Billy and I have been immersed in a world of Hallmark Christmas movies lately, and the time has come to break out of that cozy world and start watching old favorites. And who better to watch a classic movie with than Lisa of Boondock Ramblings!

We knew we were only going to buddy watch one movie this month – and this was the winning pick. I had seen it years before and loved it, so I was excited to revisit it. It was new to Lisa though, and I feel like I deserve a gold medal for picking an old movie that she had not seen or heard of!

This is a very unusual Christmas movie, but I absolutely loved it. It is wholesome but…not, as well. Sort of a tainted wholesome, if you will.

The internet (I literally just saw this in the sidebar of Google but I liked it) summarizes this movie by saying:

After breaking out of prison on Devil’s Island, Joseph (Humphrey Bogart) and his two cohorts flee to a nearby town and hide in a shop run by kindhearted Felix (Leo G. Carroll) ; his wife, Amelie (Joan Bennett) ; and their daughter. The three men plan to rob the store and board a ship the next day, but they soon change their minds after sharing Christmas dinner with the family. When they learn of the family’s financial troubles, the convicts decide instead to carry out a few good deeds.

Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, and Peter Ustinov were fabulous in their portrayal of these criminals who find they have a soft spot after all. Bogart plays Joseph, who is the leader of the group it seems, Ustinov plays Jules, who really had some of the best lines and delivery the whole movie, and Ray plays Albert, who was the most sinister of the three – just something about his character gave you the chills, despite the fact that he also wanted to help the family they had originally intended to rob.

Lisa and I were watching this practically at the same time and she was chatting me at first, saying “Erin! What kind of movie do you have me watching?” which cracked me up. I mean, a Christmas movie about escaped convicts does seem a bit weird. And the humor in this is dark, which really works set against the sunny backdrop of this French colonial village.

The Ducotel family is a sweet family, just not very financially savvy – they are much too kindhearted, I believe, unlike Felix’s (the head of the Ducotel family) cousin, Andre, who is absolutely loaded and owns the shop that Felix runs. He is also a huge jerk and could give Ebeneezer a run for his money. Unfortunately for Felix, who is running the shop in the red, Andre shows up at Christmas to check on the finances. At first, the family thinks they have a bit of time before he shows up, as he is onboard a boat and can’t leave, but he somehow manages to get off the boat early – before Joseph can cook the books for Felix, which Felix didn’t want anyway. Because Felix, unlike Joseph, is not a criminal.

However, before Andre gets there, the family and the convicts are able to celebrate Christmas together, and it is so cute and charming, despite the fact that we know what the three men are capable of. Joseph wears a pink frilly apron in the kitchen (and a giant knife), Albert helps to decorate the summer house with flowers and it all seems so very innocent. They even perform a song for the family, which was very nicely done.

Before I forget, Albert has a pet. A pet snake, named Adolf, who is a very deadly snake. We never see said snake, but we do see his cute little cage.

Adolf plays a very important part in this story….

I don’t want to give too much away honestly, because this movie is fantastic, and I highly recommend watching it. It is witty, fast paced, quirky, surprising, and does celebrate Christmas. Joseph, Jules, and Albert may not be Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life, but they do change the lives of this family for the better, in their own way. They are comfortable with who they are, they are fine with being criminals, but got so wrapped up in this family, cared about them so quickly, that they were willing to change their plans for them, on multiple occasions. They took the Ducotel’s into account with all of their decisions once they decided they liked them. 

And I will leave it at that. I highly recommend that you watch this wholesome not wholesome Christmas movie!

Check out Lisa’s review here!

And… I wanted to share that in January we will be starting a whole new event – Jane Austen January! Get ready for movies based on the works of Jane Austen. We will post more about that after the holiday though.