee's knees. The cat's meow. The Roaring twenties! My apologies to Charlie Dickens for the bad paraphrase. 

By the way, write this down. One ounce of sloe gin, one ounce of apricot liqueur (look for Rothman & Winter brand), and one ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice, shaken well, will make you a Charlie Chaplin cocktail! It's a real thing, concocted at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York around the 1920s. 

And among all those period pieces I just mentioned, I have a fondness for ragtime music. 

The movie is based on E.L. Doctorow's 1975 novel "Ragtime." Somewhere I read that the movie is faithful to Doctorow's novel, but I forgot where I read that. I haven't read the book so I can't (yet) confirm that myself.  

"Ragtime" takes place as America is still basking in the young 20th century and reveling at the end of the first World War. 

As the figurative cherry on top of this roaring era, Americans have the automobile to symbolize their prosperity before 1929 reared its ugly head and yucked everyone's yum.
Famed architect, Stanford White (Norman Mailer), has unveiled a new statue of a nude woman placed on top of Madison Square Garden. He used model Evelyn Nesbit (Elizabeth McGovern) to create this statue, much to the disdain and disgust of Nesbit's husband, Harry Kendall Thaw (Robert Joy). 

Thaw is an heir to a multimillion-dollar fortune through his father, William Thaw Sr., the famous railroad baron. 

Howard Rollins (center) as Coalhouse Walker Jr.

The hatred and loathing Thaw develops for White intensifies to the point where he shoots him in the head in front of hundreds of witnesses. 

Meanwhile, the story shifts focus on a wealth family in New Rochelle, New York. The father (James Olson) owns a factory. His wife (Mary Steenburgen) keeps up appearances at her husband's wishes. And her younger brother (Brad Dourif) lives in the huge house with them and works at a fireworks manufacturing plant. 

Their maid discovers an abandoned black newborn out in the family garden. 

Police find the baby's possible mother - a woman named Sarah (Debbie Allen) - and doctors confirm she is, in fact, the mom. 

The cops plan on charging her with child abandonment and attempted murder, but the wife (Mary Steenburgen's character) takes pity on her and allows her and the baby to stay. The family patriarch doesn't care for this invitation, but matriarch insists. 

A ragtime piano player named Coalhouse Walker (Howard Rollins) turns up at the house to see Sarah.  He's beside himself with joy when he's told he's the father.

Meanwhile, as the younger brother witnesses White's murder, he becomes infatuated with Evelyn. He waits for the perfect time to introduce himself.

Thaw's attorney tries to entice Evelyn with a divorce settlement worth millions if she'll remain silent about Thaw's mental instability while falsely claiming that White sexually abused her. 

She later strolls through Manhattan's Lower East Side where she witnesses a street artist named Tateh (Mandy Patinkin) catching his wife cheating on him, and then toss her out into the street. 

The story then follows Tateh as he moves out of Manhattan with his daughter and try to market an animated flip book. Later in the movie, while working as a movie director, Tateh meets the mother (again, Mary Steenburgen) and her young son while they watch him out in public directing a movie. There's clear sparks at their introduction. 

The young brother finally manages to introduce himself to Evelyn, and they soon become lovers. The brother has it in his head that they'll for sure get married. 

Evelyn, meanwhile, plans to return to the stage. 

Elsewhere, Coalhouse feels like he's on top of the world. While driving his new Ford Model T somewhere around New Rochelle, he's stopped by bigoted fire chief, Willie Conklin (Kenneth McMillan), and his bunch of sidekick fire fighter volunteers. 

They trap Coalhouse in the middle of the road. While he goes to find a cop, they vandalize his car and leave a pile of horse manure in the driver's seat. 

James Cagney in his final film role as Rhinelander Waldo.

He demands the officer, played by Jeffrey Daniels, make them clean his car. But the cop thinks he should just clean it himself and move along so as to avoid a scene. Plus, the cop knows the fire chief and doesn't want to step on anyone's toes. Since Coalhouse adamantly refuses and demands the cop do his job, he arrests him and tosses him in jail. 

The father bails him out, and they find his car has been destroyed even more. 

Coalhouse won't be brushed off so easily. He tries to seek legal action but is hard-pressed to find a lawyer who will represent him. It doesn't end there as he takes the matter into his own hands to find and obtain some justice.

Sarah tries to help Coalhouse by attending an appearance by President Theodore Roosevelt. She pushes her way through the crowd in an attempt to get his attention and appeal to him for Coalhouse's sake. 

But police and guards end up beating her, think she's going to attack the president. Sarah succumbs to her injuries and dies. 

After her funeral, Coalhouse and some associates of his murder several of the firefighters who initially vandalized his car and harassed him. 

Coalhouse threatens to attack other fire houses unless someone restore his car, and he gets some justice. That justice entails getting his hands on Conklin himself. 

It all leads up to Coalhouse and his crew taking over the Pierpont Morgon Library and holding the building hostage with explosives. 

Commissioner Rhinelander Waldo (James Cagney) takes over the negotiation process and is infuriated with Conklin for initially creating this problem in the first place because of his irrational prejudice. Booker T. Washington (Moses Gunn) is called upon to persuade Coalhouse to surrender, but to no avail. 

There's a lot happening in this story that I wasn't sure if I should try to explain the plot or not. 

Though I haven't read Doctorow's book, it seems to be a tapestry of different characters with interwoven subplots. 

Forman's 1981 movie is certainly not much different in that regard with all its characters crossing paths at some point, and in such a way as to leave a permanent imprint in the lives whose paths were crossed. 

And there's a lot of crossed paths, in fact. So much so, I struggled to figure out which of these characters this movie is focusing on. It's really focusing on all of them just when their respective lives are impacted by another one of the characters. 

Brad Dourif and Elizabeth McGovern

"Ragtime" is a challenging movie. And I wouldn't be surprised if it was challenging for Forman and the writers behind the movie. Despite this collection of characters and their stories under one title, every single one of them is distinct. Every single one has motives and intentions that are crystal clear. Their thoughts and motivations are distinct. They're all beautifully acted out. 

Watching James Cagney, in his final film performance, berate the racist fire chief for both his unjustified prejudice and the for the monumental mess it has caused is carried on the shoulders of his own legendary status. This is James Cagney, for cryin' out loud! He came out of a twenty-year retirement for this role. I kept trying to see him through this character of his, and all I could see was the character. He has both an immensely intimidating and sharp presence on screen, especially when he confronts and deals with McMillan's racist character. 
"People tell me you're slime," he says upon meeting McMillan for the first time. 

The performances across the picture are stunning and delicate. It collectively glistens amidst the solid details of the sets and atmosphere. 
The interwoven stories all culminate to Coalhouse Walker and his gang barricading themselves in the Pierpont Morgan Library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, N.Y. Even in the golden erastatus of the period, the turn of the century had its tumultuous problems despite America's prosperity.  

I think the biggest issue with this movie is the number of characters the audience is expected to follow. Halfway through the movie, I worried the various stories wouldn't tie together in the end. Thankfully, they do but in an organic way. In other words, it's not forced nor as satisfying as audiences might expect or desire. Still, there's a lot going on in this picture. There's much to follow among all the characters. It's difficult to pin down who the main character is supposed to be. It gravitates, again organically, to Coalhouse Walker Jr.

The biggest accomplishment in "Ragtime" starts with the fantastic period atmosphere and set design. Alongside that, the cast and its performances are the stuff of cinema legend. 

The cast includes the phenomenal talent of Brad Dourif who puts every ounce of talent he has in his performances. His role in "Ragtime" is no exception. I have yet to see a movie with Brad Dourif that I didn't like. He even managed to make "The Exorcist III" the only decent sequel in "The Exorcist" franchise. 

