come and spend xmas with me

Aural Adjuncts:

The Santa Claus Express by the BBC Dance Orchestra

White Christmas by Vera Lynn, who could probably make me cry even singing "Happy Birthday"

Come and Spend Christmas With Me by Byron G. Harlan

Holiday-themed Sweater Coup, for all you who participate in the Ugly Christmas Sweater parties. This'll send the vintage clothes aficionados into a tizzy. Thanks again to Barbara Stanwyck; here's another view:

The Other Love (1947)

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

Midnight Mary (1933)

and because its never too soon to prepare for next year,

No Man of Her Own (1950)

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Aural Adjunct: Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

by the Alvino Rey Orchestra, featuring some prominent slack-key guitar work - or is it an organ?

This is some impressive studio snow well-matched to the shots taken in the Pyrenees:

The Abominable Snowman (1957)

directed by Val Guest

cinematography by Arthur Grant

art direction by Ted Marshall

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Aural Adjunct: Ring Dem Bells by the Fud Candrix Orchestra - hope ya like Jump! Its great for zooming around the rink.

More stars on ice:

Mary Wickes waves Hi!

And yes, that is Doris Day doing her own plaid-tastic ice skating scenes:

from By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953), the sequel to On Moonlight Bay.

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Aural Adjunct:

By The Fireside

by the Ray Noble Orchestra, with vocals by Al Bowlly. They were featured as the dance orchestra in The Shining, so they always have a wintertime connection for me.

This could be the new motto and logo for this blog.

...and a gratuitous cute little kid bundled up for the snow -

meet PeeWee Flannery.

By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953)

directed by David Butler

cinematography by Wilfrid M Cline

art direction by John Beckman

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Aural Adjunct: Snowman by the Ambrose Orchestra, with vocals by the Rhythm Sisters

No, not that type of snow man. This type:

I'm not a big fan of musicals, but any time Doris Day wants to sing, it's OK by me.

On Moonlight Bay (1951)

directed by Roy Del Ruth

cinematography by Ernest Haller

art direction by Douglas Bacon

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Aural Adjunct: When Winter Comes

by Swedish big band leader Gosta Torner

Have you done the Google search for Let It Snow yet?

These borders are original to the film, I assure you. It is a fun, silly, "pre-code" (using euphemisms cut the spam down drastically) slap-stick romp in the snow with Pola Negri in her wild-haired, wild-eyed best.

Die Bergkatze (1921)

aka The Wildcat

directed by Ernst Lubitsch

cinematography by Theodor Sparkuhl

art direction by Max Gronert

and Ernst Stern

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Wheee, more ice skating!

There is the briefest shot of Clark Gable gliding from one edge of the frame to the other on skates (not pretty enough to include here), but unfortunately not one glimpse of Jean Harlow or Myrna Loy on ice.

It is a gorgeous Art Deco ice rink, one I imagine ICELAND in Berkeley resembled before it was recently closed. Not only was I born late, but now I'm showing up too late for what little is still left!

Wife vs Secretary (1936)

directed by Clarence Brown

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Caged (1950)

directed by John Cromwell

cinematography by Carl Guthrie

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I'm pretty sure this is stock footage of somewhere I've seen before, maybe Sun Valley; anyone know?

More shots from this film seen here:

That Wonderful Urge (1948)

directed by Robert Sinclair

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Here's the human element from yesterday's Sign of the Wolf (1941)...

... including a very William Powell-esque Michael Whalen. Just how I like my handsome male leads - mustachioed and driving a sleigh:

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I'll bet you were just wondering when are we going to see some animals romping in the snow? Here you are:

Sign of the Wolf (1941)

directed by Howard Bretherton

cinematography by Fred Jackman Jr.

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Oh boy, was this good! The suspense was so great, I wanted to hit the fast-forward button to relieve the tension. I'm glad I didn't succumb because I didn't want this to be even a minute shorter.

After loving The Cranes Are Flying

and then being disappointed with The Nail in the Boot

this, I had no idea what this would be like. Even though the Italian was dubbed into English while the Russian was left subtitled, I'm still impressed. Go see it!

Krasnaya Palatka (1969)

aka The Red Tent

directed by Mikhail Kalatozov

cinematography by Leonid Kalashnikov