It’s that time of year again when the silver screen turns to tinsel and we celebrate the end of the year with holiday classics on the big screen. Highlighted by the return of Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life on 35mm film, as well as the first ever Dryden screenings of Christmas Vacation, It Happened on 5th Avenue, and the 1938 A Christmas Carol, this series brings together films from the last 100 years of cinema to warm the soul and spur the heart to joyousness this holiday season. In between Christmas and New Year’s, you can celebrate the 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking Back to the Future trilogy, and ring in the new year with Billy Wilder’s classic The Apartment. It’s the most cinematic time of the year!
Dates and Titles:
November 28: A Christmas Story (Bob Clark, US 1983, 93 min., DCP)
November 29 (2 p.m.): A Christmas Story (Bob Clark, US 1983, 93 min., DCP)
November 29: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Jeremiah Chechik, US 1989, 97 min., DCP)
December 2: Hell’s Heroes (William Wyler, US 1929, 68 min., 35mm)
December 5: It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, US 1946, 130 min., 35mm)
December 6 (2 p.m.): National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Jeremiah Chechik, US 1989, 97 min., DCP)
December 6: Deaf Santa Claus (Ben Shelton, Anthony Mowl, US 2025, 107 min., DCP)
December 10: It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, US 1946, 130 min., 35mm)
December 13 (2 p.m.): It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, US 1946, 130 min., 35mm)
December 18: A Christmas Carol (Edwin L. Marin, US 1938, 69 min., 35mm)
December 20 (2 p.m.): A Christmas Carol (Edwin L. Marin, US 1938, 69 min., 35mm)
December 23: It Happened on Fifth Avenue (Roy Del Ruth, US 1947, 116 min., 35mm)
December 26: Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, US 1985, 116 min., 35mm)
December 27 (2 p.m.): Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, US 1985, 116 min., 35mm)
December 27: Back to the Future, Part II (Robert Zemeckis, US 1989, 108 min., 35mm)
December 30: Back to the Future, Part III (Robert Zemeckis, US 1990, 118 min., 35mm)
December 31: The Apartment (Billy Wilder, US 1960, 125 min., DCP)
Events in this Series
It Happened on Fifth Avenue (35mm)
Holidays The lesser-seen New York City-based 1947 Hollywood Christmas film released out-of-season, overshadowed by Miracle on 34th Street. Wandering hobo Aloysius McKeever has a great system: he moves into the residences of the rich as they vacation elsewhere. The past three winters he has occupied the Fifth Avenue home of Michael J. O’Connor, the second-richest man in the world, as he winters in Florida.
Matinee: A Christmas Carol
Holidays Hollywood’s first big-budget version of the Dickens classic features Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge in his most-remembered role.
A Christmas Carol
Holidays Hollywood’s first big-budget version of the Dickens classic features Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge in his most-remembered role.
Matinee: It’s a Wonderful Life
Holidays This classic holiday film was a box office bust in its initial release. It is only through the film’s enduring message and its millions of fans throughout the world that It’s a Wonderful Life has become a cherished piece of our holiday traditions.
It’s a Wonderful Life (35mm) with John Kuri
Holidays | Presentation by John Kuri This classic holiday film was a box office bust in its initial release. It is only through the film’s enduring message and its millions of fans throughout the world that It’s a Wonderful Life has become a cherished piece of our holiday traditions.