Elizabeth McGovern as model, artist, chorus girl and famed actress, Evelyn Nesbit, personifies the decade this story takes place in amazingly well. The 1920s were roaring, alright!

Howard Rollins and Jeff Daniels

Mary Steenbergen portrays her character whose face clearly speaks one thing, while her words say what she's expected to say. She clearly does what's expected of her as a wife and mother, but she clearly isn't happy about it.
Howard E. Rollins, Jr's character development with his being a young hopeful in love and at the zenith of his happiness as he finds out he has a baby son. That gradually shifts once he encounters the fire chief. The encounter is followed by one corrupt or callous official after another. Rollins puts a perfect balance of emotion in his performance. 

"Ragtime" is a story of real injustice and bigotry that hasn't been tarnished by modern leftist ideologs in desperate need of supply when it comes to racism and racist acts just to keep their false narrative that modern American society is saturated with systemic racism and bigotry. So much so, they have to constantly manufacture racist acts again and again just to keep the claim going. Isn't that right, Jussie Smollett! This mentality is an insult to those Americans who really suffered in the past and still worked hard and strived to be outstanding and upright citizens regardless. 

The 1920s were a different time in America, and we're all fallen creatures. When it comes to sins and imperfect pasts, what matters is how we deal and correct those sins of ours, whether individually or as a society. And America has been a shining example of how a nation can overcome past vices. No other nation on Earth has done what America has done when it comes to eliminating systemic racism.  

Still, we're a fallen species and no society has a perfect past. That doesn't negate greatness.

There is an extended nude scene which takes place when Evelyn Nesbit is speaking with Thaw's attorney about a divorce settlement in her apartment. She talks to this attorney with no clothes on. Take that as you will.  

It took me a long time to find a copy of "Ragtime" out in the wild. I was forced to do something I really don't care to do when it comes to movies I haven't seen before. I broke down and bought a copy. 

Milos Forman doesn't make his movies obvious. At least not the ones I've seen. He doesn't seem to use much exposition. He shows the audience what's happening because he clearly understands they're smart enough to figure out what's going on. "Ragtime" is a great example of that. 

Red One - My Thoughts Real Quick

Grown-ups are the product of their childhood. So, Santa Claus works for the children. That's the sentiment which the 2024 action Christmas movie, "Red One" directed by Jake Kasdan and starring Lucy Liu, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Chris Evans and J.K. Simmons as Santa Claus starts off with. 

First, I'm going to say it. "Red One" is more of a Christmas movie than "Die Hard." Christmas plays an integral part of the plot in "Red One" than it does in "Die Hard." I'm still on the fence about the whole "Die Hard is a Christmas movie" thing. I honestly think it depends on how "Christmas movie" is defined. 

Anyways, I'd like to think that Jolly Ol' St. Nicholas as depicted in this movie works to preserve whatever innocence and goodness the youth of the world still possess as they grow up among greedy, self-centered, materialist, entitled adults. I think that sentiment is looked at in this movie, but it doesn't really go anywhere.  

The action-packed storyline is so cookie cutter basic. 

Like so many other mega-huge security breach movies involving the CIA or FBI, or something that involves kidnapping the president of the United States, the only thing different this movie offers is that it's Santa Claus (J. K. Simmons) who gets kidnapped by super stealthy bad guys. 

Santa's dependable and dedicated number one guy, Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson), is the commander of Santa's Enforcement Logistics and Fortification, or E.L.F. He's turned in his notice just before Christmas as he doesn't see the Christmas spirit or kindness in adults anymore, or something like that.  In other words, he has lost his faith in the adults of the world. Just then, Santa is kidnapped by a Christmas Witch named Grýla (Kiernan Shipka). Grýla actually stems from Icelandic Christmas folklore. She demands charity from those she meets and seeks out bad children. 

