National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Cast: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Juliette Lewis, Diane Ladd, E.G. Marshall
Credits: Producers: John Hughes and Tom Jacobson; Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik; Writer: John Hughes; Warner Bros.; 1989
One of the major problems facing today’s Christmas movie makers is how to set the tone: Do today’s productions seek out that warm and fuzzy sentiment of old; do they try for the bittersweet and harsh reality of today’s complex world; do they attempt to go for a mocking or satirical tone; or do they create a tone of absolute insanity by going for the broadly humorous with plenty of slapstick? In the instance of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (with the emphasis on National Lampoon’s reputation as a magazine of broad farce and biting satire), the John Hughes Production machine (with a script written by Hughes) decided to blend all these elements together to create a movie that from moment to moment can be humorous in a physical sense, emotional and touching the next and then can become a bitter travesty of what is wrong with today’s society. Such a movie, changing tone so frequently, can be a jarring, over-the-top mess, or it can masterfully transform itself into being all these things at once. Christmas Vacation falls somewhere in-between these two extremes, becoming a hit and miss operation that is, thankfully, most often consistent and sometimes hilarious, and sometimes emotionally involving.
The Griswold family, out in the wilds of the open road, are caroling their way to find a Christmas tree farm to cut down their own tree. The wacky Clark (Chevy Chase), his down-to-earth wife Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) and the Griswold children Audrey (Juliette Lewis) and Rusty (Johnny Galecki) represent the typical modern family-well, up to a point. After a tedious slapsticky road-hog game of “chicken,” the Griswolds’ car literally flies into the tree farm, Clark finding the tree of his dreams draped in celestial light. Unfortunately, the tree is almost as big as a house, and since Clark forgot his saw, he has to literally dig the tree up by its roots and sling it over the family station wagon. At home, garbed in his Jason hockey mask, armed with a chain saw, Clark begins the pruning process to get the humongous tree to fit into the living room. Once it’s tied securely and placed in its holder, Clark uses hedge clippers to cut the cord releasing the branches that then swing free breaking windows and displacing furniture. This clever sight gag is typical of the physical slapstick which this film regularly employs. Telling husband Clark that he “sets standards no family can live up to,” Ellen knows Clark’s plans of inviting both their parents and families to the Griswold home for the holidays is a bad idea.
At work Clark tells his co-worker that he is really counting on the annual Christmas bonus this year, as he has already put a downpayment on a swimming pool for the family this summer. Clark is told he is an excellent choice to be named designer of the year, and his boss hopes to mention his work in a trade show speech coming up, but the bonus is not guaranteed and Clark is worried.
In the next over-the-top sequence, Clark goes to the department store to buy his wife a present, but he is immediately awe-struck by a salesgirl, Mary, whose chief aspects are literally busting out all over. Of course she happens to be selling lingerie. Giggling and walking her to her counter, Clark is sweating and makes an adolescent comment about it couldn’t be any “hooter” than it is. Then, after commenting on the heat, he mentions how nippy it is, but he says “nip-ley,” referring to the objects of his attention. She smiles and not-so-innocently asks, “Can I take something out for you,” and this sends him over the top. He tells her he wants something for his wife, “God rest her soul,” but when she expresses condolences, he explains “She’s history,” meaning divorced. Then more nonsense blurts out, “Of course she doesn’t wear underwear... plenty of shopping days left until adultery.” Then he mentions his big Yule log. Soon his son Rusty happens by just as the salesgirl Mary raises her skirt to show Clark that the underwear she is wearing does not show any lines. Juvenile and silly, Christmas Vacation has a few too many of these kinds of moments.
To the chorus of “this is what Christmas is all about” from Clark, both families arrive at the same time, descending upon the happy household like ants at a picnic. Clark is merrily outside with Rusty decorating the house with Christmas lights, literally stapling strands of lights over every square inch of the house. After climbing up the side of the house on a ladder, of course the ladder collapses. The second time Clark climbs back up, he staples his shirt cuff to the house, and pulling himself free, thrusts the ladder backwards, happily stopping on a huge tree branch. Pushing himself off, he lands back on the side of the house with enough force that he almost falls off. He slides down the shingled roof, catching the rain spout at the edge, dangling off the side. Immediately one end of the spout comes free thrusting outward, propelling a shaft of ice through the nosy neighbor’s window, shattering their home stereo unit. Clark loses his grip and falls off the roof, luckily landing atop a large evergreen. Some nice, well-timed slapstick here.
Inside, teenager Audrey is bemoaning the fact that she has to sleep with her adolescent brother in the same bed-“Do you know how twisted that is,” she rants. She then says the thoughts of what he might be doing when he’s alone in that bed give her nightmares. Mother Ellen shakes her head in agreement, “I sleep with your father.” But as survivor Helen reminds her daughter, “This is Christmas and we are all in misery.”
