Do You Hear What I Hear? - Christmas Films of the 1930s
Rick Retro’s Realm, Project #4: 2025 Christmas Tour – Laurel and Hardy, babes on the march, and two more early Ebenezers leave the silent era behind us.
Project #4: 2025 Christmas Tour – Laurel and Hardy, babes on the march, and two more early Ebenezers leave the silent era behind us.
Yesterday, we visited a bunch of short films based on Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and today our 2025 Christmas Tour (a reboot of the 2024 Tour for new subscribers) takes a brief break from Scrooge as we enter the 1930s and leave silent films in our rearview mirror. Our first feature film on our tour, a Laurel and Hardy classic, only made three of the ten all-time best Christmas movie lists I checked, but it was the oldest entry on any list, so it felt like a must-see.
Babes in Toyland (1934) (aka March of the Wooden Soldiers)
Babes in Toyland (1934) (aka March of the Wooden Soldiers) — Laurel and Hardy rescue Mother Goose and friends in more ways than one.
B+>
Family Suitability
+ ✅3️⃣ OK for older kids. (Grades 4+) | Approved
Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values
+ ❎1️⃣ Fair/Slightly Favorable
Next up we’re going back to Dickens with the first two feature-length Carols on our Itinerary. The first wasn’t on any all-time best list, but it’s not too shabby, and the second only haunted two lists, but perhaps deserves a better legacy than that. By viewing these two we complete our round-up of the early Ebenezers as a reference point for future travels:
Scrooge (1935)
Scrooge (1935) — It’s the best Scrooge we’ve seen yet, but could use more of the Charles Dickens twinkle.
A ^
Family Suitability
+ ✅2️⃣ OK for teens and adults. (Grades 7+) | Approved
Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values
+ ❎4️⃣ Excellent/Very Strongly Favorable
A Christmas Carol (1938)
A Christmas Carol (1938) — The first film adaptation of A Christmas Carol to be visited by the Spirit of Dickens’ Past.
A+v
Family Suitability
+ ✅3️⃣ OK for older kids. (Grades 4+) | Approved
Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values
+ ❎4️⃣ Excellent/Very Strongly Favorable
After this we move on into some of the best Christmas films from the 1940s and 1950s, beginning tomorrow with a review from the text group that has never previously been uploaded to Substack.
Don't forget the popcorn!
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