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I just did a search on this title on cable service provider Comcast.  I got a 1934 film which has some resemblance to the 1951 Bob Hope film.  A few years ago we would watch it every year as some do with “White Christmas”, “It’s A Wonderful Life”, and “Holiday Inn”.  We had also made a video tape of it, but don’t know where it is and can’t play tapes anymore.  Do we have to get a DVD if there is one?

The number one reason that the 1951 film should be shown every year is that it is peak Hope.  He does his vain, devious, cowardly character to perfection.  Number two is “Silver Bells” which oddly became a seasonal classic despite it being sung in the movie by Hope and his attractive, gone too soon, costar Marilyn Maxwell.  It’s the second best Christmas movie song after White Christmas, but for legal reasons it is the Bing Crosby version which is played.

The supporting cast is a who’s who of character actors – the old dolls, gangsters, and other odd characters.  Andrea King and Jay C. Flippen did lot of TV work in the 1950s and onward, while Lloyd Nolan was featured on Julia, Fred Clark on Burns and Allen and Beverly Hillbillies, Harry Bellaver on FBI and Naked City, and Sid Melton on Green Acres and Golden Girls.

You get the great Florida and New York scenery filmed in Los Angeles in spectacular black and white.

Part of my affection for the film is that I’ve seen it on TV during happy times in my life.  I was old enough to see it with my parents, but don’t remember that happening.

How does it hold up against the other Christmas classics?

I’d probably pick “White Christmas “for color and the songs and dances, but “We’ll Follow The Old Man” sucks.

“It’s A Wonderful Life” is a downer for most of the film and why wasn’t Mr. Potter busted for theft?  That made no sense.  Points for Donna Reed, but I’d pick The Lemon Drop Kid.

“Holiday Inn” has the Astaire – Crosby chemistry and hit-and-miss singing numbers.  The black face bit is cringe.  Slight nod over “The Lemon Drop Kid”.

That makes “The Lemon Drop Kid” the third best Christmas movie and yet it is largely missing from TV.  If “Holiday Inn” isn’t considered a Christmas movie, “The Lemon Drop Kid” is second.

“It’s A Wonderful Life” is a downer for most of the film and why wasn’t Mr. Potter busted for theft?  That made no sense.  Points for Donna Reed, but I’d pick The Lemon Drop Kid.

“Holiday Inn” has the Astaire – Crosby chemistry and hit-and-miss singing numbers.  The black face bit is cringe.  Slight nod over “The Lemon Drop Kid”.

That makes “The Lemon Drop Kid” the third best Christmas movie and yet it is largely missing from TV.  If “Holiday Inn” isn’t considered a Christmas movie, “The Lemon Drop Kid” is second.

I wrote this for a journal that wanted review of Christmas movies, but as it turned out, not this one. Anybody know where I should submit this?