Where to stream these 10 Christmas movie classics

From It’s a wonderful life and A Christmas carol to A Christmas story and elf, there are plenty of holiday movie classics on streaming. But with so many streaming services out there, finding them can be a chore.

The list below is not about which holiday movie is better than the other or what qualifies it as a Christmas movie. They are simply random selections from Rotten Tomatoes’ list of 100 Best Christmas Movies Everpresented in alphabetical order.

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Note that the selections below do not include any animated Christmas TV or movie classics. You can find a selection of films – including Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas– and where you can stream them here.

Here are 10 live-action Christmas movie classics and where you can find them to stream in the comfort of your living room.

‘A Christmas Carol’ (1951)

There have been many iterations of Charles Dickens’ classic tale A Christmas carol over the years, but the black and white version starring Alistar Sim is the highest ranked version among Rotten tomatoes with an 86% “fresh” rating.

Sim stars as Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas carola disgruntled businessman who sees the light after he is visited by three Christmas ghosts.

Where to stream: A Christmas carol streaming on Prime Video.

‘A Christmas Story’ (1983)

Peter Billingsley stars as Ralphie Parker in director Bob Clark’s Christmas classic, in which Ralphie dreams of getting a Red Ryder Range BB gun.

Darren McGavin also stars as Ralphie’s father – also known as the Old Man – in A Christmas story while Melinda Dillion plays the boy’s mother.

Rotten tomatoes critics gave A Christmas story an 89% percent “fresh rating based on 61 reviews.

Where to stream: A Christmas story streaming on Max.

‘Elf’ (2003)

Will Ferrell stars in director Jon Favreau’s Christmas favorite, which also stars Zooey Deschanel, Bob Newhart, James Caan, Ed Asner and Peter Dinklage.

Ferrell plays Buddy, an oversized elf who ventures from the North Pole to New York City to find his biological father (Caan).

Rotten tomatoes critics gave Elf an 86% percent “fresh rating based on 203 reviews.

Where to stream: Elf streams on Max and Hulu.

‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1939)

Jimmy Stewart stars as George Bailey, a disillusioned businessman who is given a chance by an angel, Clarence (Henry Travers), to review his life and the lost impact of it had he not existed.

Donna Reed also stars as George’s wife, Mary, in It’s a wonderful lifewhich is directed by legendary filmmaker Frank Capra.

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Rotten tomatoes critics gave It’s a wonderful life a 94% “fresh” rating based on 98 reviews.

Where to stream: It’s a wonderful life streaming on Prime Video.

‘The Holdovers’ (2023)

Set in a New England prep school in 1970, Holdovers Paul Giamatti stars as Paul Hunnam, a grumpy prep school teacher tasked with seeing students who have nowhere to go home to (called “holdovers”) during Christmas break.

Bitter about the task at first, Paul ends up bonding with the school’s only holdover, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and a grieving cook, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who become a makeshift family celebrating the holidays together.

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Directed by Alexander Payne, Holdovers earned Randolph an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Rotten tomatoes critics gave Holdovers a 97% “fresh” rating based on 362 reviews.

Where to stream: Holdovers streaming on Prime Video.

‘Love Actually’ (2003)

Set at Christmas in the UK, Love actually follows a group of loosely connected people over the holidays whose lives eventually intersect.

Hugh Grant leads the ensemble as David, the British Prime Minister Love actuallywhich is written and directed by Richard Curtis. Love Actually also stars Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Martine McCutcheon, Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Martin Freeman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rodrigo Santoro, Andrew Lincoln and Liam Neeson.

Rotten tomatoes critics gave Love actually a “fresh” rating of 64% based on 228 reviews.

Where to stream: Love actually streams on Prime Video and Fubo.

‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ (1989)

Chevy Chase reprises his role as family man Clark Griswold in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacationthe third holiday movie after National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) and National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985).

Like the first two Holiday movie, Griswold’s Christmas holiday not going as smoothly as planned. Beverly D’Angelo reprises her role as Clark’s wife, Ellen, in Christmas holidayand Randy Quaid is also back as cousin Eddie Johnson. Juliette Lewis and Johnny Galecki take over the roles of Clark and Ellen’s children, Audrey and Rusty.

Rotten tomatoes critics gave National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation a 71% “fresh” rating based on 56 reviews.

Where to stream: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation streaming on Max.

‘Scrooged’ (1988)

Bill Murray stars as the Ebenezer Scrooge-like Frank Cross in Scrooged, an updated version of A Christmas carola dull TV executive who must come to terms with his painful past when he is visited by three Christmas ghosts.

Directed by Richard Donner, Scrooged also starring Karen Allen, John Glover, Carol Kane and Alfre Woodard.

Rotten tomatoes critics gave Scrooged a “fresh” rating of 71% based on 52 reviews.

Where to stream: Scrooged streaming on Paramount+, Fubo and Prime Video.

‘Santa Claus’ (1994)

Tim Allen stars as Scott Calvin, a divorced father who is recruited to take Santa’s place after he is involved in an accident with the former St. Nick.

Directed by John Pasquin, Santa Claus also starring Wendy Crewson, Judge Reinhold and David Krumholtz.

Rotten tomatoes critics gave Santa Claus a 73% “fresh” rating based on 52 reviews.

Where to stream: Santa Claus streaming on Disney+.

‘White Christmas’ (1994)

Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye star as Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, a famous song and dance team who gather their fellow military veterans to put on a Christmas show to help save a struggling resort owned by their former boss, General Thomas F. Waverly (Dean Jagger).

Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen also star as the famous song-and-dance sister act Betty and Judy Haynes.

Rotten tomatoes critics gave White Christmas a 76% “fresh” rating based on 45 reviews.

Where to stream: White Christmas streaming on Prime Video.

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