To paraphrase Monty Python, what have the Jews ever done for Christmas?
Well, apart from Jesus of course. But as we sit down to watch a parade of well-loved Yuletide movies, it’s worth bearing in mind that many of them were the result of Jewish producers, directors, actors and screenwriters.
It may seem strange that Hollywood’s favourite Christmas films would have such a massive input from Jews but there are a couple of good reasons why this should be. Although the common trope that Jews control the film industry is often thrown at us by antisemitic conspiracy theorists, it’s true that our lot were well represented in all parts of the industry and, as such, would be involved in that moneymaking staple of the business: the annual Christmas blockbuster.
But more than that, these German, Russian, Polish and other émigrés who found their calling in the silver screen industry also wanted to assimilate, to show they could be as American as apple pie. And what could be more American than a feel-good festive offering with all the traditional redemption plots of someone who loses their way but ends up finding it by the final credits?
And by ‘Jewish Christmas films’, I don’t mean those awful ‘Mistletoe and Menorahs’ movies made by the likes of Hallmark, the ones where the handsome but ruthless boss of a multinational chain wants to take over a small town bakery run by a beautiful but feisty woman and, after an hour of bickering and conflict, finally realises what the viewer could see all along: that they would fall in love and save the bakery.
No, we’re talking Jewish-influenced Christmas movies, of which there are many. So, in no particular order, here are 10 of the very best (and before you start, I'm including Die Hard):
Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye in White Christmas.(Paramount)[Missing Credit]
White Christmas
The song was written by Irving Berlin, the film was directed by Michael Curtiz (born Mano Kaminer in Budapest) and it starred Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky). If that wasn’t enough, the screenplay was written by Norman Panama, Norman Krasna and Melvin Frank which, admittedly, sounds like a firm of lawyers but in fact was the team of men responsible for possibly the most Christmassy of Christmas films. It was a follow up to the successful Holiday Inn with Fred Astaire, who has Jewish ancestry.
Will Ferrell, right, with Jewish actor James Caan, centre, in the 2003 Christmas film 'Elf'. (Photo: Warner Bros)[Missing Credit]
Elf
Skip forward half a century to another much-loved festive favourite with Jewish connections. Apart from director Jon Favreau and screenwriter David Berenbaum, it starred James Caan, son of a kosher butcher, and even a Jewish Santa courtesy of Ed Asner. The store which featured in the movie, and also in Miracle on 34th Street, was Gimbels, founded by Bavarian Jewish immigrant Adam Gimbel.
I have a personal memory of this. On a December visit to New York to celebrate my and my wife’s 40th birthdays, we saw this being filmed on the street and were told it was for a Saturday Night Live sketch, so thought nothing of it. A year later we took the kids to see Elf at and cinema and during a scene halfway through, we suddenly and simultaneously realised we’d actually witnessed it being filmed.
Kevin Bacon, Mickey Rourke, Daniel Stern, and Timothy Daly in 'Diner'. (Photo: Turner Entertainment)[Missing Credit]
Diner
Barry Levinson’s 1982 movie set in his hometown of Baltimore is about a group of mainly Jewish friends, starting off at a Christmas dance, going on to their favourite diner and preparing for the Jewish wedding of one of their group. It’s one of those non-Christmassy Christmas movies – but more on that particular genre below. One of its stars is Daniel Stern, who would go on to play the tall, hapless burglar in that most Christmassy of movies, Home Alone.
Bruce Willis in 'Die Hard' 1988.[Missing Credit]
Die Hard
Where would such a list be without the inevitable argument of whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie? But it’s a pointless exercise. The non-Christmassy Christmas movies of Joel Silver – a New ‘Joisey’ Jew – are a thing of wonder, as the filmmaker deliberately included a Christmas element to some of his films because he knew that with just a sprinkling of Yuletide they would end up being shown on TV every holiday season, thus earning more in royalties. Die Hard is the one that everyone kvetches about, but Joel also included a festive dinner in the first Lethal Weapon – best not mention Mel Gibson, eh? – and a Christmas parade in the overly complicated Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Even The Nice Guys had a brief Christmas scene at the end.
