Christmas Movies of 1982

Here is the final look at Christmas movie releases of the past. With this article I will take you back 25 years to 1982. After compiling this list it was incomprehensible to me that these movies were 25 years old. I saw each and every one of them upon release and it seems like yesterday.

1977 saw the release of 13 major movies for the Christmas season. Of the 13 only four would be recognized in some form by the Academy Awards though it should be noted that two of them would be nominated for Best Picture. Only one release was a blockbuster while another did strong business. Four others performed well but two of those still performed below expectations. Interestingly two of the films released were for kids though neither was from Walt Disney.

If you can remember these movies being released then I hope this article is a fond remembrance of those days. The movies are listed alphabetically.

AIRPLANE II: THE SEQUEL (Paramount - Director: Ken Finkleman) This sequel to the 1980 sleeper comedy hit has such a strong, hilarious opening ten minutes that one thinks this sequel not only will live up to the original but will surpass it. Unfortunately the next 75 minutes bring a few chuckles but no real laughs as the film ends up mostly re-cycling bits from the original. Most of the original cast return but end up standing around waiting for something funny to happen. The film seemed to be in trouble when Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, the creators of the original, came out in ads announcing that they had nothing to do with this film. The film did make a mild $27 million but well below the original and well below predictions.

BEST FRIENDS (Warner Bros - Director: Norman Jewison) One of the most eagerly anticipated films of that Christmas was the teaming of Burt Reynolds and Goldie Hawn in this romantic comedy about two film writers who decide to get married and visit each other's family for their honeymoon. While the anticipated sparks don't really fly between the two the film does have a perceptive script dealing with family problems, marital problems and love. Both Reynolds and Hawn give good performances that do not veer into the goofy category making the film more of a serious adult comedy. The film would receive one Academy Award nomination for Best Song and grossed over $37 million though it was well below what was expected.

THE DARK CRYSTAL (Universal - Directors: Jim Henson and Frank Oz) Muppet creator Jim Henson created this sci-fi/fantasy that is a dark tale of a crystal from the past involving good vs evil with monsters and damsels in distress and a cast of muppets. That's right there are no human actors. Henson takes his creations and moves past them by creating yet another fictional world filled with colorful and sometimes frightening characters. Younger kids seemed to frightened to enjoy while many adults were bored but the film found an audience with older teens and young adults. The film had a $15 million budget and would gross $41 million.

48 HRS (Paramount - Director: Walter Hill) The movie that made Eddie Murphy a star was this violent action/comedy about a cop (Nick Nolte) who springs a convict (Murphy) from jail for 48 hours to help find a rogue killer the convict had previous dealings with. The film mixes an even blend of comedy, violence and chases to entertain one and all with Murphy giving a stand out performance. The film was a smash hit grossing almost $80 million at the box office.

HONKYTONK MAN (Warner Bros - Director: Clint Eastwood) At this time Clint Eastwood was experimenting with more then just action films and oddly decided this quiet period drama should open at Christmas. The film may have played better in the early fall or spring but against mammoth productions this little film proved lost. In it Clint plays a country musician invited to the Grand Ole Opry who enlists the aid of his nephew (played by Eastwood's real life son Kyle) to drive him there due to his horrendous ability to drive and being ill. Along the way the two encounter various things including getting to know one another. The film's heart is in the right place but some critics ripped it for being too sanctimonious and sentimental while other critics applauded it for the same reasons. The film was the lowest grossing of the big holiday releases barely making $5 million and is little seen today on television.

KISS ME GOODBYE (20^th Century Fox - Director: Robert Mulligan) From the director of To Kill A Mockingbird comes this overly sentimental and not nearly funny enough romantic comedy starring Sally Field as a widow of a tap dancing actor who falls in love again with a good guy (Jeff Bridges) and starts seeing her dead husband's ghost (James Caan) whom no one else can see. Naturally people begin thinking she is either cracking up or not ready for another relationship thus risking losing this wonderful man in her life. The film is nice but nowhere close to where it should be given the strength of its cast. It was a mild success at the box office making $16 million.

SIX WEEKS (Universal - Director: Tony Bill) The season's one tear jerker proved audiences didn't want tears over the Christmas season. Dudley Moore stars as a politician who meets and becomes attracted to a woman (Mary Tyler Moore) who has a daughter that is ill and has only six weeks to live. The film is a bit too saccharine and downbeat to be truly enjoyed though the actors give it their best shot. Unfortunately the most serious scenes toward the end are so sloppily written and directed that audiences were laughing and not in tears as intended. The film flopped taking in only $7 million.

