"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee

This year "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee hit no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, sixty-five years after it was first released. Not only did it become Miss Lee's third no. 1 single (after "I'm Sorry" and "I Want to Be Wanted), but it made her the oldest person to hit no. 1 on the Hot 100 (Brenda Lee is 78 years old). Brenda Lee also holds the record for the longest gap between no. 1 singles (63 years, one month and two weeks) and the longest gap between a song's release and it topping the Billboard Hot 100. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is also only the third Christmas song to ever hit no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (for those who are wondering, "White Christmas" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" were released well before the Hot 100 existed).

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" was written by Johnny Marks, best known for having written the second most successful Christmas song of all time, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (it is second only to "White Christmas"). Beyond "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," Johnny Marks later adapted the poem "Christmas Bells" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as the song "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," a hit for Bing Crosby in 1956. He later wrote the holiday standards "A Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Silver and Gold" for the classic Christmas TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, in which all of the songs were written by Johnny Marks.

Johnny Marks chose Brenda Lee to record "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," although she does not know why. At the time she was only 13 years old and had not yet had any real recording success. It was first released on November 24 1958, but it did not chart. It was released again in 1959, although once more it did not chart. In the meantime, Brenda Lee's career had started to to take off. In 1959 she reached no. 4 with the song "Sweet Nothin's." In 1960 she hit no. 6 with "That All You Gotta Do," no. 1 with "I'm Sorry," no. 1 with "I Want to Be Wanted." When "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" was re-released in 1960, then, it finally became it hit. It reached no. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1965 it peaked at no. 3 on the chart. It has remained popular ever since.

As mentioned above, all of the songs in the Christmas special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" were written by Johnny Marks. This includes an instrumental version of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." A version of the song also appears in the Rankin/Bass feature film Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979). Brenda Lee's original version was also included in the movie Home Alone (1990). The original version has been used on several TV shows, as well as movies from Reindeer Games (2000) to Krampus (2015) to A Christmas Story Christmas (2022). Over the years several artists have covered "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," including the Partridge Family, Ronnie Spector & Darlene Love,  Kim Wilde and Mel Smith, Kacey Musgraves and Camila Cabello, and yet others.

This year Brenda Lee filmed a music video for "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," in which she lip syncs to her original version of the song, just in time for the 65th anniversary of the song's release. This perhaps explains why the perennial Christmas favourite finally hit no. 1, although I have to point out it has hit no. 2 every year since 2019. For those who would like to see it, here it is.

The Late Great Film Historian Cari Beauchamp

Respected film historian, author, editor, and filmmaker Cari Beauchamp died yesterday, December 14 2023, at the age of 74. She was well-loved by classic film fans, and she was friends with many of them. She was a close friend of many of my close friends, and she was even a mentor to some of them. In addition to being one of the foremost movie scholars, she was always supportive of classic film buffs. Like many, I was able to interact with Cari on social media from time to time, and she was always wonderful.

Cari Beauchamp was born on September 12 1949 in Berkeley, California. She attended Lincoln High School, Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California and then San Jose State University, from which she graduated with a degree in political science and American history. She worked as a private investigator for many years. In 1973 she served as president of the National Women's Caucus of California, and as a campaign manager for Janet Gray Hayes, who was elected the mayor of San Jose in 1976. From 1979 to 1982 she was the press secretary for California Governor Jerry Brown.

It was in 1990 that Cari Beauchamp began writing full-time. Her first book, Hollywood on the Riviera: The Inside Story of the Cannes Film Festival, was written with Henri Béhar, and published in 1992. Her book Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and The Powerful Women of Early Hollywood was a biography of Frances Marion, who had become the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood by 1917 and was also the fist writer to win two Academy Awards. Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and The Powerful Women of Early Hollywood would be included in The Hollywood Reporter's list of the "100 Greatest Film Books of All Time" published earlier this year. She would later write and produce a documentary for Turner Classic Movies based on the book and also titled Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and The Powerful Women of Early Hollywood. It was released in 2000.

Among the other books written by Cari were Joseph P. Kennedy's Hollywood Years, My First Time in Hollywood: Stories from the Pioneers, Dreamers and Misfits Who Made the Movies, and From Latin America to Hollywood: Latino Film Culture in Los Angeles 1967-2017. She edited Anita Loos Rediscovered and annotated the book with Miss Loos's niece Mary Anita Loos. She also edited Adventures of a Hollywood Secretary: Her Private Letters from Inside the Studios of the 1920s by Valeria Belletti. Cari was also a contributor to multiple publications, including Vanity Fair, The Hollywood Reporter, Indiewire, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and many others.

