Even the Grinch might find something worth smiling about during the wonderful holiday film classics lineup at the Paramount Theatre. On four different screening days, starting Dec. 4, many of the season’s most cherished television movie traditions will crackle and pop on the silver screen as they were originally intended.
Kicking off the free-hot-chocolate-fueled festivities is Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey (James Stewart) tempts fate when he perceives his luck has run out. Despite an enviable life, it takes an angel of parallel-universe Christmas to make George see how life would be for those he loves if he had never been born. Plus, it’ll have you smiling at bells for weeks to come. Later that evening, A Christmas Story reminds audiences about the perils of elementary school in winter, wishing hard for a red-listed Christmas gift, and the first time cussing in front of family.
On Dec. 8, two screenings of Love Actually – a London tale of eight modern couples’ romances, for better and worse – will follow Paramount Proposal Day, during which “Will You Marry Me?” will adorn the classic marquee. Couples who secure a spot in advance can lock down their proposal stories Hollywood-style, complete with help from Ben White Florist and Kruger’s Diamond Jewelers.
On Dec. 15 and 16, the classic favorites White Christmas and 1944’s Meet Me in St. Louis screen at alternating times. Starring Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye, and Vera-Ellen, the heartwarming White Christmas brims with memorable song-and-dance routines set in wartime and boom time. The classic “boy, girl, girl, boy” setup is topped off with snow in Vermont and a wisecracking but lovable Mary Wickes. Judy Garland’s indelible voice rings out in Meet Me in St. Louis, a holiday musical story of four sisters, the boy next door, and ol’ St. Louis.
See www.austintheatre.org for showtimes and tickets.
This article appears in November 29 • 2013.