Trading Places (Paramount)[Missing Credit]
Trading Places
This is another of those ‘is it a Christmas movie?’ movies, but considering one of the best scenes is Dan Aykroyd as a drunken Santa running amok at a corporate festive party, my answer is yes. The Jewish connections come from director John Landis, co-writer Herschel Weingrod and leading lady Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of uber-mensch, Tony Curtis. Oh, and the film score was by Elmer Bernstein.
James Steward in the 1946 film 'It's a Wonderful Life'.[Missing Credit]
It’s A Wonderful Life
The ultimate feel-good Christmas movie was based on a story called The Greatest Gift, written by Philip Van Doren Stern, the son of a Bavarian Jewish-descended travelling salesman. The screenplay was by Jewish writer Frances Goodrich and her husband Albert Hackett, who also co-wrote the Oscar-winning Diary of Anne Frank in 1959. The theme of one man’s redemption from suicidal depression to life-affirming joy around the holiday season was also seen, perhaps more subtly, in Lethal Weapon (see above). Let’s face it, we may be a cynical lot, but we love a happy ending.
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise in 'Eyes Wide Shut'. (Photo: Warner Bros)[Missing Credit]
Eyes Wide Shut
Despite the sex, drugs and, well, more sex, this 1999 erotic drama is set to the backdrop of Christmas parties, presents, decorations and the whole shebang of the festive season. It may have starred what was then gentile super-couple Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, but it’s the creation of a Jewish triumvirate, namely director Stanley Kubrick (for whom this film was his last) who co-wrote the screenplay with Frederic Raphael based on a 1926 story by Austrian playwright Arthur Schnitzler. Whether or not the average viewer would be up for all of Tom and Nic’s sexual exploits after so much turkey, mince pies and boxes of Celebration is another matter.
The Apartment. (Photo: United Artists)[Missing Credit]
The Apartment
Alongside Woody Allen and Mel Brooks, perhaps the most Jewish of Jewish film makers is Billy Wilder and this, one of his finest masterpieces, has a running Christmas theme in the background. Made in 1960, and the winner of five Oscars out of the 10 for which it was nominated, aspects resonate with today’s festivities. Most notably, the drunken office Christmas party (including the worker who really doesn’t want to be there), the extra-marital liaisons between office staff and the inevitable repercussions. Wilder directed and co-wrote the screenplay with long-time collaborator, I.A.L. Diamond (Romanian born Itec Domnici). Though the cast is largely non-Jewish, there are nods to Wilder’s heritage. Shirley Maclaine plays a lift operator called Fran Kubelik, Jack Lemmon’s character is told to ‘be a mensch’ by his next door neighbour Dr. Dreyfuss, and there are other characters with names such as Joe Dobisch, Mrs. Lieberman, Mr. Eichelburger and cab driver Karl Matuschka.
Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa.[Missing Credit]
Bad Santa
Perhaps the most anti-Christmas of Christmas movies comes from the warped genius of director Terry Zwigoff, Joel and Ethan Coen’s (uncredited) writing and Bob Weinstein’s production. Billy Bob Thornton is a bad-mouthed, hard-drinking, drug-addicted, womanising department store Santa who doubles as a professional thief who robs shopping malls on Christmas Eve. Richard Attenborough in Miracle on 34th Street he ain’t. Nor is he like my father who, when Mayor of Epping, stepped up to do his duty as, possibly, the council’s first ever Jewish official Santa at their annual festive event.
[Missing Credit]
The Bishop’s Wife
Not the most obvious Christmas film but a classic nonetheless is this 1947 Cary Grant (who once claimed to be Jewish) vehicle about an angel helping a bishop during the festive season. It was based on a novel by Sephardic New Yorker Robert Nathan, directed by Henry Koster (born Hermann Kosterlitz in Berlin), Billy Wilder (again) was an uncredited script writer and it was produced by Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz in Warsaw).
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