As mentioned above, Cari Beauchamp wrote and produced the documentary Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and The Powerful Women of Early Hollywood. She wrote the PBS documentary The Day My God Died (2003), which aired on Independent Lens. The documentary focused on girls in India and Nepal who were sold into sexual slavery.. It was nominated for an Emmy. She also appeared in multiple documentaries on classic movies and other subjects. She was a consultant on advisor on The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing and Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood, and yet other documentaries. She was also a familiar face on Turner Classic Movies. She was a special guest TCM Spotlight: Trailblazing Women in 2015 and 2016. 

>Cari Beauchamp served as a presenter at multiple TCM Classic Film Festivals. She was also a speaker at the British Film Institute, the Cannes Film Festival, the Edinburgh Film Festival the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. She was also a resident scholar at the Mary Pickford Foundation and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts.

Before anyone else did so, Cari Beauchamp wrote about the women in the early film industry. While the focus of Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and The Powerful Women of Early Hollywood is Frances Marion, in its pages one also learns about such other influential women in the early days of Hollywood as Marie Dressler, Hedda Hopper, Lillian Gish, Anita Loos, Mary Pickford, Zasu Pitts, and others. She paved the way for other authors to write about the women who helped shape the American film industry. Of course, Cari Beauchamp often examined topics that few others had before, whether it was Joseph Kennedy's days in Hollywood or Latino film culture.

Much of what made Cari Beauchamp such a great film historian and author is that she was very skilled at getting the facts. She had been a private investigator, and she put those skills to use in writing about classic movies. What is more, Cari Beauchamp's writing was never dry or boring. She wrote in an engaging style guaranteed to keep the reader hooked. Her knowledge of film history and an engaging personality also made her perfect as a speaker or presenter at film history panels. She was certainly enthusiastic about film. What is more, she was supportive of her fellow classic film buffs. With Cari Beauchamp's passing, the classic film community has lost one of its brightest lights.

The Late Great Andre Braugher

Andre Braugher, who starred as Detective Frank Pembleton on Homicide: Life in the Streets and Captain Raymond Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and appeared in such movies as Glory (1989), died on December 11 2023 at the age of 61. The cause was lung cancer.

Andre Braugher was born on July 1 1962 in Chicago. He graduated from Stanford University and then studied drama at Julliard. He made his television debut in 1989 in the TV movie Kojak: Ariana, playing Detective Winston Blake. He reprised the role of Detective Blake in the TV movies Kojak: Fatal Flaw, Kojak: Flowers for Matty, Kojak: It's Always Something, and Kojak: None So Blind. In 1990 he played Jackie Robinson in the TV movie The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson. He made his film debut in Glory in 1989.

In the Nineties Andre Braugher played Detective Pembleton on Homicide: Life in the Streets and the TV movie Homicide: The Movie. He starred on the medical drama Gideon's Crossing. He starred in the TV movies The Tuskegee Airmen (1995) and Passing Glory (1999). He guest starred on the show Law & Order (playing Detective Pembleton). He was a guest voice on the animated series Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child and Jackie Chan Adventures. He appeared in the movies Striking Distance (1993), Primal Fear (1996), Get On the Bus (1996), City of Angels (1998), Thick as Thieves (1999), All the Rage (1999), Frequency (2000), Duets (2000), and A Better Way to Die (2000).

In the Naughts Andre Braugher starred on the TV shows Hack and Men of a Certain Age. He had a recurring role on the show House, M.D. He appeared in the mini-series 'Salem's Lot, Thief, and The Andromeda Strain. He guest starred on the shows The Practice, The Jury and Miami Medical. He appeared in the movies Poseidon (2006), Live! (2007), The Mist (2007), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Passengers (2008), and Salt (2010).

In the Teens Ande Braugher starred on the TV show Last Resort and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He had recurring roles on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and the animated series BoJack Horseman. He guest starred on the shows Axe Cop (2015) and New Girl (as Captain Raymond Holt from Brooklyn Nine-Nine). He appeared in the movies The Baytown Outlaws (2001), The Gambler (2014), Emily & Tim (2015).

In the 2020s Andre Braugher continued to play Captain Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He was a regular on the streaming series The Good Fight. He appeared in the movie She Said (2022).

Andre Braugher was an incredible actor with a great amount of talent. He was nominated for an Emmy for his role on Homicide: Life in the Streets of Frank Pembleton, the intellectual detective who was opposed to the use of deadly force. He was also nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for The Tusekegee Airmen, in which he played Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., the courageous and tenacious commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group. Of course, he will also be remember as Captain Raymond "Ray" Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the stoic captain of the 99th Precinct, who nonetheless has a great deal of warmth for his fellow human beings. He also played the intellectual and brave Corporal Thomas Searles in Glory. While Ande Braugher played several bigger-than-life characters, he was capable of playing an ordinary guy. On Men of a Certain Age he played Owen Thoreau, Jr., a diabetic car salesman who suffered from severe anxiety. Andre Braugher could play a wide array of characters, and he was equally good at both drama and comedy. Few actors ever possessed as much talent as he had.

