It’s a Wonderful List : Celebrities Tell What Films Move Them During The Christmas Season

Christmas . . . a time of goodwill and of good movies. Or so it would seem, as the airwaves fill with such holiday favorites as “White Christmas,” “Holiday Inn,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Miracle on 34th Street” and the ubiquitous “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Everyone has a favorite and that includes celebrities. We asked some to name their favorite Yuletide film. As expected, tradition won out with “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Miracle on 34th Street” holding a definite edge, but there were some surprises.

(If you want to watch any of these titles yourself, many of the holiday classics will air numerous times this week. Just check the TV Times alphabetized movie listings for air times. Or you may be able to find the movies at your neighborhood video store.)

Ed Asner (“Mary Tyler Moore,” “Lou Grant”): It used to be “It’s a Wonderful Life,” but I’ve reached overkill on that. I would say that now it’s any version of “A Christmas Carol.”

Kaye Ballard (“What a Dummy”): I love all the old classics, but at holiday time I prefer to go out and see all the new releases.

Scott Bakula (NBC’s “Quantum Leap”): I look forward to “White Christmas” every year because I think the Irving Berlin music is wonderful and I am a fan of Bing Crosby.

John Beard (KNBC-TV news co-anchor): Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life.” My family watches it together every year and we all cry like babies because it makes us realize how important we are to each other.

Linda Blair (“The Exorcist”): There is no doubt in my mind that Kevin Costner’s “Dances With Wolves” is the movie I would like for Christmas. I’ve always admired Kevin Costner because he’s always been committed to making movies that come from the heart.. “Dances With Wolves” is the perfect example of that. It’s an epic beauty that has integrity. It’s educational and it’s even historical.

Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (creator and co-executive producer of CBS’ “Designing Women” and “Evening Shade”): I would like to be different from the others, but you can’t miss with “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Ken Burns (producer and director of PBS’ “The Civil War”): My favorite holiday movie is, of course, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It’s not only a warm and sentimental and timeless film, but a dark parable of the sinister flip side of the American Dream-a “Blue Velvet” of an earlier more conventional, but no less complicated time. I cry every time I see it and can remember, as if it just happened, the first time my father let me stay up and watch. It will be a favorite as long as the Republic survives.”

LeVar Burton (“Star Trek: The Next Generation,” PBS’ “Reading Rainbow”): “Dances With Wolves” because the film is true and honest. The story is told with so much integrity and tells what it means to be a human being.

Tom Capra (executive producer NBC’s “The Today Show”): “It’s a Wonderful Life” because it’s the best Christmas movie of all time and my dad made it. Johnny Carson (NBC’s “The Tonight Show”): “Miracle on 34th Street”-because everyone else will mention “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Jackie Collins (author of “Chances,” “Lucky” and “Lady Boss”): “The Godfather” and “The Godfather II” because it’s the only time I can sit down and watch them both.

Chris Connelly (host of MTV’s “The Big Picture,” senior editor of Premiere magazine): “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.” Magoo as Scrooge, what more can you want? It’s the musical equivalent to black velvet paintings.

Bob Costas (host of NBC’s “Later With Bob Costas,” “NFL Live”): “King Kong,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Double Indemnity” and “Champagne for Caesar.” They all caught my fancy when I was a kid.

Jenny Craig (diet expert): “Miracle on 34th Street.” I quote from Rod McKuen: “The gifts that one receives from giving to others are so immeasurable that it is almost injustice to accept them.” That is why I like this movie.

Paul DeMeo (co-executive producer of CBS’ “The Flash”): “The Lady in the Lake.” It’s set during Christmas and has one of my favorite lines when (detective) Philip Marlow is questioning a tennis player he says, “Your tan is very nice, it’s very Christmasy.”

Bob Dorian (American Movie Classics host): I truly enjoy all the holiday season motion pictures. It would be easier for me to choose the ones I don’t like-the colorized ones.

