2018 Holiday Gift Guide for Classic Film Lovers

'Tis the season for printing out pics of things you like and leaving them around the house as not-so-subtle hints for your less classic film literate family members. Let me give you a hand with some of my favorite picks for movie fanatics:

Kate Gabrielle

Full disclosure: Kate is a longtime friend, but I was a fan of her charming art long before we met. She's got quite the following in the classic film community; at the TCM Classic Film Festival, people act a bit like they're encountering a celebrity when they meet her. This is for good reason; her punny classic film themed gifts, ornaments, and cards are a lot of fun. I'm a big fan of her movie-related pins. I always wear her Méliès A Trip to the Moon (1902) moon pin on my jacket.

Alejandro Mogollo Díez

Alejandro is another artist beloved by classic film fans. His colorful portraits of classic film stars are gorgeous and he has a knack for capturing the spirit of his subjects, giving them a little more meaning than your typical fan art. I have lost track of how many shirts, stickers, and bags I have bought from his RedBubble shop. He's also got a shop on Threadless where, among other things, he sells slip-on sneakers with his art (praying he puts Elizabeth Taylor on a pair of those sneaks some day).

Buying gifts from tribute museum gift shops is a great way to express your classic film love and support the work of these organizations. I am newly in love with the Jimmy Stewart Museum, located in the actor's hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania, which also produces an entertaining podcast. Their silver bell ornament with Zuzu's famous line from It's A Wonderful Life (1946) is especially sweet.

The Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas also has a lot of fun items. My favorite: the "morning oil can" travel mug.

There's also a lot of great DVD/Blu-ray releases that came out this year. Some highlights:

Yet another impeccably-packaged collection of Georges Méliès films from Flicker Alley.

An astonishing array of films in Kino Lorber's latest collection, Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers.

So good that Warner Archive is struggling to keep it in stock: the essential Bogart and Bacall Blu-ray Collection.

I also love the true independents entering the DVD/Blu-ray market like Fritzi Kramer of Movies Silently who crowfunded her 2018 DVD release of Kidnapped (1917).

And silent film accompanist and score composer Ben Model's DVD Found at "Mostly Lost": Volume 2, which is a collection of films from the Library of Congress' vaults that were identified during the Mostly Lost conferences and released via his own label, Undercrank Productions.
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Consider these suggestions a starting point. There's so much more out there for classic film fans, from books and memorabilia to classic film music and vintage-inspired clothing. Find out what makes the movie lover in your life tick and you are sure to find something they adore!

2016 Holiday Gift Guide for Classic Film Fans

Etsy

Well the dust has settle from Black Friday and Buy Nothing Day has passed, so let's do some Classic Movie Style shopping! Over the past year I have gathered lots of great gift ideas for classic film fans and I am excited to share them with you.

Get some inspiration for gifts, or simply print this post, circle your favorites and leave a few copies in strategic locations around your home, or wherever it will fall under the right pair of eyes (links to product pages under photos):

There are seemingly endless options for classic film lovers at Red Bubble, a site where you can buy clothing, stickers, pillows, bags and many other items with the image of your choice. I've bought a lot of movie-themed t-shirts from them, and I'm very tempted to grab this Mary Pickford bag next:

Red Bubble

And if you're looking for a great grocery bag, look no further than the Ava Gardner Museum in Smithfield, NC. They just started offering this lovely shopper this year:

Ava Gardner Museum

I also love the design on this TCM bag, which is made by BAGGU, my favorite grocery bag maker:

TCM

A random search for "film reel" items on Etsy one day led me to the great film strip gift bows at the top of the page and these cute necklaces and pillow. I actually have the necklace with the glass-topped film reel charm and have worn it every year I've attended TCM Classic Film Festival:

Etsy

Etsy

Etsy

My talented, movie-crazed pal Kate Gabrielle has long made fun classic movie-inspired art, pins and the like. It's impossible to pick a favorite, but I do especially love the detail work on her Maltese Falcon pin:

Kate Gabrielle

I'm in love with this pork pie hat that has long been an offering of the International Buster Keaton Society. If the $75 price tag is a bit steep for you, check out the other Keaton-inspired offerings on their website, including hats, shirts and pins:

The International Buster Keaton Society

Or you could buy this snappy fedora from the TCM site:

TCM

There were so many great DVD releases this year that I couldn't possibly cover even all of the best of them, but here are a few that stood out:

This year Flicker Alley celebrated its 50th release with the DVD/Blu-ray debut of Children of Divorce, starring Clara Bow and Gary Cooper.

Milestone Films also released a fourth disc in its remarkable series featuring filmmaker Shirley Clarke. This time it is a 3-disc set of her short films.

It was bittersweet to see the final volume of Warner Archive's Forbidden Hollywood series come out this year, but it was enjoyable to the last film.

While the Pierre Etaix box set from Criterion Collection wasn't released this year, it served as my introduction to the French comic, who I knew very little of before his recent death. Watching these films was one of the most enjoyable viewing experiences of the year. A treat for any fan of classic comedy.

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This year I've been having a great time reading books that were the basis for classic films. If your loved one has a film favorite that was based on a novel or story, try tracking down the literary inspiration. While many of these tomes have been re-released over the years and even made available on eBook, it can be even more fun to track down a vintage copy of the book, like the paperback version of Build My Gallows High pictured above, which served as the basis for the classic noir Out of the Past. Many of them are surprisingly affordable.

I have several new movie books to recommend as well, to be shared in a future post!

More ideas for classic film gifts

Make a donation for film preservation in the name of your loved one:

National Film Preservation Foundation

The Film Foundation

Film Noir Foundation

Buy a subscription to a disc rental or streaming service:

Perhaps Mubi, the brand new FilmStruck or ClassicFlix? (Full disclosure I write monthly DVD/Blu-ray reviews for ClassicFlix, but I also use and enjoy the service.)

Buy admissions or a pass for a film series or festival:

Noir City, San Francisco Silent Film Festival, TCM Classic Film Festival and Capitolfest are just a few of the options. Keep your eyes open for upcoming special showings or movie events in the area where your loved one lives.