The Bishop's Wife -- 1947

If you're looking for a different Christmas movie to add to your list of things to see each year, but want something that not everyone in the world watches, this one might be worth looking into. You got your snow and Santa and happy tidings to round it all out at the end in a film with Cary Grant and David Niven (and how can you go wrong with that?).

The bishop wants to build a cathedral for his parishoners -- a grand cathedral that will be most impressive in its size and construction, but in order to do so, he needs to secure funding. One of the biggest supporters is giving a million dollars, no less, but she wants her husband honored right out in front, which the bishop feels is a huge compromise since he wants God honored (of course). So the bishop asks for help, and in comes an angel to act as his assistant throughout these problems until the bishop no longer needs him.

Of course, this cathedral is only the overlying problem in the bishop's life, and the angel is determined to fix one of the bigger problems of the bishop neglecting his wife and children, so the angel provides most of his assistance to the wife, allowing the bishop a streak of jealousy to desire his wife over his work. This works to an extent...until the angel starts falling for the wife.

The characters drawn in this are at the same time stereotypical (overworked husband, frustrated wife) but having their own quirks to try and offset them a bit. The plot flows very smoothly from point to point, even though some points seem a little on the silly side (such as the ice skating scene being a bit over the top).

In the end, it was a cute movie that works for a feel good Christmas story that's a little out of the norm and out of the way from the normal fare we see every year.