A Christmas cornucopia on TCM

"Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind," we hear from Santa himself, played by Oscar-winner Edmund Gwenn in 1947's original "Miracle on 34th Street." For some, Christmas is warm and hopeful. For others, as Beverly D'Angelo says in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" in 1989, "We're all in misery."

Ah, but we're all there, with our own holiday memories, many of which involve the perennial films featured here. With about three dozen in the hour, most time is devoted to "It's a Wonderful Life," which seems only fair, considering its profound dramatic stew of doubt, redemption, family, community, greed, guilt and other emotions the holidays seem to stir up.

Comments come from those who've appeared in these films (grown-up Zuzu from "It's a Wonderful Life," the bully from "A Christmas Story"), those who've directed them (Joe Dante of "Gremlins," Chazz Palminteri of "Noel") and those who've studied their spell (author of the book "Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas").