TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Holiday (Christmas in Connecticut / A Christmas Carol 1938 / The Shop Around the Corner / It Happened on 5th Avenue)

I bought this set to see if "A Christmas in Connecticut" was as good as it was supposed to be. I was not only pleasantly surprised by the goofy cheer of that movie, but I've also been treated to other films of good holiday cheer. In particular, I think "The Shop Around the Corner" is an excellent example of good writing not wasted. That it's based on a play is not a surprise.I can highly recommend this TCM Holiday film collection. You get over 7 1/2 hours of, at the least "interesting", and at the best "laugh-out-loud funny" entertainment.Disc 1"A Christmas in Connecticut" (1945 B&W 101 minutes)Subtitles in English, French and SpanishThis movie is probably the best known of the four feature films, and it's a laugh-out-loud screwball comedy. Barbara Stanwyck stars as Elizabeth Lane. She writes a successful column for "Smart Housekeeping" magazine. The column is called "Day by Day in the Connecticut Farm House of America's Most Resourceful Home-Maker".The magazine publisher (played with glee by the great Syndey Greenstreet) decides to mix patriotism with Christmas spirit, and invites a recuperating sailor to spend a down-home Christmas with Lane's happy family. Of course, the publisher expects an article about the experience to boost circulation: "American Hero Spends Christmas on Perfect Farm."There's only one problem - Lane is not married, she lives in an apartment and she can't boil water. With a lot of zany help, she manages to hold on to her job and fall in love with the sailor at the same time. Totally unbelievable situational comedy, but that's why it's called "screwball", right?Disc 1 Special Features:....A. "Star in the Night" (21 minutes) This short won a 1945 Oscar for "Best Short Subject/Two-Reel."Christmas Eve night, and middle-aged and disillusioned Nick is putting up a new lighted star in his courtyard. He and his wife Rosa own the Star Auto Court, with cabins, a restaurant and filling station - and the lighted star will be seen for 20 miles. He tells a seeming bum that "Peace and love and brotherhood, it's a lot of baloney." And he seems to be proven correct by the people who come in. But then, something happens, to all of them, and it is an amazing Christmas after all.For all that it is schmaltzy and predictable, this is also a heartwarming story.....B. Theatrical Trailer for "A Christmas in Connectcut" (2 minutes) Tag line: "Finding the Right Man on The Wrong Honeymoon!"Disc 2"It Happened on Fifth Avenue" (1947 B&W 115 minutes)Subtitles in English and FrenchA big sign is attached to an old NYC apartment house:"Michael O'Connor Enterprises - Modern 80 Story Office Building To Be Erected on This Site"The sign flaps over the scene of the evicted tenants trying to cart their stuff out right before Christmas. But there's one holdout. Jim Bullock in 4G, discharged and unemployed, has handcuffed himself to his bed. The manager pleads, "But Mr. Bullock, you had ample notice. Please put on your pants and vacate at once."It is a futile gesture on Jim's part. Next we see him sleeping on a park bench, when by a Christmas-y change of fortune, he is introduced to Aloysius T. McKeever, a bum of impeccable manners, and, it turns out a place to sleep. McKeever stays in a Fifth Avenue mansion while it's owner, industrialist Michael O'Connor (yes the same one) is away. That McKeever is uninvited is beside the point. From here, the characters snowball and the situation snowballs and by a very circuitous route, every one has a Merry Christmas.Another silly comedy with lots of heart and some laugh-out-loud moments.....No special featuresDisc 3"The Shop Around the Corner" (1940 B&W 99 minutes)Dubbing available in French. Subtitles in English, French and SpanishMatuschek & Co is a dry goods store on Balta Street in Budapest, Hungary. Chief clerk Alfred Kralik (Jimmy Stewart) has a pen pal for whom he's all but fallen in love. He's yet to meet her, but one thing he knows for sure, she can't be anything like his argumentative co-worker, Klara Novak, who seems to love to bedevil him.Christmas is nearly here, and Matuschek asks everyone to stay a little late to redo the display windows. Oh, no, Alfred must get away on time, because he's finally set up a meeting with his "Dear Friend". No no, Klara can't stay late, either, because she has a very important first meeting herself.It's a classic set-up and it is wonderfully done. Here's Alfred talking to Pirovitch, another clerk, about his excitement and trepidation to finally meet his pen pal: "Ever get a bonus?"Pirovitch: "Yes, once."Alfred: "You know, the boss gives you the envelope, you wonder how much is in it. You don't want to open it. As long as the envelope's closed, you're a millionaire."Hugo Matuschek is wonderfully played by Frank Morgan (best known as the Wizard of Oz). The whole cast is great - see special Feature C for more. This movie is full of situational humor. It's funny, but usually not in a one-liner way. It's the characters playing off each other marvelously.Special Features:....A. "Cast & Crew" This is just a one-page written feature.....B. "A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound" (about 1939 B&W 11 minutes) The first half of this pre-movie short is about how sound is added to a movie. Of course, it's not like this now, but this is interesting. Narrator: "One time we told you that if it were not for cotton, there might not be any movies today. For it is from cotton that celluloid motion pictures film is made. This time, we tell you that if Thomas Alva Edison had not invented the phonograph, you might never have thrilled to the magic of the talking picture."Douglas Shearer, MGM sound engineer, tells us that "we have a camera capable of photographing a voice". Everything is presented in ultra-layman terms, but, as I wrote, it's interesting.The 2nd half of the short is made up of mini-trailers for MGM movies in the making.....C. "A Great Story is Worth Retelling" Written, 6 screens. "The Shop Around the Corner" started as a Hungarian play which producer Ernst Lubitsch had wanted to film for years. This movie, along with "The Philadelphia Story" (also 1940) made Jimmy Stewart a top Hollywood romantic leading man. It's a plot that's never gotten old. It was remade as a musical in 1949, Judy Garland starring in "In the Good Old Summertime". Most recently, Nora Ephron brought it into the modern era in "You've Got Mail". As written: "In a nod to its source, [Meg] Ryan's store was called 'The Shop Around the Corner'."....D. Theatrical Trailer (4 minutes B&W) Mr Matuschek (Morgan) introduces his shop and employees in this charming trailer: "I'm sure that the bargains you get here will more than make your trip worth while [to Budapest]. It's the kind of a shop where you get a $3.50 value for $3.48."Disc 4"A Christmas Carol" (1938 B&W 69 minutes)Subtitles available in English, French and SpanishEverybody has a favorite movie version of Dickens' classic. This one with Reginald Owen as Scrooge is not my favorite, but it's a nice version never-the-less. A highlight is when the reformed Scrooge brings a goose and presents to the Cratchit house, and Mrs. Cratchit hides in the pantry because Scrooge is obviously out of his mind.The conversion of Ebeneezer is not so well drawn as other versions (I'm partial to Alastair Sim's Scrooge, as well as the musical "Scrooge"), but I get teary-eyed at Tiny Tim's death no matter which version I'm watching.Special Features:....A. "Jackie Cooper's 'A Christmas Party'" (1931, 10 minutes B&W) A pre-movie seasonal short. Nine-year old Jackie Cooper wants to invite his football team to a Christmas party and his mother agrees. Too many kids are eventually invited, and Jackie has to have his Christmas party at MGM Sound Stage No. 2. Lots of cameos by MGM players, such as Clark Gable and Bette Davis serving. Totally staged, of course, so it's no surprise when Jackie makes a speech at the end: "All the folks at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer wish you and all your folks a Merry Christmas."....B. "Judy Garland Sings 'Silent Night'" (2 minutes) A young Garland sings one verse as part of a church choir. I'm not sure if this was part of a movie or not.....C. "Peace on Earth" (10 minute color cartoon, 1939) This cartoon was nominated for an Oscar in "Best Short Subject/Cartoons".It's Christmas time in a snowy bombed out Europe. Squirrels have made homes out of army helmets, and carolers sing "Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men". Two youngsters ask their squirrel Grandpa, "What are men?"Grandpa replies, "Well, there ain't no men in the world no more, sonnies.... But, as I remember the critters, they was like monsters. They wore great big iron pots on their heads."This cartoon was a hit two years before Pearl Harbor. America was still in an isolationist stance in 1939, the year when Britain and France declared war on Germany.....D. Theatrical Trailer (2 minutes) Titled "A Fireside Chat with Lionel Barrymore", the aging star touts the movie "A Christmas Carol" with Reginald Owen.Happy Reader

A movie to be added to you list to keep and looking at.

I purchased this as a gift along with In the Good Old Summertime to settle a disagreement 🤪 mom doesn't believe me that You've Got Mail is a remake of The Shop Around the Corner and In the Good Old Summertime. And I'm RIGHTThe other movies were a bonus in my view to get the one I wanted.If you're a lover of old classic movies, you'll love these. If you like Hallmark Christmas movies, you'll enjoy these even more because the plots haven't been recycled 20x yet 😏😁

I was very satisfied with this collection of Christmas classics. First, I liked the fact that the films came in individual discs instead on 2 films on each side. Second, this was a really good selection of Christmas movies. I found each one funny and entertaining.If I were to select a favorite one, however, it would have to be The Little Shop Around the Corner with Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, and Frank Morgan. This was a very simple movie with a powerful story. It is mainly about a romance between its protagonists (played by Stewart and Sullavan). They fall in love through letters discussing literature and poetry while constantly fighting against each other at the little shop where they work. A secondary story, an adultery, involves the shop's owner, played by Morgan. The little shop also has funny and down-to-earth characters like Pirovitch and Pepi. I find one of Pirovitch's lines unforgettable. When Kralik (Stewart) tells him that a romance has evolved at an intellectual level through his letters with the anonymous pen pal, Pirovitch answers, "What else can you do through letters?" Pepi's sarcastic phone conversation with Mrs. Matusheck in front of the shop's employees and ending in a "You can draw your own conclusions" is simply hilarious.The other two films, Christmas in Connecticut and It Happened in Fifth Avenue were pure comedies. The first one is with Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan, and it's plot moves around the funny adventure of a single woman who writes for a magazine about domestic life. She pretends to be married and with a child, and that she lives in a farm in Connecticut. All this is unkown to the magazine editor (played by Sidney Greenstreet) whose only goal is to promote the ideal family to increase the circulation of his magazine. The plot gets more complicated when Stanwyck falls in love of the war hero she is supposed to host at her farm in Connecticut as planned by the magazine's owner. In order to get out of this mess, the journalist has to pretend to be married and to own a farm complicating matters and creating very funny situations. It Happened in Fifth Avenue reminds one of a Kapra film. It is about people who are down-on-their-luck living in the mansion of a millionaire during the post-war era. There is romance and comedy along with a social message reminiscent of a Kapra film. A Christmas Carol is the 1938 version with Reginald Owen and retells the famous Dickens classic. As the other films, it is well-restored, and in spite of its simplicity and predictability, it can be enjoyed.In sum, this collection is one of the best TCM classics I've seen. Also, the special features announced in the description here are in the discs.

I bought this for the movie "It happened on 5th avenue, which is a favorite. The others were a bonus. Although I do not normally care for Barbara Stanwyck, I do like her in this. Regenald Gardner and the character acter who plays the cook, are always fun.

Took a while to receive it but well worth the wait. I have not watched all of them so far so good. I purchased mainly for "The Shop Around The Corner" this was always my favorite Christmas movie.

Packaging looks good. Going to be a gift.