SOPHIE'S CHOICE (Universal - Director: Alan J Pakula) One of the most powerful films of the last 30 years and one of the most difficult to watch is this story of a woman being romanced by two different men while being haunted by her memories of the Nazi regime during the War. Meryl Streep delivers one of the great screen performances any actress ever gave and is ably supported by Kevin Kline and Peter MacNichol. The film was nominated for 5 Academy Awards and would win for Streep. This unforgettable movie experience played mostly in limited release making its $10 million gross seem not so bad.

STILL OF THE NIGHT (MGM/United Artists - Director: Robert Benton) One of the most disappointing films of the season was this eagerly awaited film from Robert Benton, whose last film was the Oscar winning Kramer vs Kramer. Here Benton paid homage to Hitchcock with a stylishly photographed thriller about a psychiatrist (Roy Scheider) dealing with the murder of one of his patients and the new femme fatale patient (Meryl Streep - miles away from Sophie's Choice) who may be the killer. Benton has a great time paying homage while forgetting to tell a compelling story with the identity of the killer easily predicted in the first hour. The film holds mild interest for the performance of its two leads but the story is flimsy and forgettable. This adult thriller managed only $6 million at the box office.

TOOTSIE (Columbia Pictures - Director: Sydney Pollack) The king of Christmas movies 1982 was this smashing film comedy with Dustin Hoffman as a struggling actor who decides to dress as a woman to get employment. This laugh out loud masterpiece contains great moment after great moment with terrific performances from Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Bill Murray, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, George Gaynes and even director Pollack as Hoffman's exasperated agent. This classic pleased people over and over and would earn 10 Academy Award nominations winning only one for Jessica Lange as Best Supporting Actress. This blockbuster became the highest grossing comedy of its time making over $177 million.

THE TOY (Columbia - Director: Richard Donner) This is the film comedy everyone expected would turn out the way Tootsie did. In a master stroke of casting, two comedic legends - one past and one present - head the way in a no holds barred comedy for the whole family. Unfortunately someone forgot that a good script would have helped a great deal. In the film the spoiled child of a multi-millionaire (Jackie Gleason) is give the chance to choose anything present he wants for his birthday. Enter a down on his luck writer (Richard Pryor) who has been hired as a "cleaning lady" and is spotted one night in the toy department fooling around. The boy sees him and chooses the man as his birthday present and soon trouble ensues when he is brought into the millionaire's home. What could have been an explosively funny comedy is reduced to nothing more then hi-jinks you would find in a 1970's Walt Disney live action film. Pryor does his best to act silly but Gleason looks positively bored and is given little to do. Not surprisingly critics drubbed the film but family audiences made it a solid hit while Pryor fans were eager to see their hero as this was his first film after the tragic fire that almost killed him. The Toy would begin a series of films featuring a kinder, gentler Pryor and not the wild, manic character his fans had grown to love. When all was said and done The Toy would gross just over $50 million.

TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER (MGM/United Artists - Director: Blake Edwards) One of the oddest film ideas ever to make the light of day was this futile attempt by Edwards to revive his hugely successful Panther series nearly three years after the death of its star Peter Sellers. Edwards was able to compile scenes from the various other films that had been cut from the final prints and inserted them into a story in which the famed Inspector Clouseau is missing. Edwards even got his cast (David Niven, Robert Wagner, Capucine) from the original Pink Panther movie to return but Niven was so ill he had to have his lines dubbed over by Rich Little! The final results yielded nothing more then a couple of chuckles with most of Sellers' deleted scenes proving why they were cut out in the first place. Audiences were not buying the gimmick and the film was a flop grossing only $7 million. That didn't stop Edwards from making another in the series the very next year, Curse of the Pink Panther and a decade later he tried one last time to revive the series with Son of the Pink Panther. Both were poorly received and box office bombs.

THE VERDICT (20^th Century Fox - Director: Sidney Lumet) One of the best legal dramas ever put on film stars Paul Newman (in what many consider to be his best performance) as an alcoholic attorney on his last leg when he is given the opportunity to take on a medical malpractice case against one of the most powerful defense attorney's (James Mason) in Boston. Figuring the case will be settled, Newman's Frank Galvin instead gets a rush of conscience and decides to go after the prominent physicians and risks everything in the process. David Mamet's tight script demands full attention and Lumet does his usual masterful job of directing. Newman and Mason (both Oscar nominees) were ably supported by Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden and Milo O'Shea. The film was also nominated for Best Picture and was a smash with critics. The film eventually grossed over $54 million which is impressive considering its subject matter and when it was released.