Every December 31st, when the clock strikes midnight, I wish everyone a “Appy Noo Year?” in broken English. Of course, nobody really gets it, and I’m okay with it just being an inside joke between Ginger Rogers and myself. But if you want to be a part of my joke too, then you should probably watch Bachelor Mother! Of course, there are many other reasons you should seek out this classic- Ginger Roger’s charming wit and delightful dancing, David Niven’s adorably besotted character, a fun plot that has aged well, and of course the 1930s fashion. This one is a favorite of mine, and watching it is a bit of a New Year tradition that I’m willing to share with you!

Polly Parrish (Ginger Rogers) has just been laid off from her holiday job at Merlin’s department store, and on her way home sees an elderly lady leaving a baby at the stoop of an orphanage. Worried for the baby’s safety, she rushes to his aid- just in time for the orphanage workers to see her and assume she is the mother. Nobody believes Polly when she explains that she is not the mother, so the orphanage workers seek out her former employer to hire back Miss Parrish, believing her job loss to be the reason why she would abandon her child. After her job is restored, the well-meaning people from the orphanage return the baby to Polly’s apartment, infuriating her with their refusals to believe her story. So since she believes the Merlins’ meddling to be at fault for her situation, she drops the baby off at their mansion and heads out for a night of dancing.

The young Mr. David Merlin (David Niven) is infuriated at Miss Parish’s apathy for her son’s well-being, and confronts her about it. He threatens to take away her job if she won’t keep the baby. So Polly gives up and decides to just go along with what everyone thinks to be true. Besides, she’s become rather fond of the little guy.

Mr. Merlin continues taking an interest in Polly’s situation, reading books about baby care and stopping by with toys for the little boy. He becomes so preoccupied that he forgot to make plans with his New Year’s Eve date, so he asks Polly if she’d like to go to a party with him. Of course, they realize that they are slowly falling in love, but things become urgent as soon as the older Mr. Merlin believes Polly’s baby to belong to his son David, and threatens to take him away. In a comedy of errors, David and Polly argue and separately try to remedy the problem, and all the while Polly has become the mother she always refused that she was.

Holiday traditions can sometimes involve some t.v., and I’m okay with that! As long as it’s a great holiday classic we’re talking about. As a family, we’ve usually been known to watch It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, or White Christmas. But after a few years of this, we all sort of started tuning out George Bailey’s rantings and Bing Crosby’s crooning. (Hey, it happens! Sorry, Bing!) This year we might spring for an alternate holiday film. If you too are looking for a seasonal movie to watch this Christmastime, check out some of my picks from Movie Mondays past. Just click the image to check out my review. The last two aren’t exactly Christmas movies, but they involve staff Christmas parties, so I’ve made the executive decision to include them in my list! Why not?

A young bishop burdened with the task of building a new cathedral prays to God for help, but when an angel actually visits him and his family, what happens isn’t quite what he had bargained for. Faced with the task of raising funds for the church, Bishop Henry Brougham spends his time meeting with wealthy widowed donors who are more concerned with appearances than God’s work. So much of Henry’s time is spent dealing with cathedral politics that his wife and daughter rarely see him and are delighted when Henry’s assistant, Dudley, begins to take an interest in them. But little do they know that Dudley is actually an angel.

Dudley’s attempts to work on the bishop’s heart seem futile, and soon Dudley realizes that his mission should really be to bring together a family and marriage that seems to be drifting apart. During his visit, he also meets and influences some of the church goers, townspeople, and the wealthy widowed donors. Suddenly everyone seems to be interested in saving an old church, helping the poor in their community, and getting back to the heart of what church should be about. But what about the bishop’s family? Dudley finds himself more enamored with the bishop’s wife as the days go by, and less interested in bringing their family back together.

So, an angel who makes eyes at a bishop’s wife? Quite the scandal, eh? But what else would you expect from Cary Grant’s portrayal of a heavenly creature? It’s a pretty silly concept, but one that Hollywood seemed to think was fit for a remake in 1996 with The Preacher’s Wife. I haven’t seen The Preacher’s Wife in so many years, that I don’t really remember much about it, but I hope it was a bit more interesting than the 1947 version.

The Bishop’s Wife certainly doesn’t boast much action, which honestly isn’t normally a big deal for me. But this movie just seemed to drag on and didn’t do so well at keeping my interest. I thought the concept of the story was great, but there was little delving into the depths of the characters, which would have made the movie incredibly more interesting and watchable. I really appreciate how applicable the story is to our modern day- what with mega churches dominating the American landscape and a lot of focus placed on the pomp and circumstance of church, instead of the church’s involvement in the community’s needs. So, if you’re a church-going family, this movie might be a good one to spark conversation about church culture and that sort of thing. But just don’t go into it expecting a thrill ride of any kind. Though I can guarantee you mild delight!