That evening, called out of bed, all wearing night clothes out in the cold, Clark wants the entire family assembled while he turns on the lights, 250 strands of lights, 25,000 individual bulbs. After asking for a drum roll, and getting one from the family, Clark breaks out into a carol before plugging in the connection. But no lights! Everyone is disappointed and angry about being forced out of their warm beds, but sympathetic daughter Audrey tells her complaining grandmother that Dad worked really hard on these lights and tells her father, “Looks good even if they’re not lit, Daddy.”
The next night, in utter frustration, Clark dutifully tests every single bulb and works again to light up his house. When his wife mentions that perhaps the extension cord may not be plugged in, Clark goes to the back of the house to check. Surprisingly, everything is properly plugged in, using a maze of power strips. However, the gag is that a light switch that gives power to the receptacle is not turned on, and a whole slew of gags involve people at first innocently turning on and off that switch, which in turn causes the already over-stressed Clark to totally spazz out as lights glow and then stop glowing. He resorts to punching and kicking the front lawn Santa and sleigh. Ellen finally figures out the problem and turns on the switch at the exact instant Clark puts in the plug in. The initial illumination looks like something out of Close Encounters with blinding lights flooding the neighbor’s bedroom just as they are getting romantic. Closing in on a tight shot of the electric meter going haywire, we next see a hand at the power station activate a level marked auxiliary power.
The latest batch of relatives, Eddie (Randy Quaid) and Catherine, arrive in their rust-bucket RV, which Clark refers to as “the tenement on wheels.” They arrive with two kids and a huge dog named Snots. The redneck family manages to destroy Christmas decorations simply by passing through.
One night while the family is asleep upstairs, Clark wistfully looks out the backyard window and imagines the pool upon which he has already over-extended himself financially (and no Christmas bonus in sight). He envisions all his relatives wearing their swim suits splashing around. Soon the family vanishes and the salesgirl of his dreams, Mary, does a slow strip on the diving board, finally splashing into the pool. Eddie’s youngest daughter comes down, sad that Santa Claus never came to their RV last Christmas, realizing that this year will be no different. Of course, the always optimistic Clark tells the child that he knows for a fact that Santa will be coming here this year. The next morning, Clark catches Eddie pumping raw sewage from his RV into the sidewalk sewer in front of the house, an act against the law because of the buildup of gases this can cause. But Clark still goes to Eddie and offers to help him out financially by buying presents for the kids and wife-the always ready Eddie slaps out an alphabetical listing of what everyone wants at a moment’s notice.
It is Christmas Eve, and the final relatives, the oblivious Uncle Lewis (William Hickey) and nearly senile Aunt Bethany arrive for dinner and celebration. The presents they bring include the family cat accidentally wrapped up in a box and a drippy Jell-O mold. Sitting down at the table for turkey dinner, Clark asks Bethany to say grace, but she mutters that Grace died 30 years ago. Finally, Lewis explains what is needed of her, and she starts to dramatically recite the Pledge of Allegiance, which Clark ends with a respectful “Amen.” However, when Clark cuts the turkey, the overcooked dried-out bird falls apart. Soon Snots disrupts the trash cans and chokes on a bone, and the now liberated cat chews on the Christmas tree lights, pulling out the plug. When Clark plugs it back in, sparks fly, the cat shrieks and Clark moves the terribly burned living room chair to reveal the outline of a supercharged kitty burned into the rug. Now, that’s funny! Putting the chair out immediately by the curb, Clark smells gas created by Eddie’s raw sewage pump job. Inside Uncle Lewis lights his cigar near the tree which he incinerates, catching the back of his sports jacket on fire, still unaware of what he’s done.
One horrible event occurs after another. Next the Speed Ball Messenger Service delivers the belated Christmas bonus from work, a year’s membership to the Jell-O of the month club. However, after tearfully confessing his plans to buy a pool and fly the entire family in for the pool’s christening, the formerly pleasant Clark rattles off every conceivable curse/obscenity/insult he can think of regarding his boss Mr. Shirley. He even mutters something to the effect that he wishes Mr. Shirley could be brought here to his home so he can see the results of his cheapness. Of course Eddie takes Clark at his word, and goes right out in the RV and kidnaps Shirley from his home, with his frantic wife phoning the police.
Soon the totally stressed-out Clark cuts down an evergreen from outside, sets it up and decorates it as a Christmas tree, and then finds out a squirrel is lurking on a branch when it breaks free, running throughout the house, being chased by Snots, destroying everything in their wake. By this point the visiting families want to leave, but Clark won’t have it. The crazed homeowner declares, “No one’s leaving, we are pressing on. We will have the best Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny...Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his jolly white ass down the chimney tonight, he’s gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse.” Turning around and looking in disbelief, he states, “Look around you Helen, we’re at the threshold of Hell!”
