It's A Wonderful Life.

To start things off, why not go for an all time classic!
It's A Wonderful Life. 1946.
Starring James Stewart as George Bailey, and Donna Reed as Mary Hatch Bailey.
This film's storyline is one of the best, and what I noticed was that it was such a simple story scripted really well and portrayed excellently by a first class cast. It really does pick up the feeling of Christmas.
The story focusses on the life of George Bailey, and both the ups and downs that he goes through until the end of the film where desperation and sadness overcomes him. However! Clarence, George's Guardian Angel played by Henry Travers, intervenes and shows George how much he has done and also what a wonderful life he has got - that he should be grateful for. Hence the title of the film. Full of laughter, romance, and festivities this film is a one for all the family.
In terms of actors and their performances, as I've mentioned before the cast is just A-class and I wouldn't falter any of them. They're performances made the film a huge hit and an all time favourite. Although, I've only just seen this film - around a few hours ago in fact, it still hasn't made me change my view. In all honesty, i'd rank this film above A Christmas Carol purely because I feel that it has a lot more meaning hidden in it, which don't all apply to Christmas. However, as I said that's in my honest opinion.
In regards to the music from the film, there was a hint of festive cheer to the soundtrack, however all of the music otherwise kept in keeping with the period of the 1910s onwards which is when the film is set. This includes a Charleston section towards the beginning of the film. All in all the music is perfect.
So, to conclude this review I think that this film is an ideal starting point in a long list of Christmas films. It's a must see for all of the family, as grandparents may know of it whilst children may not have seen black and white films before, and so therefore it brings a family together. Another thing I have noticed is that the language is a lot more civilized and different to what we see in today's films, which is lovely and it just shows the differences that have occurred over the course of 100 years. But, this film is utterly amazing.

For that reason alone, i'm going to give it 4.5 out of 5 stars!
Helen xx