Twice over the weekend, I found myself in conversation about Thanksgiving movies, particularly the fact that there are so few of them. On each occasion, the group of movie-savvy people that I was with struggled to think of the names of even a few films. Considering Thanksgiving is a major holiday that even Grinches look forward to because of the four-day weekend, there are surprisingly few TG movies. Perhaps it is because TG comes between two other holidays that are rife with related movies  - Halloween and Christmas. Or, perhaps it is because the male of the species thinks that football is the only choice for Thanksgiving viewing.  (I’ll start watching football on Thanksgiving when the coaches make their players dress like Pilgrims.)

The conversations prompted me to research some TG movies and put together a recommended list. While I was digging around, I discovered several made-for-TV specials about Thanksgiving. Many of them were made during the 1970s and early 1980s before VCRs and DVD players were household items for the majority of Americans, reminding me that TG is a TV holiday because it is all about being home with family. Even counting these long-forgotten made-for-TV movies, there are still not a lot of watchable TG films to choose from. The list below includes movies that I have seen or were recommended to me. The list is not very long, so please feel free to join in the TG spirit and add to the list.

 1.  Home for the Holidays (1995). This comedy-drama is the one film that makes everyone’s Thanksgiving list, so it is a good place to start. Holly Hunter stars as a single mother who returns home to her parents for the Thanksgiving holiday, and she is confronted by the differences between herself and her family. The film was Jodie Foster’s directorial debut, and it features a great cast, including Robert Downey, Jr. as Hunter’s gay brother, Claire Danes as her daughter, and Anne Bancroft and Charles Durning as her parents. Most descriptions of the film offer a clichéd interpretation of the story along the lines of “no matter how much family members drive each other crazy, in the end they realize they really love each other.” However, the film is about more than that. It shows us that the traditional nuclear family is an idealized myth that doesn’t necessarily fit our contemporary world. Hunter’s single mother and Downey’s gay character are the two most sympathetic characters in the film, and they don’t fit the image of the traditional family. Meanwhile their sister’s situation seems to embody the archetype of the nuclear family, but her upwardly mobile lifestyle, shallow husband, and spoiled children are obnoxious or the butt of many of the jokes. Anyone who has ever felt suffocated by tradition or forced into a family dinner they know will be a mind-numbing disaster can relate.

 2. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987). Thanksgiving is the holiday that inspires the most travel, especially by air. Ticket prices virtually double if you fly during TG, and the planes are overbooked, guaranteeing that travelers will be cranky and exhausted by the time they get to their destinations. Director John Hughes uses the horror of holiday travel as the basis for this beloved comedy starring Steve Martin and John Candy. Martin plays a tightly wound marketing exec whose fate is intertwined with that of obnoxious but good-hearted Candy, a shower-ring salesman, as he tries to get home for Thanksgiving. Martin despises Candy for most of the film but through his experiences on the road with the big-mouthed salesman, he learns a valuable lesson about compassion and graciousness. This film is a great antidote to the mean-spirited adolescent comedies that crowd the theaters today.

 3. Hannah and her Sisters (1986). Woody Allen’s Oscar-winning film spans an entire year, beginning at Thanksgiving dinner with Hannah’s family and then ending a year later at the following Thanksgiving. Framing a story about the complexities of family dynamics between two TG celebrations is a reminder that it is truly a family-driven holiday in a way that other holidays are not. Allen’s long-time romantic partner, Mia Farrow, stars as the title character who is the anchor of her family. Yet husband Elliot does not appreciate her role in the family or her value as its center of gravity. He secretly harbors a crush on Hannah’s sister Lee whose unhappiness with her lover makes her seem romantic and tragic to the lovestruck Elliot. In fact, she is flighty and too weak to remedy her situation. Hannah’s other sister, Holly, can’t settle on an occupation and is continually asking Hannah for money. Add to this, a set of bickering parents (played by Lloyd Nolan and Farrow’s real-life mother Maureen O’Sullivan) whose only problem is old age, but it is a problem without a solution. Through the romantic encounters and sibling interactions, the dark side of family values comes to the forefront, including resentment, jealousy, infidelity, and regret, but as the year advances, the virtues of family life come back into focus as relationships change, new beginnings are launched, and selfish husbands realize they are lucky.

 4. Giant (1956). While not a Thanksgiving movie per se, Giant offers a great sequence in which the holiday plays an important part. Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson star as Leslie and Bick Benedict whose marriage is going through a rocky patch. She decides to take the children back East to her family’s home for Thanksgiving, while Bick stays in Texas alone. Over the course of their extended stay in Maryland, the kids make a pet out of Pedro, the turkey designated for TG dinner. When Pedro ends up dressed and stuffed on the dining room table, the kids freak out, ruining everyone’s dinner. Meanwhile, Bick is lonely in Texas eating his huge dinner alone. Going through the ritual without family is a meaningless gesture, which is the key to the sequence and a point we can all relate to.