However, in a tender scene, Clark’s father has a heart-to-heart talk with his son. “I love you, we all love you... you’re too good a father to act like this.” When he asks his father how he got through the holidays, the father smiles, “I had a little help from Jack Daniels.” His father tells Clark, “This is your house, your Christmas, so I am retiring.” He lets Clark read “The Night Before Christmas” to the family.
Once Mr. Shirley (Brian Doyle Murray) is brought back to the house, he understands just how important Christmas bonuses are to Clark and his other employees, realizing he made a mistake by discontinuing them, especially when he can see the looks of hatred/disappointment in the staring eyes of all the assembled family members. Mr. Shirley tells Clark, whatever your bonus was last Christmas, add another 20 percent for this year! Almost immediately, this feeling of victory, of absolute family harmony and happiness, is ruined by the arrival of the SWAT team who breaks through windows knocking over the Christmas tree and holding everyone frozen at gun point. However, Shirley explains everything and states he will not press any charges. But damage has been done.
Peaceful at last, the family goes outside to watch the Christmas sky, full moon and stars. Uncle Lewis lights up another cigar and throws his match into the gutter, instantly blowing up the car. Aunt Bethany breaks into a solemn chorus of The Star-Spangled Banner, with the Griswolds all standing at attention. In a quick image, Santa’s sleigh silhouetted against the full moon appears to be on fire. Finally standing alone outside his family’s house, Clark smiles and declares “I did it,” as the movie ends.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation tries to do too many things scatter-gun. The dominant thrust of the movie is the sometimes inspired slapstick humor, the physical gags, the sight gags: The cat gets electrocuted, the uncle blows up the tree and car, Clark falls off the roof, a squirrel wreaks havoc in the home, etc. However, we have far too many poignant moments which jar with these more comic events: the heart-to-heart between Clark and his father, Clark speaking to Eddie about financially giving them a good Christmas, Clark’s impassioned speech to his family about what they mean to him and his plans to fly them in to break in the new pool. And, finally, we have the more sophisticated, biting satire that mocks the Christmas spirit in suburban America: everyone accepting the fact that too many families under one roof will kill one another, the over-emphasis on the material to celebrate the holidays, especially depending upon the “gift” of a Christmas bonus, etc. All these conflicting “tones” never come together quite smoothly enough. Instead, the film feels segmented and sometimes works against itself, almost as though different sequences were directed by different directors. Perhaps the film was saved in the editing room by a crafty crew of experts who felt they could hold the entire thing together by framing the film in hilarious sequences of pratfalling insanity. Funny thing is, they almost pull it off, as Christmas Vacation is hilarious in sections, touching in others and, while not everything works consistently well, the film is finally more hit than miss and becomes overall quite entertaining.
The Nativity
Cast: Madeline Stowe, John Shea, John Rhys-Davies, Freddie Jones, Audrey Totter, Kate O’Mara
Credits: Director: Bernard L. Kowalski; Writer: Millard Kaufman; Television 1978
Television story of the romance between Joseph and Mary and the birth of Jesus.
Nearly No Christmas
Cast: Michael Haigh, Mildred Woods, Daniel Simpson, Amy Bordsley, Lucy McGrath, Kate Lane
Credits: Producer: Dave Gibson; Director: Yvonne MacKay; Writer: John Banas; Gibson Film Productions, 1982
Santa’s boiler needs a new valve, so Santa goes looking for a job in the city while the elves and Mrs. Claus enlist the help of penguins to help complete the toys. Today’s special-effects-savvy kids will probably not take kindly to this amateur-looking production, although younger kids may like the children dressed as elves and penguins.
Never Say Goodbye
Cast: Errol Flynn, Eleanor Parker, S.Z. Sakall, Forrest Tucker
Credits: Producer: William Jacobs; Director: James V. Kern; Writers: I.A.L. Diamond, James V. Kern and Lewis R. Foster (Based on Don’t Ever Leave Me by Ben and Norma Barzman); Warner Bros.; 1946
Patti Brady is the precocious Flip, an adorable youngster who is trying to get her divorced parents Phil and Ellen (Flynn and Parker) back together. On Christmas Eve, Flynn, wanting to see Flip, locks an earnest friend playing Santa (Donald Woods) in the bathroom, steals his pants and cheerily poses as Santa Claus for Flip. He hands presents to daughter Flip and ex-wife Ellen, and, when it is time to give one to Ellen’s mother (Lucile Watson), he says now for the “old bag.” Woods has managed to climb down the outside of the house and bursts into the room where he and Phil engage in a rout, as Woods falls right into the Christmas tree, much to the delight of Flip and Phil. On Christmas Day Ellen goes to see Phil hoping to get back together, but leaves when she finds he was planning to go away for a weekend with another woman. Meanwhile, a solider Flip has been writing to (Tucker) arrives for a visit, and Ellen decides to use him to make Phil jealous. Flynn has several funny moments; in one scene he tells Flip he is neither Sir Lancelot nor Robin Hood, and, in another, he does a funny Bogart impersonation (Bogart actually dubbed the lines). Of course all ends well as Flip runs away to force her parents together.