Jack Hogan Passes On

Jack Hogan, who played PFC Kirby on the TV show Combat! and Detective Sergeant Jerry Miller, died on December 6 2023 at the age of 94.

Jack Hogan was born Richard Benson Jr. on November 24 1929 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He received his pilots licence when he was 16. He joined the Air Force following his graduation. During the Korean War he served as a staff sergeant in Japan. Following his service he moved to Hollywood where he worked as a lifeguard and studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Jack Hogan made his film debut in an uncredited role in Man from Del Rio in 1956. He made his television debut in 1957 in a guest appearance on the TV series State Trooper. In the late Fifties he guest starred on the shows The Sheriff of Cochise, Meet McGraw, Official Detective, Dr. Christian, Harbor Command, Broken Arrow, Target, The Rough Riders, Steve Canyon, Have Gun--Will Travel, Men of Annapolis, Sea Hunt, Tombstone Territory, MacKenzie's Raiders, Mike Hammer, Laramie, Lock Up, Tightrope, Bat Masterson, The Rifleman, Lawman, Colt. 45, U.S. Marshal, The Rebel, Men into Space, The Deputy, Tate, and Riverboat. He appeared in the films The Bonnie Parker Story (1959), Paratroop Command, and The Legend of Tom Dooley (1959).

In the Sixties he was a regular on Combat! as PFC Kirby. He had a recurring role on Adam-12 as Detective Sergeant Jerry Miller and in a two-part episode Lt. Fred Benson. He guest starred on the shows The Best of the Post, Peter Gunn, The Tall Man, Bonanza, Bat Masterson, Cheyenne, Ben Casey, Bronco, Ripcord, Cain's Hundred, The Rifleman, Lawman, 87th Precinct, The New Breed, Death Valley Days, G.E. True, Hawaiian Eye, Custer, The Felony Squad, Garrison's Gorillas, Tarzan, Ironside, The Outsider, and The Name of the Game. He appeared in the movie The Cat Burglar (1961).

In the Seventies he was a regular on the TV series Sierra. He guest starred on the shows The Little People;Emergency!; Marcus Welby, M.D.; Chase; The Six Million Dollar Man; S.W.A.T.; Medical Center; Hawaii Five-O; The Quest; Insight; Switch; The Oregon Trail; Kojak; The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries; Project U.F.O.; and Quincy, M.E.

In the Eighties he worked on the casting department on Magnum, P.I. He had a recurring role on the TV series Berenger's and Jacke and the Fatman. He guest starred on the shows Scarecrow and Mrs. King; Matt Houston; Riptide; The A-Team; Airwolf; and Outlaws. In the Nineties he guest starred on the show Raven.

Jack Hogan was an actor of some versatility. On Combat! Kirby could be argumentative, was a bit of a womanizer, and had a tendency to make wise cracks and complain. On Adam-12 he played the much more serious Detective Sgt. Miller. In his guest appearances on various television shows, he could play a wide variety of characters. He was a Comanchero in the Bonanza episode "The Gift," on Bat Masterson he played everything from an outlaw to a marshal, and on Kojak he appeared as a corrupt Assistant District Attorney. While he will probably always be remembered as Kirby on Combat!, he could play a wide variety of roles.

Godspeed Shirley Anne Field

Shirley Anne Field, who appeared in the movies The Entertainer (1960) and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), as well as numerous television programs, died on December 10 2023 at the age of 87.

Shirley Anne Field was born Shirley Broomfield in Forrest Gate, Essex (what is now the London Borough of Newham) on June 27 1936. She was six years old when she was placed in the National Children's Home at Edgworth, near Bolton, Lancashire. She subsequently spent most of her childhood in a series of children's home. When she was 15 years old she returned to her family in London. Before her film career, Shirley Anne Field was a pinup girl who appeared in such publications as Reveille and Titbits.

