In America and England， certain movies are as Christmassy as Santa， reindeer， and the fairy on top of the tree. There are some films that are just so strongly associated with the Christmas season that watching them is almost a ritual. Some of them are explicitly Christmas movies， others just seem to have become associated with the holiday from long practice.

在美國和英國，一些電影與圣誕老人、馴鹿和樹上的仙子一樣洋溢著圣誕的氣息。有些電影與圣誕節(jié)緊密相連，觀看這類電影幾乎成了一種習俗。它們其中有一些確切是圣誕電影，其余的因為人們很久以來都會在圣誕節(jié)觀看，于是它們便似乎與節(jié)日有所關聯。

In the US， the classic It's a Wonderful Life is a TV Christmas staple. The film， made in 1946 by Frank Capra， stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey， a banker driven to attempt suicide after the collapse of his local Savings Loan. An angel， Clarence， is sent by Heaven to rescue him from the water and show him all the terrible things that would have happened if he had never lived， causing him to revaluate his life. At the end his bank is saved from ruin by the donations of the whole town – a truly heartwarming Christmas ending.

在美國，經典影片《美妙人生》每年圣誕節(jié)都會在電視里重播。該片是由弗蘭克#8226;卡普拉于1946年導演的，講述了由詹姆斯#8226;斯圖爾特扮演的銀行家喬治#8226;貝利在鎮(zhèn)上的儲貸協會倒閉后被逼無奈企圖自殺的故事。上帝派來的天使克萊倫斯將他從水中救起，并讓他看到假如他從來沒有出生，所有可能會發(fā)生的可怕的事情，這使他重新審視自己的生命。最后全鎮(zhèn)的捐助挽救了他的銀行——一個真誠感人的圣誕電影的結局。

The English， meanwhile， like to show the moving animated classic The Snowman， based on a classic story by artist Raymond Briggs. Made in 1982 and only 26 minutes long， this short， beautifully drawn cartoon shows a young boy who builds a snowman. That night， the snowman comes to life， whisking him away into the air to a snowman party， hosted by Father Christmas.There is no dialogue in the film， only music composed specially for it by Howard Blake， and the ending， where the boy discovers the melted remains of his friend the next day， is guranteed to bring a tear to the eye.

同時，在英國，人們喜歡放映根據漫畫家雷蒙德#8226;布里格斯的同名經典故事改編的感人動畫片《雪人》。制作于1982年，這部全長僅有26分鐘的精美卡通短片講述了一個堆了一個雪人的小男孩的故事。那天晚上，這個雪人活過來了，它帶著小男孩飛上天空，去參加一個由圣誕老人舉行的雪人派對。整個影片中沒有對白，只有霍華德#8226;布萊克為該片特意創(chuàng)作的音樂，小男孩在第二天發(fā)現他的朋友已經融化，只留下雪堆，這樣的結局絕對會讓人潸然淚下。

The most famous Christmas story of all， of course， is Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. This story， originally written in 1843， is about an elderly miser， Scrooge， who describes Christmas as \"humbug!\" and treats his employees badly. One Christmas Eve， three spirits come to him， showing him Christmasses past， present， and future， causing him to change his ways and become a better man. There have been numerous film adaptations of the story， and at least one of them is shown every year – perhaps the most popular， though， is The Muppet Christmas Carol， where the tale is acted out by puppets. The name \"Scrooge\" has entered the English language as a word for a mean or greedy person.

最有名的圣誕故事當然要數查爾斯#8226;狄更斯的《圣誕頌歌》。這個故事寫于1843年，講的是守財奴老斯克魯奇的故事。他將圣誕節(jié)視為“無稽之談”，對工人苛刻冷漠。在一個圣誕節(jié)前夕，三個精靈與他相遇，并且讓他看到他的過去、現在和未來，使他改變了自己的行為并且成為一個好人。由這個故事改編的電影有很多個版本，但每年其中至少有一部會放映——但也許最受歡迎的是木偶片《布偶圣誕頌》?！八箍唆斊妗币炎鳛橐粋€單詞融入英語中，特指吝嗇、貪婪的人。

The British always show a James Bond movie on Boxing Day， despite the suave， murderous Bond having little connection to Christmas! Perhaps the tradition that goes most against the spirit of the holiday， however， is the Romanian one. The brutal Romanian dictator， Nicolae Ceaucescu， was overthrown in December 1989， and executed after an hours-long trial on Christmas Day along with his wife Elena. Every year， Romanian TV shows the footage of the trial， execution， and the grisly pictures of the bodies!

英國在禮節(jié)日中經常會播放一部007影片，盡管溫文爾雅而又殺氣逼人的007與圣誕節(jié)絲毫沒有關聯！然而最與節(jié)日精神背道而馳的習慣可能是羅馬尼亞的那部影片。殘忍的羅馬尼亞獨裁者尼古拉#8226;齊奧塞斯庫在1989年被推翻并在圣誕節(jié)那天經過數小時的審判后與他的妻子埃琳娜一同被處決。每年羅馬尼亞電視臺都會播放審判的那個片段、執(zhí)行死刑的過程和尸體橫陳的恐怖畫面！