Find your favorite holiday movies at the library
Do you have a favorite holiday movie that you simply must watch year after year? Is it a childhood favorite? Something newer? Or perhaps an old classic? Conveniently, regardless of your preference, we have a wide selection to choose from should you need to borrow a favorite film in time for a holiday vacation. And I am going to use this column to talk a bit about a couple old favorites of mine, both of which took a while to find their popularity.
The first is admittedly not a movie, or at least didn’t originate as one. E.T.A Hoffmann, a German writer born in 1776, wrote a fantasy story about a girl and a nutcracker who fights an evil mouse king; this story would later be adapted by Alexandre Dumas (yes, the author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo). Finally, the story was adapted for the stage as a ballet by Tchaikovsky. When it was first performed in December of 1892 it was a flop; the Nutcracker was the last of Tchaikovsky’s three ballets, it followed Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, and Tchaikovsky did not live to see it eventually become the Christmas classic we all know. This ballet has now become the most performed ballet of the day, the music some of the most familiar classical music, and has been adapted into numerous books and movies.
Similarly, It’s a Wonderful Life did not find popularity when it was released in December of 1946. Presumably, some of this was due to the fact that World War II had only just ended and the public was not looking for a film in which the main character, George Bailey, faces many hardships before finally getting a happy ending. The film would not gain popularity until it fell out of copyright and became one of the films regularly shown on television at Christmas. Finally finding its following, the film is now considered a classic of the season. And, if you’re familiar with the phrase “any time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings”, then you can thank this movie because it is where that line originates; it is spoken by George Bailey’s daughter at the end of the film.
Vacation approaches, so if you’re getting in the mood for your holiday favorite, or you’re on the hunt for more favorites to add to the tradition, check out our DVDs or virtual collections!
Holiday Closures:
Thursday – Saturday, December 23-25, 2021
Friday & Saturday, December 31, 2021 & January 1, 2022
Questions? Email us at: contactus@bossierlibrary.org. Facebook:
www.facebook.com/bossierlibrary
Library Services:
All library branches open for Grab-&-Go Quick Services along with Curbside Pickup, Monday – Thursday, 10 a.m.- 8 p.m.
Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Plain Dealing and Tooke Branch: Monday – Friday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Library Locations:
• Aulds Branch: 3950 Wayne Ave, Bossier City, 318.742.2337
• Benton Branch: 115 Courthouse Dr, Benton, 318.965.2751
• Central Library: 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, 318.746.1693
• East 80 Branch: 1050 Bellevue Rd, Haughton, 318.949.2665
• History Center: 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, 318.746.7717
• Plain Dealing Branch: 208 E Mary Lee Ave, Plain Dealing, 318.326.4233
• Tooke Branch:451 Fairview Point Rd, Elm Grove, 318.987.3915
New materials at the library:
• After She Falls by Carmen Schober (Fiction; Book, eBook)
• Call Us What We Carry: Poems by Amanda Gorman (Non-Fiction; Book, eBook)
• The Churchill Sisters: The Extraordinary Lives of Winston and Clementine’s Daughters by Rachel Trethewey (Biography; Book, eBook)
• A Flicker of Light by Katie Powner (Fiction; Book, eBook)
• I Survived: The Galveston Hurricane 1900 by Lauren Tarshis (Children’s Fiction; Book, Playaway, eAudiobook)
• The Lines Between Us: A Novel by Amy Lynn Green (Fiction; Book)
• More Mediterranean: 225+ New Plant-Forward Recipes, Endless Inspiration for Eating Well by America’s Test Kitchen (Non-Fiction; Book, eBook)
• Star Mother: series Book 1 by Charlie N. Holmberg (Fiction; Book).
Annie Gilmer is Community Engagement Librarian at Bossier Parish Public Libraries.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Find your favorite holiday movies at the library
