This week at Showroom we invite you to join us in celebrating the wonder and magic of Christmas with an extravaganza of holiday season classics. Nestle in with a hot drink and find yourself transported to our land of winter heart-warmers.  

Coming from the golden age of cinema in glorious black and white we are screening the classic tale that has stood the test of time, It’s a Wonderful Life. A film that personally takes me out of any slump that I’m in and reminds me what truly matters are the people around me. It’s a film which brings us all out together and a film we have loved at Showroom for too many Christmases to count! The story starts with a man weighed down by life’s responsibilities, having sacrificed his own dreams to help others. George Bailey (James Stewart) contemplates suicide on Christmas Eve. But before he can, his guardian angel Clarence (Henry Travers) intervenes, showing him what life would be like in the sleepy, close-knit town of Bedford Falls without his positive influence. Clarence shows George all the lives he’s touched, and how different the community would be without him. For better or worse… 

I recently went home to visit family and found an old VHS cassette for The Muppets Christmas Carol. This was surprising for two reasons, one being that I still have VHS tapes and secondly that I found it just as we were getting ready to play it here at Showroom. Unsurprisingly The Muppets Christmas Carol is still very much fun for all the family. The Muppets Christmas Carol is another film that remains as popular as it ever was, and can be relied upon to shake us out of a wintry funk and into the Christmas spirit. Just like in It’s a Wonderful Life the power of Christmas shows a bitter and jaded Scrooge (Michael Caine) all that there is to be hopeful about. One fateful Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Together with kind, humble Bob Cratchit (Kermit the Frog) and his family, these Spirits open Scrooge’s eyes — and his heart — to the true meaning of Christmas. The new and renewed edition of the film also includes the long lost song “When Love is Gone” cut from the original theatrical release. Father Christmas himself will be appearing at our screening of this film, and all ticketholders will be invited to our café grotto for hot chocolate and cookies before the film, included in the ticket price. 

It’s a Wonderful Life and The Muppets Christmas Carol are on sale now.

This article first featured in the Sheffield Telegraph on Thursday 15 December 2022.
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