 5.  By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953). As with Giant, there is only one sequence revolving around Thanksgiving, but this slice of nostalgia offers a depiction of an idealized America from back in the day that is the essence of the TG spirit. Starring Doris Day and Gordon MacRae, the film is a sequel to their popular 1951 film On Moonlight Bay. Both movies are based on a series of short stories by Booth Tarkington called the “Penrod” stories. Billy Gray (later Bud in Father Knows Best) plays the Penrod character, named Wesley in the films. Also like Giant, a child’s affection for the Thanksgiving turkey threatens to ruin the big dinner. Wesley can’t accept that his turkey Gregory is going to be sacrificed for TG, so when his father tells him to take Gregory to the butcher, Wesley instead steals the butchered bird that his buddy Pee Wee Harris is taking home. Pee Wee’s dad is George’s boss, and when it is discovered that the Harrises are birdless for Thanksgiving, George invites them all over to share the holiday with them. During the meal, Gregory shows up, revealing Wesley’s scam.

 6. Pieces of April (2003). This independent drama was the directorial debut of screenwriter Peter Hedges and stars a pre-Tom-Cruise Katie Holmes as an arty, edgy young girl who wants to make a Thanksgiving dinner for her estranged mother, along with the rest of her family. She lives among the bohemians in the East Village in New York and doesn’t seem the type to cook a traditional meal. She is sorely tested when her oven breaks down and her boyfriend is beaten up by thugs.  I have not seen this film personally, but one of the members of my movie-going group suggested it as a good addition.

 7. Jerky Turkey (1945). I have not seen this Tex Avery cartoon in many years, but I remember it well. A dumb Pilgrim hunts a turkey for the first Thanksgiving, but the turkey is smarter than the Pilgrim. The best part is that the bird talks like Jimmy Durante and spouts off old gags in Durante’s style. The cartoon was made at the tail end of WWII; watch for the war-rationing jokes as a sign of the times.

 8. Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale (1994)/The Plymouth Adventure (1952) In addition to Jerky Turkey, I found a couple of feature films about the Pilgrims’ story, which are not historically accurate, but that should come as no surprise. Squanto is told from the perspective of the young Indian warrior who made friends with the people of the Plymouth settlement.   Adam Beach stars in the title role, and the story begins much earlier than the landing at Plymouth Rock. Squanto is captured by the English and taken to Europe against his will. He escapes, steals a boat, and sets off to sea. After many trials and tribulations, he returns home to find his village destroyed by disease and his home occupied by an English family. Facing the choice of fighting the Pilgrims or befriending them, he chooses the latter. Being a Disney movie, we are supposed to see this as a moral lesson, and Squanto is certainly the admirable heroic protagonist. But, if I had been in Squanto’s shoes, I would have squashed those Pilgrims like bugs.

I have not seen The Plymouth Adventure, so I am not going to recommend it as a good movie, but it is a Hollywood version of the voyage of the Mayflower, which should be entertaining. The story follows the Pilgrims on their difficult voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to America aboard the famed ship. Along the way, the captain, played by Spencer Tracy, falls in love with the wife of another Pilgrim. Gene Tierney costars as the object of his affection and Leo Genn plays the unsuspecting husband. Because the husband is played by an actor who is not a movie star, I am guessing he does not make it to the end of the movie, freeing Gene Tierney to be with Spencer Tracy. If anyone has seen this film, I would be interested in their opinion of it.

9. Alice’s Restaurant (1969). Arthur Penn directed this counter-culture Thanksgiving tale based on the song by Arlo Guthrie. A talking song, the tune is based on a true story that supposedly began on Thanksgiving Day of 1965. Guthrie stars as himself, while Matthew Broderick’s father, James, costars as Ray Brock, husband of the infamous Alice, played by Pat Quinn. For those unfamiliar with the song or the film, the story revolves around Arlo’s efforts to drop off a large load of trash for his friends Alice and Ray at the town dump. Because the dump is closed for the holiday, he and his friends unload the garbage at the bottom of a nearby cliff next to some other garbage that someone else had left there. Their decision snowballs into a huge legal case and trial, revealing the weaknesses of our law enforcement system, the judicial system, and eventually the military.

10. Nobody’s Fool (1994).  In tribute to Paul Newman, I put this small-scale film on the list. Newman received one of his many Oscar nominations for his role as scruffy cuss named Sully who walks the line between being irresistibly charming and downright unlikable. After decades of running away from his family, Sully learns that his son and grandson are going to visit him for Thanksgiving, offering an opportunity for redemption. Newman underplays in his trademark style, and his delivery of some of the script’s comic lines is impeccable. A solid supporting cast, including Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, and Philip Seymour Hoffman (before anyone knew who he was), was undoubtedly helped by Newman’s presence.

Hope everyone’s holiday is a happy and safe one. Thanks to Jim for the idea for this blog post, and to Ann, Eric, Kathleen, and the members of the Movie Discussion Group for their conversation and suggestions.