SCREENING ROOM

The American Cinematheque certainly isn’t a Scrooge, with its Egyptian Theatre serving up a feast of holiday movie classics this weekend. Kicking off the festivities Friday at the Egyptian are the 1954 musical “White Christmas� -- starring Danny Kaye, Vera-Ellen (both pictured), Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney (yes, George’s aunt) -- and the beloved 1947 fantasy “Miracle on 34th Street,� starring Edmund Gwenn in his Oscar-winning role as Kris Kringle. (“White Christmas� also visits the Aero on Wednesday.) On tap for Saturday afternoon is “A Christmas Carol,� the 1951 British adaptation of Charles Dickens’ tale that some consider to be the best screen version. That evening has a Jimmy Stewart double bill: Frank Capra’s heartwarming 1946 “It’s a Wonderful Life� and Ernst Lubitsch’s enchanting romantic comedy “The Shop Around the Corner.� Sunday heralds 1934’s sophisticated mystery comedy “The Thin Man,� starring William Powell and Myrna Loy and set during the yuletide, and the 1945 romantic comedy “Christmas in Connecticut,� starring Barbara Stanwyck as a magazine food columnist who doesn’t know her way around the kitchen (americancinematheque.com). . . . On Wednesday the Silent Movie Theatre actually shows a silent movie: an early effort by the great Howard Hawks. The 1926 comedy “Fig Leaves� stars Olive Borden, George O’Brien and Phyllis Haver (silentmovietheatre.com).

-- Susan.K[email protected]