Rentals
Christmas Crackers
It's time to join the ghosts of Christmases past as we celebrate a century of festive film.
Our selection of comic, musical and animated treats should get you in the spirit, and for balance there's newsreels both cheerful and poignant, while some evocative home movies shine a light on the family revels of yesteryear. Meanwhile, some early promotional films offer a reminder that Christmas was serious business long before advertisers deployed CGI penguins or WWI epics to tug on viewers' heart strings. All the yuletide traditions are here: trees, turkeys and toys (including some distant ancestors of the dreaded Furby). You'll also find some seasonal curios, not least a sci-fi re-imagining of Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol - alongside a more conventional version from 1914. These crackers are full of surprises!
AnthonyAnthony
Comedy 2013 15 minsDirector: J. van Tulleken
Tim Key stars stars as a surly and self-centred Santa in this pitch-black Christmas comedy.
ScroogeScrooge
Fantasy 1951 87 minsDirector: Brian Desmond Hurst
Alastair Sim’s best known performance, as Dickens’ notorious curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge.
CarolCarol
Drama 2015 119 minsDirector: Todd Haynes
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara illuminate Todd Haynes’ intoxicating adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s beloved novel.
All That Heaven AllowsAll That Heaven Allows
Melodrama 1955 89 minsDirector: Douglas Sirk
Hollywood’s master of melodrama, Douglas Sirk, is at his most devastating crafting this deceptively simple story of class-crossing romance into a florid explosion of style.
On the Twelfth Day...On the Twelfth Day...
Romance 1955 21 minsDirector: Wendy Toye
Playful, charming, Oscar-nominated take on the Christmas song directed by queen of the dance Wendy Toye and designed by the great Ronald Searle.
Children of MenChildren of Men
Science Fiction 2006 109 minsDirector: Alfonso Cuarón
In an apocalyptic future Britain, a civil servant is unexpectedly entrusted with the fate of humanity in Alfonso Cuarón’s gripping and thoughtful sci-fi.
Comfort and JoyComfort and Joy
Comedy 1984 104 minsDirector: Bill Forsyth
Director Bill Forsyth followed the enormously successful Local Hero with this bittersweet comedy about a radio DJ who becomes embroiled in a turf war between rival ice cream vendors.
Remember the NightRemember the Night
Comedy 1939 94 minsDirector: Mitchell Leisen
Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray are the shoplifter and attorney who fall for other in this charming, Christmas comedy scripted by Preston Sturges.
TangerineTangerine
Comedy 2015 88 minsDirector: Sean Baker
A big-hearted film shot on a small phone, this LA tale of two transgender working girls out for vengeance fizzes with wild energy.
WajibWajib
Drama 2018 93 minsDirector: Annemarie Jacir
An estranged father-son relationship in the vibrant city of Nazareth makes for an immensely entertaining drama by Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir (When I Saw You).
More Christmas Crackers in our Free collection.