User Reviews

Although he was only 56 years old in this film, Jason Robards plays an older grandpa, Daniel Larson, to George Parry's Rusty McCloud. Eva Marie Saint plays grandma, Emma Larson, also in a role somewhat older than her 54 years. The two senior actors, both Oscar winners, were in demand and played in a number of family film roles, many made for TV, among their extensive films well into their senior years when many actors either retire or are no longer in demand.

Robards was coming off a series of four successful TV movies based on stories by Gale Rock, about growing up in a small town in Nebraska. It wasn't planned as a series to begin with, but the success of the 1972 holiday film, "The House Without a Christmas Tree" led to three more films, two with holiday themes.

This film is about a boy about 12 or 13 being sent from the city during the Great Depression to live on the farm with his grandparents, whom he apparently had not met before. Apparently the daughter had been estranged from her parents since she left the farm in Minnesota for Philadelphia and married. But, now, Mildred McCloud (played with a brief appearance by Joanne Woodward) and her husband can't find work to even be able to afford to feed three mouths. So, Mildred sends Rusty off to live for a time with her parents on the farm.

It's a good story that follows similar plots, but nothing on the level of the highly successful and very popular 1971 CBS TV film, "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story." Still, this makes for a nice family film over the holidays. It has a very nice twist for an ending that fits with the Christmas cheer.

Robards and Saint went on to make many more movies over the next 20 plus years.

I generally do not like made for TV movies. Granted they are getting better with more production value being spent today, but back in 1978, it was, for the most part, a low budget genre.

Which is what makes this little gem of a Christmas movie all the more interesting. I would rate this right up there with the classics of the seasonal bunch, including A Christmas Carol (Alistar Sims version), It's A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, The Bishops Wife and The Lemon Drop Kid. All bring out the best elements of what is necessary to make a Christmas movie work, and this one is no exception.

First, the cast is wonderful. Jason Robards as the cantankerous tough old farmer, plays this role with perfection. I think the world of Mr. Robards and his roles, but this one may well be one of my favorites. Eva Marie Saint shows why she was one of the best female actresses for a 30 year period, from On The Waterfront to this one, and its a shame that she was not used even better for other roles.

The story is also just right. Told from the perspective of a young boy, whose mother sends him off to live with his grandparents on a farm somewhere in the midwest because she cannot afford to keep him during the depression, he has no idea what farm life is like, nor who these old strangers are. To make matters worse, the grandfather is still unable to get over the loss of his son, the boy's uncle, who was killed in WWI. His grief, combined with his tough farm exterior, makes for a very difficult situation for the young boy, who is also trying to cope with his own loss having been sent away.

I won't go into any more details so that the reader can view this and see for themselves how things unfold, and what happens. Suffice it to say that the story does not fail to bring out the best in what we hope for around this time of year, and beyond that, why such things as family, love, and the ability to face our own loss and to look beyond for help are so important.

It was really a fluke that I found myself holed up one evening on a road trip back in 1978, channel surfing, and coming upon this movie just as it started. I was very grateful that I had. I managed to see it one more time many years later, but now that I have children, and we spend each holiday season watching great holiday movies together, I very much wish that this movie would get a better treatment, at least released to a wider audience. I cannot even find it at any video stores on VHS. For whatever reason, whoever owns this movie does not realize its potential. Were it me, I would get it out there, show it off, and watch it's popularity build year after year. Until then, I just have my memories.

This movie is not available on DVD unless one cuts it himself off a taped-from-TV videotape. It is an "old-fashioned" Christmas tale--others have summarized the setting about the young boy's being stuck with a very grumpy old grandpa. Its plot is very unusual and very sensitive, because it deals with harsh realities of LOSS that we all face. The characters in this extended family help each other, sometimes without meaning to help, find meaning in their lives and help lift heavy BURDENS and family secrets that have haunted them for years. I taped this movie off TV in 1993, and have NOT seen it on TV since, which is a shame--they should wipe that BB-gun-boy Christmas movie permanently off television and substitute this REAL Christmas movie for it and play it EVERY Christmas so that people who don't remember how to feel and love rediscover these cozy sentiments.

Tom Clarie

This has got to be the best Christmas show ever. Years ago I came across this movie and loved it the first time. I thought it depicted the feeling of Christmas or of what Christmas is all about. I seen it again the next year and was able to tape it myself. Sadly, someone taped over it and I haven't seen it on TV since. What a shame this one fell through the cracks, I can't believe they put the junk on that they do and not this movie. This one should be at the top just like Scrooge and all the rest. Every year I keep looking and hoping they put on this movie for Christmas, but they don't. I am trying to find one to buy, that's hard too. If there is anyone out there who has a copy I would really appreciate it if I could get a copy from you.

Virginia

Yes, this is what this film has been to me... an experience to remember. It was a sad period for my family, we had lost my cousin, very young, few months before then, and my aunt, her mother, was seriously ill, she actually died few months later (she was only 54)... So, there we all were, Christmas time, a silent mourning instead of Christmas carols and cheerful family unifications... And it was that very Christmas back in 1981 that Greek television showed this film which has haunted my dreams ever since... I don't really know what impression it would really make to me today, but I can not forget the feelings it woke up to me that day... The beyond any description tender and emotional story of the forever "lost" son, who "returns" to help his nephew cope with the treatment he gets from his grandfather and make his desperate father's dream come true,especially the scene of the son's phantom entering the church where everybody is waiting in great anxiety about what might had happened to the delayed in the snowstorm ones, and finally sings Christmas carols, reunited –at last- with his devastated father, just made me cry for long bitter hours right after. Actually, it still makes me cry, every time i recall it,though 30 years have passed since then. I know, one could say that it really didn't make any sense, and yes, the script was really balancing between realism and a fairytale... Still, i have never ever watched a film scratching so persistently my deeper feelings of sorrow and desperation,for i knew and know how hard it is to deal with loss, and it's only in films that hope is never lost...

This is great movie for the whole family. It should be made available on DVD. Jason Robards reminds me of many of the older men in a small town. His "stump Juice" reminds of the dandelion wine people used to make. This movie shows the whole family working together during tough times. The boy learns to work hard and stop feeling sorry for himself. This is how Americans used to live. Respect, hard work, manners are how we were measured as kids. Every adult took the time to keep kids on the right path. This movie shows those times and makes you feel good. This movie is a classic on a par with A Wonderful Life and is certainly a collectible.

Almost as good as Christmas in Connecticut and Miracle on 34th Street, and I enthusiastically second the comments of my six predecessors. My point in writing is that I can vouch for the authenticity of sunshinevm.com, who sell a DVD of this movie at intermediate definition for $15 shipped. My copy arrived today---no crap up front to click past, just the show.