Tis helped shrink out holiday movie collection down a little bit and gave us a few move holiday movies to watch! Jimmy Stewart is so cute in shop around the corner!

Lots of nostalgia for my father in law. Love these movies to this day

I can't recommend this highly enough! Four great films on two double-sided discs. While the Christmas content varies from film-to-film, this set is just right for curling up on a comfy chair on a Sunday afternoon in December.A Christmas Carol - This was the first big American production of the classic Christmas story. I was really impressed with this. Many agree that the Alistair Sim version is the definitive one but this isn't far behind.Christmas in Connecticut - The story is that a housewife and mother writes a magazine column about her life in the country. In truth she's a single journalist living in the city. With the owner of the magazine coming over to stay at Christmas, she has to invent a whole new life for herself!The Shop Around The Corner - This stars James Stewart as shopworker who doesn't realise that his pen-pal actually works in the same shop. This is James Stewart's film - you're rooting for him just as much as his most famous part, George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life. This is the film that 'You've Got Mail' was based on.It Happened On 5th Avenue - This is about a various people with no home who squat in the summer home of a millionaire property developer. Unbeknown to them, the owners daughter is also living with them. This is perhaps the weakest of the four films but it's still enjoyable to watch.There a few DVD extras - Jackie Gleason in 'The Christmas Party' at which a number of Hollywood stars attend. Also included are the shorts 'Star In The Night' and 'Peace On Earth'. These are such good extras and not just fillers. Star In The Night is basically a 20th C Nativity and very good it is. Peace On Earth is a cartoon from 1939 about two squirrels whose grandfather tells them about WW1 voiced by Mel Blanc.This collection has been well put together. If you know someone who loves It's A Wonderful Life, buy them this. They'll love you for it! BTW, although the front cover is in colour, all the films are in black and white.

Barbara Stanwyk, Margaret Sullavan, Jimmy Stewart, "Cuddles" Sakkal, Charlie Ruggles, Reginald Owen, Ernst Lubitsch, Victor Moore, Sidney Greenstreet,... and Mr. Charles Dickens. Wow, what a weekend of cinema this box offers: "A Christmas Carol" at his very finest and "The Shop Around the Corner" are the highlights, really classics on any list of the best films. "It Happened on 5th Avenue" and "Christmas in Connecticut" are delightful if a bit less celebrated. but Xmastime favorites for decades. The set arrived safely within 2 days of ordering and is complete with slick slip case and informative added materials on each film. A grand delight, a great gift from Hollywood... and you. A+

An excellent set of lovely holiday films. Good picture quality and sound, plus subtitles."It Happened on Fifth Avenue" is a charming film about a homeless man who lives in a fancy mansion in NYC while the owner is away. Various other people with housing problems arrive as well, as do the owner's family (incognito). It is very sweet and full of human warmth."The Shop Around the Corner" is unusual in that it is set in pre-war Budapest and has a very authentic (to me) old European vibe in the way people live and talk. Reminiscent of Ninotschka in the way it depicts Lubitsch's old country. This is a slow film and it takes a while to get into the pace but once you do, it is well worth it."Christmas in Connecticut" stars Barbara Stanwyck as a career woman who has to pretend to know how to be a house wife. Charming, with added bonus of Sydney Greenstreet and S.Z. Sakall (both from "Casablanca") in a supporting roles.Have not seen "A Christmas Carol" yet but wanted to post a review as the strength of the aforementioned 3 movies more than warrant a strong buy recommendation.

Bought just before last xmas as I wanted to see some different old Xmas films and I wasn't disappointed. I guess the main reason I bought it was for Christmas in Connecticut, which though good wasn't the best, Shop Around the Corner was really good, with James Stewart in it how could it not, but my biggest surprise was It Happened on 5th Avenue, yes it's a fairly obvious storyline from pretty early on, but the wonderful message it portrays is perfect for this time of year. Well worth investing in.