Jerry Dunphy (KCAL news anchor): “A Christmas Carol,” because there is a strong moral message that says you better be good because everybody doesn’t get a second chance to try it again.

Diane English (creator and co-executive producer of CBS’ “Murphy Brown”): My favorite Christmas movie is “The Revenge of Bob Cratchit.” In it, Bob symbolizes the oppressed middle-class struggling to make ends meet during a recession. His S&L; bailed out, the value of his house has plummeted and Tiny Tim is graduating from high school with a sixth-grade reading level. One day Bob wakes up with a cluster headache brought about by a third-stage smog alert. He cracks. “Read my lips. No more Mr. Supply Side.” Bob buys himself an automatic weapon at the corner drug store, climbs a tower and waits for his boss, Ebenezer, to come out of a meeting with Panasonic, which has been negotiating to buy Scrooge, Marley and Time Warner, Inc. Arnold Schwarzenegger IS Bob Cratchit. Special cameo by George Bush as Scrooge.

David Faustino (Fox’s “Married I With Children”): “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I watch it every year with my family at Christmas, and in addition to loving the movie it brings back wonderful memories.

Hal Fishman (KTLA news anchor): “Miracle on 34th Street” because it’s brilliantly directed. It was a movie in which dreams and expectations and hopes really come true, which is what Christmas is all about.

Anne Francis (star of the cult classic “Forbidden Planet”): It is the one everyone picks, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and the reason I like it is because it reflects a kinder, gentler society that Mr. Bush once spoke about and the one I would love to see recaptured.

Jackee (“227”): “Die Hard.” When I saw that towering Christmas tree in the lobby of that big old building in Century City and all of those people drinking champagne I couldn’t stop laughing. This is Christmas in L.A.

David Jacobs (creator of CBS’ “Dallas,” co-executive producer and creator of “Knots Landing”): “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It seems to conjure up Christmas. Christmas is supposed to make you want to renew yourself and your community and your marriage and your relationship with your kids and friends, and the movie does that so beautifully.

James Earl Jones (ABC’s “Gabriel’s Fire”): I inherited an addiction to “It’s a Wonderful Life” from my wife. I love it because it has an intricate, complex plot that holds up year after year. I am looking forward to sharing it with my young son, who, at this stage of his life, won’t watch anything that doesn’t star a Nintendo character. But we have the tape ready when he is ready to watch it.

Larry King (CNN’s “Larry King Live’): “White Christmas” and the reason is with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, two of my all-time favorite people, plus Irving Berlin music, you just can’t go wrong.

William H. Kobin (President and CEO of KCET): The original 1947 black-and-white “Miracle on 34th Street,” because I still want to believe in Santa Claus. Swoosie Kurtz (“Fifth of July,” “Love, Sidney”): “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” It always makes me cry. It is so dear and so wonderful.

Jim Lampley (KCBS news co-anchor): “It’s A Wonderful Life” because I prize and appreciate anything that celebrates the emotion of the holiday. And because there are five different moments that I break into tears.

Piper Laurie (ABC’s “Twin Peaks”): Jean Shepherd’s “A Christmas Story,” directed by Bob Clark. Unlike most Christmas films, which tend to be syrupy and overly sentimental, this film is sharp, very funny and extremely touching. The scene where the little boy is bundled up against the cold, to the point where he can’t even move, reminds all of us, I think, of similarly embarrassing moments in our own childhood.

Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer of ABC’s “Twin Peaks”): Although “Dances With Wolves” is not considered a holiday movie in the tradition of “A Christmas Carol,” it captures the spirit of life which brings home the real meaning of this time of year.

Christine Lund (KABC news anchor): The original “A Christmas Carol.” I like it because it has such beautiful black-and-white. It’s a terribly sentimental movie, but the images are not so sentimental. We don’t get to see any more black-and-white movies. It shimmers, you know, and has a luster.

