The Top Five Christmas Movies Of All Time…Plus A Surprise!

Every year around this time we find all kinds of lists of the "Top Five" everything.  And that includes Christmas movies.

Certainly, it make for great water cooler conversations.  And lets face it, most lists will include (in no particular order):

"White Christmas"

with Bing Crosby, a radiant Rosemary Clooney, a dazzling Vera Lynn and a very funny Danny Kaye.

"Miracle on 34th Street"

with a future star Natalie Wood as the little girl who really, really wants to believe in Santa Claus.

"National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation"

which, while being hysterically funny, also rings true as families descend upon each other during the holidays!

"Home Alone"

Macaulay Caulkin lives out all of our little kid dreams of repelling a home invasion with wacky, funny and very clever devices!

"It's A Wonderful Life"

Sentimentally tells the story of the value of one's life, not in dollars but in the hearts and minds of our loved ones.

Yes, these and so many others are great, classic American holiday movies.  But notice I said American.

Here is the surprise....

In Scotland, for many years, everyone has gathered around the "telly" to watch a single movie on Christmas Day every year.  It is a long standing tradition.  It is the 1963 war movie "The Great Escape" starring Steve McQueen.  Nobody knows exactly where this tradition began (or why).  But even in 2012, this holiday season, on Christmas Day thousands of Scottish homes and millions of people across Scotland will be tuned into an annual holiday classic that has no Christmas caroling, no Santa and no snow.

Weird? A little.  But it is a great film!