Everywhere you look, love is causing chaos. From the bachelor Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who, on his first day at 10 Downing Street, falls in love with the girl who brings him his tea, to a hopeless sandwich delivery guy who doesn't think he has a chance with the girls in the U.K., so he heads for Wisconsin. From aging rock stars, to a stony headmistress, to a monolingual Portuguese housemaid--love arrives in many forms, shapes and sizes. Here, ten separate--but intertwining--stories of love all lead up to a big climax on Christmas Eve, proving that love is the driving force in all of these people's lives.
Steve Martin and John Candy star in John Hughes' classic tale of holiday travel gone awry. Neal Page (Martin) is an uptight advertising executive trying to get home to Chicago for Thanksgiving. When his flight is rerouted to Wichita, he reluctantly partners with Del Griffith (Candy), an obnoxious yet loveable salesman. Together, they embark on a cross-country adventure that includes various modes of transportation, hilarious mishaps, and unforgettable rental car shenanigans.
Follow the yellow brick road again! Young Dorothy lives on a farm in Kansas where a large tornado picks her house, and her dog up and deposits them in the land of Oz. Things in Oz are strange and beautiful, but Dorothy just wants to get back home. She's helped by the Good Fairy of the North, but she's also in trouble with the Wicked Witch of the West, who seeks revenge for the death of the Wicked Witch of the East, for which she blames Dorothy. While searching her way home she meets a Scarecrow who needs a brain, a Tin Man who needs a heart, and a cowardly lion who needs courage.
The well-off Smith family has four beautiful daughters. Seventeen-year-old Esther has fallen in love with John, who has just moved in next door. He however, barely notices her at first. The family is shocked when Mr. Smith reveals that he has been transferred to a nice position in New York, which means that the family has to leave St. Louis and the 1903 St. Louis Fair.
Bitter-sweet comedy about a group of very human, middle-class Budapest store people.
As a baby, Buddy crawls into Santa's toy bag and is whisked off to the North Pole, where he is raised as an elf. A misfit who grows to be three times the size of his elf family, Buddy ultimately heads to his birthplace of New York City to seek out his roots. Unfortunately, they turn out to be a "Scrooge"-like father and a cynical ten-year-old stepbrother who doesn't believe in Santa. Worst of all, everyone seems to have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas. But using his simple elf ways, Buddy sets out to single-handedly win over his family and save Christmas in New York, hoping to at last find his true place in the world.
A young boy lies awake in his room one snowy Christmas Eve, excited and alert. Breathing silently. Hardly moving. Waiting. He's listening for a sound he's afraid that he might never hear--the ringing bells of Santa's sleigh. The time is five minutes to midnight. Suddenly, a thunderous roar startles the boy. Clearing the mist from his window he sees the most amazing sight--a gleaming black train rumbles to a stop right in front of his house, the steam from its powerful engine hissing through the night sky and the softly falling snowflakes. The boy rushes outside, clad only in his pajamas and slippers, and is met by the train's conductor who seems to be waiting just for him. "Well, are you coming?" the conductor inquires. "Where?" the boy asks. "Why, to the North Pole--of course. This is the Polar Express!" What unfolds is an adventure that follows a doubting young boy, who takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole; during this ride, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that shows him that the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.
George Bailey has so many problems he is thinking about ending it all - and it's Christmas! As the angels discuss George, we see his life in flashback. As George is about to jump from a bridge, he ends up rescuing his guardian angel, Clarence. Clarence then shows George what his town would have looked like if it hadn't been for all of his good deeds over the years. Will Clarence be able to convince George to return to his family and forget suicide?
In the 1940's, in the town of Hammond, 9-year-old Ralphie wants one thing for Christmas -- an official Red Ryder BB rifle. When he asks his mother for the BB gun for Christmas, she says, "No, you'll shoot your eye out". When he writes an essay about it at school his teacher gives him a C+ with a note saying "You'll shoot your eye out." Next he asks Santa for the gun, Santa's response is familiar, he says, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid." Ralph fears that he'll never get the BB gun for Christmas. But there may be a surprise in store for him.