by Father Robert Lauder
BECAUSE I AM a regular on the television show “Reel Faith,” I am a little self-conscious about praising the show, which appears on NET-TV on Fridays at 8 p.m. and at other times during this holiday season. The show returns in February for an Academy Awards special and during the summer months.
My role on the show is simple: For three or four minutes, I discuss some movie with a message. Occasionally we have a clip from the film. I enjoy doing the show, and I hope that I am promoting good films with my selections and recommendations.
Most of the show involves two terrific Catholic movie critics, David DiCerto and Steven Greydanus, discussing new films from a Catholic perspective. There are always clips of the new films, and I find David and Steven’s comments to be excellent. Both of them know a great deal about film and love talking about films. The show is seen on Rockville Centre’s Telecare television network and also in Boston and Toronto.
This year, producer Michael Geoghan gave me a special assignment: He asked me to choose five films that might fit in with the holiday season. With his help, I settled on “Holiday Inn,” “Family Man,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “The Nativity Story” and “Joyeux Noel” (Merry Christmas). Mike also wanted me to discuss “It’s a Wonderful Life” even though I had spoken about it on a previous show. Preparing the short three-minute talks on these six films proved to be a very enriching way for me to prepare for the holiday season.
I had never seen “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” or “Family Man” prior to preparing for the show. Two great talents star in the former, Steve Martin and John Candy. Through a series of accidents, Martin, a successful businessman, is forced to travel with Candy, a boisterous, uninhibited salesman. In one scene, Martin criticizes Candy unmercifully. As he does so, we see close-ups of both actors’ faces. Candy is deeply hurt and says to Martin that though he knows he is far from perfect, he would never hurt anyone intentionally, which is exactly what Martin has done. As the plot progresses, their relationship grows into a friendship. Unfortunately, the creators of the film went for an R rating, which could have been avoided. I think small children might have profited from viewing the film with their families. “Family Man” is similar to “It’s a Wonderful Life.” A multi-millionaire who has all the wrong values gets a second chance to live unselfishly with a wife and children he loves.
“Holiday Inn” is not one of the all-time great Hollywood musicals, but it does have 13 Irving Berlin songs as well as Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Also, it is the film in which Crosby introduced the Berlin classic,
“White Christmas.” I believe that there is room in the meaning and celebration of Christmas for the kind of sentiment expressed in Berlin’s song.
“Joyeux Noel” may be the greatest anti-war film ever. Based on an incident that happened on Christmas Eve in 1914, the film depicts Scottish, French and German soldiers, who are involved in trench warfare, putting down their guns and gathering on the battlefield to celebrate Christmas. The film shows the horror of war and the basic goodness of people. At one point a German officer says, “I am Jewish but I will never forget this evening.”
“The Nativity Story” depicts the life of Mary, Joseph and other biblical characters during the year before Jesus was born. Of course, the film deals with part of the greatest story ever told. The acting is quite good, and some of the camera shots are beautiful. I think this would be a terrific film for family members to view together. When the film came out in 2006, I went to see it with two families. Everyone found it to be very inspirational.
I may be one of the few people who recalls seeing Frank Capra’s “It’s Wonderful Life” when it first came out in 1946. The film was not a big commercial success, but because of many screenings on television, it eventually became one of the most popular films ever made. Capra considered it his masterpiece. I do too. I never tire of viewing the film and receiving Capra’s insights into the value of friendship.
The next time I see Mike Geoghan, I’m going to thank him for an assignment that contributed to my own appreciation of the holidays and the holy day.[hr] Father Robert Lauder, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn and philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica, writes a weekly column for the Catholic Press.