
As long as there’s a buck to be made, Hollywood will look to capitalize – and, let’s face it: Thanksgiving is a great day for it. You socialize with friends and family over an elaborate bounty and some fine wine. After which, all you have energy to do is waddle down to the local cineplex for a film. Does your family measure up to Hollywood’s ideal? Does the family on the screen make yours look GOOD by comparison? Or, do you just want to escape? I’ll almost always end up at the theater after Thanksgiving dinner (ok, fine – most dinners regardless of date). Yet, in the days leading UP to Thanksgiving, I get into the spirit with a curated list of pics that put me in the mood. I’ll post a sample of the list at the end, but right now I’m going to stick with the theme of last week’s post and look to the home of Thanksgiving: New York City.
“Home of”? Yep, they established the parade, or at least they perfected it, so it’s theirs. Most of you will watch at least a snippet of the parade Thursday morning, so we’ll start there. “Everyone felt the magic on the set and we all knew we were creating something special”, wrote Maureen O’Hara in her autobiography with respect to her experience making the 1947 classic “Miracle on 34th Street“. Think Christian Bale cornered the market on gaining/losing weight to win an Oscar? Edmund Gwenn did it first, winning for his turn as Santa, which he also performed with aplomb in the actual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – not as a campy Hollywood version, but in full capacity just as Macy’s would expect of any Santa, who anchors their parade to usher in the Christmas season. Just like “It’s a Wonderful Life”, (which we’ll talk about later in the season) it was released at a much warmer time of year, but its magic is in how it warms our hearts….year, after year, after year.
I recently commented that this film is full of partisan politics, commercialism, and questionable, or at least controversial, application of the law. These aren’t concepts that are new to our current world. If becoming a devotée of classic film has taught me anything, it’s that we haven’t invented much sociologically that our ancestors weren’t already very well aware of. In fact, during the Great Depression, the world saw that women were running families while earning a living while trying to nurse their husbands’ battered egos and that ushered in the screwball comedies that gave rise to female actors being the star, the box office draw, and running roughshod over their love-struck male leads. Y’know – escapism. WWII changed all of that – women, being lured back into their homes and out of theaters by fancy kitchen automation, were re-placed into much more what we think of now as “traditional” roles. Maureen O’Hara here is a bit of a bridge in that respect. She’s working and mothering, but she’s not wifing – as noted early on by Natalie Wood‘s character who says her parents divorced early. (Don’t be shocked – watch some movies prior to 1934 and you’ll see that America was getting divorced then, too….) Speaking of bridges, Maureen’s Doris Walker is trying to raise a little intellectual who also wants to be a kid, and who doesn’t this time of year? I asked my son if he felt betrayed because we encouraged him to believe in Santa Claus. He replied with a cry/laugh emoji – I rest my case.

For approximately 1 and 1/2 hours, go back to a time when magic was possible. Having blind-faith in something doesn’t have to make you naive – it might just make you hopeful. And, that’s not a bad thing. This picture will give you some insight into New Yorkers in their many facets: the hardened, the skeptical and the caring. Give it a watch while you’re stuffing your turkey or making your pies. I think you’ll be very glad you did and you, too, might not have realized that it’s far more than a sentimental, sanitized-for-family-viewing feature.

For a piece you might’ve missed, I recommend “Pieces of April“. Katie Holmes was, at one time, a promising actress and this is an amazingly talented cast (Patricia Clarkson‘s only Oscar nominated role). It’s very low-budget ($100k). To me, that element supports the film’s premise. Remember the first time you hosted? If yours took a village, this one takes an entire apartment building in Manhattan.
Have some men in your bunch who won’t settle down to a movie about tradition and family (in the traditional sense)? Try “Tower Heist“. There’s no sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner and no wishing the family had been closer, but ‘now I realize what I was missing’…….yadda, yadda, yadda. If your bunch is more in-tune with Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy and Ferraris, this is your film. Maybe it’s a gateway into: Not all Thanksgiving movies are sappy. Because watching Matthew Broderick dangle suspended high above the Thanksgiving Day parade isn’t that.

I’ve read the Zabar’s scene in 1998’s “You’ve Got Mail” described as the MOST New York scene ever. I don’t disagree with that. Just know what you’re doing – that’s all they ask. And, this pic takes place almost entirely in the upper-west side of the city where that might be even more true than anywhere else. It’s a lovely part of town and one where, as long as you’re not looking at price tags, you can see yourself settling in and really living. Just don’t ask yourself how an independent bookseller (inherited or otherwise) is able to pay the rent on her space and that amazing apartment.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that this film is an homage to, if not a remake of, “Shop Around the Corner” from 1940 starring Jimmy Stewart and his real-life best friend’s (Henry Fonda) ex-wife, Margaret Sullivan, and set in Budapest where everyone speaks perfect English with very strong American accents. In the Nora Ephron version, the best-friend and confidant is played by Dave Chappelle and the would-be-star-crossed lovers are Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, so what’s not to love? It is Hanksgiving all month long after all. If you cannot bring yourself to watch holiday-themed pictures, this isn’t one. So, let me entice you to check it out just to see another side of New York during crisp autumn days and as they move through the holidays. And, they do have the lovely aforementioned Zabar‘s scene at Thanksgiving. So, it COUNTS as a Thanksgiving movie. In doing so, you’ll find that strolling through this neighborhood is as essential to experiencing the city as any other. Here’s an insider tip – the H&H Bagels in the movie is not the same H&H Bagel that you’ll find there today. The original closed in 2012, so see – you have no time to lose. Things are changing all the time.
Seize the moment – tap into these offerings and then get out and see the world. I love how movies and real-life can intertwine. To me, indulging that experience makes everything richer. Thanksgiving, if you space it out and partake in the build up by watching while you cook can take days. And, that takes a bit of the edge off of inhaling in 30min what took you 6-8hours to prepare. This has all only been a build up to the climax of dinner – there will be another. Just look for the sequel next year.
Here’s my list of Thanksgiving movie recommendations:
- Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) C’mon……this has to be #1 – probably even playing at a theater near you
- Home for the Holidays (1995) Directed by Jodi Foster and starring Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr, Anne Bancroft….
- For Your Consideration (2006) Christopher Guest mockumentary
- House of Yes (1997) Parker Posey
- The Ice Storm (1997) In case you were worried about being too happy
- Prisoners (2013) In case just sitting down and eating isn’t hardcore enough for you
- The Big Chill (1983) Are you dubious? Did you know that the scene at the beginning, in which Kevin Costner speaks, which was cut out, was actually all of them together at Thanksgiving? Counts
- The Last Waltz (1978) Concert footage from The Band’s final show on American Thanksgiving 1976