Shirley Anne Field was noticed by director Val Guest and made her film debut in a small role in the movie Simon and Laura in 1955. In the late Fifties she appeared in such films as All for Mary (1955), Lost (1956), It's Never Too Late (1956), It's a Wonderful World (1956), The Weapon (1956), Loser Takes All (1956), The Silken Affair (1956), Dry Rot (1956), The Good Companions (1957), The Flesh is Weak (1957), Seven Thunders (1957), Horrors of the Black Museum (1959), Upstairs and Downstairs (1959), and Jungle Street (1960). Nineteen sixty would prove to a breakthrough year for Shirley Anne Field. She appeared in the classic Peeping Tom (1960), an actress who discovers the bodies of one of the victims of Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm). In The Entertainer (1960) she played Tina Lapford, a beauty queen who has an affair with protagonist Archie Rice (Lord Laurence Olivier). She received her biggest role to date in the classic Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), in which she received second billing. She played Doreen, a beautiful, but modest woman who becomes involved with the protagonist Arthur Seaton (Arthur Finley). She also received second billing in Man in the Moon (1960), playing a stripper with whom protagonist William Blood (Kenneth More) becomes involved. Shirley Anne Field made her television debut in The New Adventures of Martin Kane in 1957 and during the late Fifties she also appeared in the TV series International Detective.

In the Sixties Shirley Anne Field continued to appear in high profile roles in the Sixties. She appeared in her first Hollywood film, The War Lover (1962), opposite Steve McQueen. She also appeared in the films The Damned (1962) and Alfie (1966). She appeared in the movies Kings of the Sun (1963), Lunch Hour (1963), Marcia nuziale (1966), Doctor in Clover (1966), Hell is Empty (1967), With Love in Mind (1970), and A Touch of the Other (1970). She appeared in the television show Five More.

In the Seventies Shirley Anne Field began appearing more often on television. During the decade she was a regular on the British TV series Buccaneer. She also guest starred on the TV shows Centre Play and Shoestring. She appeared in the movie House of the Living Dead (1974). In the Eighties she appeared in the TV movie Two By Forsyth (1984). She had a recurring role for a time on the American daytime soap opera Santa Barbara. She also appeared in the TV series Never the Twain. She appeared in the movies My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Shag (1988), Getting It Right (1989), and The Rachel Papers (1989).

In the Nineties Shirley Anne Field was a regular on the TV series Madson. She appeared in the mini-series Lady Chatterley. She guest starred on the shows El C.I.D.; Murder, She Wrote; Rumble; Bramwell; Barbara; Dalziel and Pascoe; and The Bill. She appeared in the movies Hear My Song (1991), U.F.O. (1993), Loving Deadly (1994), At Risk (1994), and Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry (2000). In the Naughts Shirley Anne Field was a regular on the TV series Where the Heart Is. She guest starred on the shows Walking the Dead, Monarch of the Glen, Last of the Summer Wine, and Doctors. She appeared in the movie The Kid (2010). In the Teens she appeared in the movie The Power of Three (2011). Her final appearance on screen was in the short "Beautiful Relics" (2014).

Shirley Anne Field was a remarkable actress. In her earliest roles she was often little more than eye candy, but she swiftly proved herself both talented and versatile. In her breakout year 1960 alone she played a variety of roles, from the neurotic actress Diane in Peeping Tom to the wholesome Doreen in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. In the Hammer Horror The Damned (1963), she played Joan, the sister of the vicious leader of a motorcycle gang. In Alfie she played a nurse who seduced by the title character (Michael Caine), who also happens to be her patient. Over the years Shirley Anne Field played a wide variety of roles and played all of them well.

The Apartment (1960)

Even for a director who had a long string of critically acclaimed hits, The Apartment (1960) numbers among Billy Wilder's most successful movies. While The Apartment was controversial upon its release due to its portrayal of marital infidelity, the film has since become regarded as a classic. It was nominated for several Academy Awards, and won the awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Story and Screenplay--Written Directly for the Screen, Best Art Direction--Black and White, and Best Film Editing. It also did well at the box office, and it was the 8th highest grossing film of 1960.

The Apartment centres on C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon), an employees of Consolidated Life, a major insurance company in New York City. As Baxter says in his opening narration, "You see, I have this little problem with my apartment." Quite simply, he allows four Consolidated Life executives to use his apartment for their clandestine affairs. Baxter's life is complicated by the fact that he is enamoured with elevator operator, Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine). Unfortunately for Baxter, Miss Kubelik is romantically involved with personnel director Jeff D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray).

While The Apartment is not very often counted among the great holiday films, it is very much a Christmas movie. Indeed, it takes place over the entire holiday season, with it beginning on November 1 and ending on New Year's Eve, with the bulk of the plot unfolding during the holiday season itself. Furthermore, the office Christmas party plays an important role in the plot. Important events central to the plot take place on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The movie's famous climax takes place on New Year's Eve itself. The Apartment actually takes in more of the holiday season than many other films shown at Christmastime.  