So, Drift is one her tail to find him. Time is of the essence. Christmas is on the line.
Drift seeks the help of Zoe Harlow (Lucy Liu) who directs a secret force of mythical creatures known as MORA (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority).

She and her team figure out that the secret location of Santa's workshop was compromised by a mercenary hacker named Jack O'Malley (Chris Evans) who was working for an anonymous buyer. O'Malley claims he had no idea that the coordinates he obtained and sold was Santa's workshop location in the North Pole. 

Dwayne Johnson and J.K. Simmons in "Red One."

Drift has O'Malley right his wrong having him help look for Santa. They even seek help from Santa's evil brother, Krampus (Kristofer Hivju). Of course, Mrs. Claus (Bonnie Hunt) is hiding in the NorthPole, worrying about her husband. 

The novelty of this ultimate "someone saves Christmas" Christmas movie is all that's entertaining about it. Other than that, it certainly won't find a place among cherished Christmas films any time soon. 

It has the same formulaic action storyline used over and over again. I appreciate the movie tying two completely opposite genres together. It takes the standard action film formula and replaces characters with figures of Christmas legends and lore. Producers clearly expect that to be enough to make "Red One" a new and memorable Christmas movie. 

If they just used their imagination and writing skills (if any) to make it something really worthwhile maybe it would be such a Christmas movie. I enjoyed it only because of it's all-too-familiar formula. It's not enough, though. 

J.K. Simmons as Santa is a weird casting call. He doesn't make a convincing Santa Claus, though he can impersonate Santa well enough. And Chris Evans's performance is lackluster. It's tantamount to a disgruntled worker pretending to be busy so he can grab his paycheck at the end of his shift. 

"Red One" is entertaining enough thanks to its satirical undertones. Still, it needs originality. or more of it. Much more! 

There's not enough substance. Gimmicky movies are all over the place. Anyone can staple two genres together and show it off like a child's art project. The writers failed to do something worthy of the audience's time with what they started, but didn't get far enough.  

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

"There might be a lot we don't know about each other. You know, people seldom go to the trouble of scratching the surface of things to find the inner truth."

Director
Ernst Lubitsch

Cast
Margaret Sullavan - Klara Novak
James Stewart - Alfred Kralik
Frank Morgan - Hugo Matuschek
Joseph Schildkraut - Ferencz Vadas
Sara Haden - Flora Kaczek
Felix Bressart - Pirovitch
William Tracy - Pepi Katona

Occasionally, I see the movie "The Shop Around the Corner" listed among other holiday movies, especially on streaming apps. But it's not a holiday movie on the same level as more common classic holiday movies like "It's a Wonderful Life" even though both this and "It's a Wonderful Life" stars James Stewart. 

The story takes place in a small leathergoods store in Budapest. The owner, Hugo Matuschek (Frank Morgan) has a loyal staff which includes family man Pirovitch (Felix Bressart), the womanizing Ferencz Vadas (Joseph Schildkraut), saleswoman Ilona Novotny (Inez Courtney), clerk Flora Kaczek (Sara Haden) and the delivery boy Pepi Katona (William Tracy). 

Alfred Kralik (James Stewart) is perhaps his most loyal employee. He's been employed at Matuschek's shop the longest. 

Kralik has been corresponding anonymously with a lady whom he met through a newspaper advert. She's an intelligent woman, but the two haven't officially met. 

Meanwhile, tension has been slowly building suddenly between Kralik and Matuschek. It begins to boil over when Matuschek asks Kralik his opinion about selling a cigarette music box that plays "Ochi Chërnye" when it's opened. 

Matuschek thinks it'll be a popular item, but Kralik thinks it won't sell. 

After their disagreement, Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) walks in and approaches Kralik about a job. 

Kralik says there are no openings, and that Matuschek isn't looking for any new employees.

But when she manages on selling one of the cigarette boxes, Matuschek hires her on the spot. 

Meanwhile, Matuschek suspects his wife is having an affair. She's often out late at night and frequently requests money from him. 

Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart in "The Shop Around the Corner."

With Christmas on its way, Kralik and his mystery lady correspondent plan on officially meeting for the first time. 

They agree to have dinner together at a local restaurant. Unfortunately, the date is stalled when Matuschek requests all his employees stay late to help decorate the shop for Christmas. 

Later that night, he fires Kralik despite being his years of loyalty. 

This leaves the rest of the employees completely baffled. They don't know that Kralik's firing is based on Matuschek's suspicion that Kralik is fooling around with his wife, which of course isn't the case. 

When Matuschek meets up with a private investigator whom he hired to follow his wife, the investigator says he saw his wife with his other employee, Ferencz Vadas. 

Pepi comes back to the shop after hours just in the nick of time as he stops Matuschek from killing himself. 

Kralik, meanwhile, heads to the restaurant to meet his date, only to find his mystery girl is Novak. 

The realization is a letdown for him, but he decides to join her anyways under the ruse that he's there to meet up with Pirovitch. He doesn't let on that he's the mystery penpal. 

However, Novak thinks if her mystery writer sees her with Kralik, it'll ruin everything. She snaps at him, in fact, and calls him a "little insignificant clerk" before asking him to scram.
So, he scrams and makes his way to visit Matuschek who's in the hospital after his attempted suicide.
Matuschek is remorseful how he treated Kralik, apologizes, and offers him the manager position. Matuschek is also grateful to Pepi and offers him the clerk position. 

But Novak is left crestfallen as her mystery man, so she thinks, never showed up for their meeting/ date. So much so, she calls in sick to work the next day. 

Kralik pays her a visit that night after work, during which time she receives a letter from her mystery man. She even reads it to Kralik, unaware he's the guy who penned it. 

Christmas Eve rolls around, and the company holds their customary Christmas party. And that's when the beans spill. 

If the premise sounds familiar, "The Shop Around the Corner" has seen a few remakes, including the 1998 movie "You've Got Mail" with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. 

It also has the same storyline as the musical "In the Good Old Summertime" (1949) starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson. 

"The Shop Around the Corner" isn't necessarily an obscure movie, but when it comes to standard holiday movies, it's not as spoken of as other more movies stapled to Christmas. 

As for the label "Christmas movie," it's a real stretch of holiday logic to call this a Christmas movie. Personally, I think the same is true for the aforementioned "It's a Wonderful Life." In both movies, Christmas shows up sometime around the end. Perhaps it's debatable whether or not the holiday is an integral part of the story. 

As far as I'm concerned, I think the answer to what makes a film a "Christmas movie" is pretty basic. For a movie to be a Christmas movie, the holiday itself needs to support the plot. In other words, the plot is dependent upon Christmas. It's not enough for a movie to convey all those cheery Christmassy feels audiences love to wrap themselves up in around the holidays, though Christmas doesn't support the storyline. Still, people have their favorite flicks to watch around the holidays. And some of those movies happen to take place at Christmas. For a lot of people, that's all that's needed. 

Then again, the resolution seems to depend on Christmas. The reveal takes place on Christmas which adds to the charm and gives a little extra happiness to the already happy ending. Finding love may be the best Christmas gift for these characters. 

It also makes the sadness of the owner's loneliness sting a little bit more. 

There's a bit of heavy drama with Matuschek crushed at his wife cheating on him while thinking she's messing around with Kralik whom he otherwise has much appreciation and loyalty. That certainly pulls at the audience's emotions a lot more, especially as they watch his pain really eat him up. 

For a romantic comedy, the romance falls ever so gracefully and perfectly into place. The audience knows what's going to happen. Still, they want to see it blossom. The experience they're in for is Klara's reaction at the end. 

The problem with both Margaret Sullavan's and Jimmy Stewart's respective characters is that they're too in love with the prospect of being in love. And each one yucks the other's yum so to say. Only when they get over themselves, then the happy ending (or happy beginning) starts.