The 10 Best Classic Christmas Movies; New Poll Reveals Holiday Favorites

TBS may be playing the classic Christmas movie “A Christmas Story” for 24-hours again this year, but the holiday classic doesn’t even break into the top 10 of this list. Nope, Ralphie is all the way down at number 32 on the best Christmas movies list.

So what’s the best Christmas movie?

According to a poll in the Radio Times, which surveyed nearly 3,000 people, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” is the greatest Christmas movie of all time.

Tom Cole writes:

“Yes, Frank Capra’s heart-warming story of a suicidal man inspired to carry on living by the magic of Christmas is now officially our readers’ favorite festive film, having netted nearly a fifth (17.83 per cent) of the total vote.”

In my opinion, “It’s a Wonderful Life” is a pretty safe choice for the best Classic Christmas Movie, but the list definitely has its share of surprises.

• Die Hard, a movie famous for popularizing one of Santa’s forgotten lines (“Now I have a machine gun. Ho Ho Ho) sits at number 8 on the list.
• “A Christmas Story” only gathered.67% of the vote.
• And Children classics like “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” are no where to be seen.

Here are the 10 greatest Christmas movies according to Radio Times. (You can see the full list of 50 classic Christmas movies here.)

1. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) 17.83%
2. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) 10.19%
3. Love Actually (2003) 7.57%
4. Elf (2003) 5.94%
5. Home Alone (1990) 5.73%
6. Miracle on 34th Street (1994) 4.92%
7. White Christmas (1954) 4.21%
8. Die Hard (1988) 4.1%
9. Scrooge (1951) 3.68%
10. Santa Claus (1985) 3.18%

What do you think about the greatest Christmas movies list? Is your holiday favorite missing?