The initial concept for The Apartment emerged when Billy Wilder first saw Brief Encounter (1945). In the film Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson) meets with Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard) in the apartment of a friend in the course of their affair (here it must be noted that they are both married). Billy Wilder was much more fascinated by the idea of the friend who let the two lovers use his apartment (and who is never actually seen in the movie) than the two people having the affair themselves. Another possible source for The Apartment was alleged affair between agent Jennings Lang and actress Joan Bennett, who at the time was married to producer Walter Wanger. Mr. Lang and Miss Bennett's met in the apartment of one of Mr. Lang's underlings. When Walter Wanger found out about this, he promptly shot Mr. Lang (for the sake of propriety, I won't say where). Walter Wanger plead insanity and served only four months in prison. Jennings Lang went on to marry songbird Monica Lewis, to whom he was married for forty years and with whom he had three sons. According to Billy Wilder's writing partner I. A. L. Diamond, another source of inspiration for The Apartment was a real life incident in which a woman committed suicide in a man's apartment after their affair had gone sour.

In casting The Apartment, Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond only had one actor in mind for the role of C. C. Baxter--Jack Lemmon. After Some Like It Hot (1959), Messrs. Wilder and Diamond both wanted to work with Mr. Lemmon again, and no other actor was even considered for the role. Character actor Paul Douglas was originally cast in the role of the oily insurance company executive Mr. Sheldrake. Sadly, Paul Douglas died on September 11 1959 from a heart attack. He was only 52. Fred MacMurray was then cast as Sheldrake.

Fred MacMurray was initially hesitant to take the role. Not only was he well known for having generally played nice guys over the years, but he was just beginning his long running TV sitcom My Three Sons and he had just signed a contract with Disney to star in a series of family films. Fortunately Billy Wilder was able to persuade Fred MacMurray to take the role. Mr. Wilder had previously persuaded Fred MacMurray to play against type as the none-too-nice Walter Neff (who also happened to be in the insurance industry) in Double Indemnity (1944).

The role of Baxter's neighbour, Dr. Dreyfuss, would also go to an actor other than the one Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond originally had in mind. They had originally intended for character actor Lou Jacobi to play the role. At the time Mr. Jacobi may have been best known for his work on Broadway in The Diary of Anne Frank. As it turned out Lou Jacobi was already committed to another Broadway play, The Tenth Man, and its producers would not release him from his contract so he could appear in The Apartment. Jack Kruschen was then cast as Dr. Dreyfuss. Jack Kruschen was a frequent guest star on television shows in the Fifties, and he had appeared in such films as The Buccaneer (1958) and The Man Who Understood Women (1959).

For her role as Fran Kubelik, Shirley MacClaine actually prepared for her role by operating an elevator in the Los Angeles Times building for a day. Because Billy Wilder did not want Shirley MacLaine to know how the movie ended, so he gave her only forty pages of the script. As a result, she thought the script wasn't finished. Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond would not allow even the slightest deviation from their script, which initially proved to be a bit of a problem for Shirley MacLaine, who was accustomed to improvising. While she initially resented Mr. Wilder's views on improvisation, she grew to appreciate him and the two would work together again on Irma La Douce (1963).

The Apartment premiered on June 15 1960 in New York City and San Francisco. It opened at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on June 21 1960. The Apartment received its share of positive reviews. In The New York Times Bosley Crowther gave the film a glowing review, calling The Apartment "...a gleeful, tender and even sentimental film."   Variety also gave The Apartment a positive review, opening with, "Billy Wilder has furnished The Apartment with a one-hook plot that comes out high in comedy, wide in warmth and long in running time." As mentioned earlier, the film was controversial, so The Apartment did receive reviews that were less than complimentary. Hollis Alpert of The Saturday Review referred to it as "a dirty fairy tale" In Esquire Dwight MacDonald referred to The Apartment as possessing "slick cynicism and prurient sentimentality."

Regardless of what critics thought of The Apartment, audiences seemed to love the movie. It made $24.6 million at the box office. As mentioned earlier, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also loved The Apartment. It was nominated for several Oscars and won quite a few as well
The Apartment remains highly respected to this day. In 1994 it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In 2012 it was ranked as the 44th greatest film of all time in a poll of  conducted by Sight and Sound magazine. It was included in the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Movies. In a 2017 poll of 253 film critics from 52 countries conducted by the BBC it was ranked as the 27th greatest comedy of all time.

Of course, beyond being regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time, The Apartment is very much a Christmas movie. Taking place through the whole of the holiday season and dealing with themes associated with the holiday, few movies are as closely tied to Christmas as The Apartment is.