Paramount Holiday Movies Feature Classic Favorites

Media Contact:

Kristen Gleason
Director of Marketing
The Paramount Theater
215 East Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
434.979.1922 ext. 103
kristen@theparamount.net

For Immediate Release

November 27, 2006

Back by popular demand, The Paramount Theater is inviting audiences to get in the holiday spirit with three of Hollywood’s most beloved movies for the season.   For many the quintessential holiday film, It’s A Wonderful Life returns to The Paramount for two showings on Thursday, December 7.  New to the schedule this year, Miracle on 34th Street will be shown twice on Friday, December 8.   In addition, each screening will feature the 1966 short How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

It’s A Wonderful Life (1947) was Jimmy Stewart’s first picture since his return from service in World War II.  In the movie, George Bailey (Stewart) gets a Christmas gift few human beings ever receive--the opportunity to see how their loved ones would have fared without them.  Bailey, a good man who puts his dreams on hold for the benefit of others, discovers that his sacrifices have not been in vain.  The film also stars Donna Reed as Mary Hatch, the love of Bailey’s life; and Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Potter, who stands opposed to every notion of family and home that Bailey holds dear.  Dismissed by critics upon its release, It’s a Wonderful Life has become a revered part of America’s holiday tradition.

Released the same year and only slightly less iconic, Miracle on 34th Street stars Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood, and Edmund Gwenn.  Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) is hired by no-nonsense Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara) to be Macy’s Santa Claus. While his suggestions to his “customers” tend to be unorthodox – sending a parent to the store’s biggest rival for a gift Macy’s doesn’t carry, for example – he also generates enormous publicity and good will.  Things get out of hand, however, when Kris states matter-of-factly that he is Santa Claus, the store psychiatrist diagnoses him as mentally incompetent, and Kris is forced to defend his apparently ludicrous contention in court.

A holiday bonus in store for December Paramount moviegoers will make every showing a double feature.  How the Grinch Stole Christmas will precede each screening of It’s A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.  The 1966 22-minute animated short directed by the legendary Chuck Jones of “Looney Tunes” fame stars the voice of Boris Karloff as both the narrator and the Grinch, a grumpy hermit who hatches a plan to steal Christmas from the Whos of Whoville.

It’s A Wonderful Life will show at 4 and 8 pm on Thursday, December 7 and Miracle on 34th Street will show at 4 and 7 pm on Friday, December 8.  Tickets are $6 (with a Youth/Child price of $4 applying to those 12 and younger) and are available in advance through the theater’s Box Office at 434.979.1333.  The Box Office will also open one hour prior to each showing, and all seats are general admission. 

The Paramount will continue showing films as part of the 2006-07 Season of live performances.  Please visit our movie schedule page for the most recent information on films at The Paramount.