Jess Marlow (KNBC news anchor): “Miracle on 34th Street” is my favorite because it gave me a reason to believe in Santa Claus, and if you’ve had the kind of luck I’ve had, you have to believe in Santa Claus.

Jean Marsh (co-creator and star of the “Masterpiece Theatre” series “Upstairs, Downstairs”): “The Lodger” (a thriller about Jack the Ripper). I remember my parents taking me to see it. I don’t know what they thought it was, maybe they thought it was something about a lodger who did something good at Christmas. It obviously wasn’t. We sat through to the end and for nights after I had nightmares.

Ed McMahon (“The Tonight Show,” “Star Search”): I can’t imagine anything that would surpass James Stewart’s great portrayal and the great story of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” If that doesn’t lift your spirits, nothing will.

Ismail Merchant (producer of such films as “Room with a View,” “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge”): I like to stay at home and sit down with a nice hot toddy and watch “Gone With the Wind.”

Super Dave Osborne (Showtime’s “Super Dave”) “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and the reason is Dr. Seuss and the animators called me to advise them on how to coordinate the Grinch’s stunts.

George Peppard: (“Night of the Fox,” “The A-Team”): “Five Days From Home” (which he stars in and produced). It’s about a father giving his son a puppy for Christmas and almost getting killed doing it.

Diana Rigg (“The Avengers” on A&E; and host of PBS’ “Mystery! series): The early black-and-white “A Christmas Carol” (starring Alastair Sim) because the performances are so phenomenal.

Kenny Rogers (“Ruby,” “Lucille”): “It’s a Wonderful Life” because it touches on what family life is all about and I love watching it every year with my wife, Marianne, and son, Christopher.

Ted Shackelford (CBS’ “Knots Landing”): “A Christmas Story.” It was made in 1983 and is set after World War II. It’s about a boy wanting a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas. You cry, you laugh. It’s just a wonderful film.

Bernard Shaw (CNN news anchor): “Miracle on 34th Street” because it hasn’t been corrupted by anything or anyone.

Cybill Shepherd (“Moonlighting,” “Texasville”): “It’s a Wonderful Life” because it’s a movie about redemption. I cry during the first eight minutes of the movie and cry at least four more times during the film.

Robert Stack (host of NBC’s “Unsolved Mysteries”): “It’s a Wonderful Life” because it deals with a guardian angel, a good Lord and the power of God. I have seen it 10 times.

Connie Stevens (“Hawaiian Eye”): “A Pocketful of Miracles” has a great view on life shown through the humorous eyes of great director Frank Capra. Cheery, hopeful, inspirational and people’s personalities were so attractive.

Mick Sweda (lead guitarist of L.A.-based heavy metal band BulletBoys): “Lethal Weapon,” which I consider a Christmas film since that is the season in which it takes place. It’s one of my favorite movies because it is realistic, violent and depressing. Just like the holidays.

Bree Walker (KCBS news co-anchor): “Miracle on 34th Street” because it makes me cry and I love to be driven to tears.

Carl Weathers (Rocky,” “Action Jackson,” “Predator”): “Miracle on 34th Street” is for the kid in me. The whole idea of dreams coming true and Santa Claus being real. It’s a very endearing movie.

Dawn Wells (Mary Ann of “Gilligan’s Island”): Christmas for most of us is a religious holiday to be sure; however, it is also a very warm, sentimental time in our lives and that is why “Miracle on 34th Street” is my favorite.

Jonathan Winters (star of upcoming ABC series “Davis Rules,” host of Showtime’s “Jonathan Winters: Magic & Comedy”): The English version of “A Christmas Carol” because I like the message behind it.

Edward Woodward (The Equalizer,” CBS’ “Over My Dead Body”): “Mary Poppins,” and the reason is my daughter Emily has watched it more than 100 times and because her aunt, Karen Dotrice, plays the little girl, Jane. And CBS’ “A Christmas Carol” because it features the definitive performance of Ebenezer Scrooge by George C. Scott.