It’s A Wonderful Life has been crowned the ultimate festive flick in a British poll to find the favourite Christmas film.

The 1946 classic, which stars James Stewart as a man who plans to kill himself on Christmas Eve until a guardian angel intervenes, picked up almost a fifth of the 3,000 votes cast (18 per cent).

The online poll, carried out by www.radiotimes.com, long-listed 50 films set on or around Christmas and asked people to pick their favourite.

The second most popular was The Muppet Christmas Carol which picked up 10 per cent of votes, followed by the Richard Curtis film Love Actually.

A slightly less obvious choice was Die Hard which took eighth place. The film, which stars Bruce Willis as off-duty cop John McClane battling a building full of criminals on Christmas Eve, took four per cent of the vote.

Radio Times film editor Andrew Collins said: “As it is the season to be jolly, I won’t disguise my rosy-cheeked joy that the poll named Die Hard one of the top 10 Christmas movies of all time.

“Die Hard may come up short in terms of snowfall, but it earns its place. A high-octane, 18-certificate hostage thriller whose publicity features a perspiring man in a white vest, it was not exactly marketed as a festive family treat, and in any case, arrived in cinemas in July 1988 in America and February 1989 in the UK.

“But, set on Christmas Eve, it’s just as capable of producing festive tingles as the more traditional, December-released Muppet Christmas Carol or the cocklewarming Love Actually, which was literally giftwrapped in 2003 with a lovely red ribbon tied around its twinkling poster image.

“Meanwhile, I’m dreaming of a white-vested Christmas, specifically Alan Rickman’s master thief in Die Hard, Hans Gruber, deadpanning the phrase ‘Ho, ho, ho’.”

The top 10 pictures

1. It’s A Wonderful Life
2. The Muppet Christmas Carol
3. Love Actually
4. Elf
5. Home Alone
6. Miracle On 34th Street
7. White Christmas
8. Die Hard
9. Scrooge
10. Santa Claus