The Night of the Hunter
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, Peter Graves, Billy Chapin, Sally Jane Bruce
Credits: Producer: Paul Gregory; Director: Charles Laughton; Writer: James Agee (Based on the Novel by Davis Grubb); UA; 1955
Chapin and Bruce are being pursued by their psychotic step-father (Mitchum) who has murdered their mother (Winters) and now seeks money their father had hidden in the house. They are welcomed by Gish, a kind woman who has helped many homeless children. She saves them from Mitchum by shooting him and trapping him in the barn.
It is now nearly Christmas and the children are forced to go to town to testify against Mitchum. Gish gathers the children and hurries them out of town as a religious mob heads toward the courthouse with a rope. Deputies escort Mitchum out the back as Gish and the children pass. On Christmas Day, Gish and the children exchange simple gifts. The children are delighted with their small gifts. Chapin has nothing so he wraps an apple in a doily and presents it to Gish who couldn’t be happier. As the children run happily upstairs, Gish looks directly at the camera and says, “Lord save little children. You think the world would be ashamed to name such a day as Christmas for one of them and then go on in the same old way. My soul is humble when I see the way little ones accept their lot. Lord save little children... They abide and they endure.”
The Night They Saved Christmas
Cast: Jaclyn Smith, Art Carney, Paul Le Mat, Mason Adams, June Lockhart, Paul Williams, R.J. Williams
Credits: Director: Jackie Cooper; Writer: Jim Moloney; 1984
Art Carney steals the show as an endearing Santa who is worried about oil drillers destroying North Pole City. The drillers led by Le Mat are set to begin blasting at a new site Christmas Eve. Boss Adams greedily urges them on. When Le Mat’s wife and children disappear, they are believed to be kidnapped by a rival company but are really with Santa and elf Ed (Paul Williams) who try to convince Smith to talk her husband out of setting off dynamite. Later, the two oldest children go off to warn Santa of the danger, and Smith follows. They are saved by Santa and stay at the North Pole until a dangerous ice fog goes away. Le Mat strikes oil on the old site, and the blast is halted moments before it would have destroyed Santa. The family is reunited Christmas Eve and Santa has a special present for youngest child, C.B.
Nice effects and set decoration in Santa’s workshop, but overall standard holiday fare. The actors cannot rise above the stock script, and only Carney strikes a chord as Santa.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Cast: (voices) Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Ed Ivory
Credits: Producers: Tim Burton, Denise DiNovi and Kathleen Gavin; Director: Henry Selick; Writer: Caroline Thompson; Buena Vista; 1993
While the animated story revolves around Jack Skellington kidnapping Santa Claus, this is really more of a Halloween film event. Jack has just been celebrated for another spectacular Halloween, but rather than basking in the glory, he is unfulfilled and searches for new meaning in his life. He accidentally discovers Christmas and decides to make his mark in December. Unfortunately, while people revel in Jack’s ghoulish Halloween delights in October, they don’t go over very well in the cozy Yuletide season of December.
Nutcracker Fantasy
Cast: (voices) Michele Lee, Melissa Gilbert, Christopher Lee, Jo Anne Worley, Roddy McDowall
Credits: Producers: Walt deFaria, Mark L. Rosen and Arthur Tomioka; Director: Takeo Nakamura; Writers: Thomas Joachim and Eugene Fornier; Sanrio; 1979
Animated version of the Nutcracker and the Mouse King.
The Nutcracker Prince
Cast: (voices) Peter O’Toole, Kiefer Sutherland, Megan Follows, Michael MacDonald
Credits: Producer: Kevin Gillis; Director: Paul Schibli; Writers: Patricia Watson and E.T.A. Hoffman; Warner Bros.; 1990
Animated version of the ballet.
Nutcracker: The Motion Picture
Cast: Hugh Bigney, Vanessa Sharp, Patricia Barker, Wade Walthall
Credits: Producers: Willard Carroll, Donald Kushner, Peter Locke and Thomas L. Wilhite; Writers: Kent Stowell and Maruice Sendak; Director: Carroll Ballard; Atlantic; 1986
Live action ballet of the Nutcracker by the Northwest Ballet.
O. Henry’s Full House “The Gift of the Magi”
Cast: Jeanne Crain, Farley Granger
Credits: Producer: Andre Hakim; Director: Henry King; Writers: Lamar Trotti, Richard Breen, Ben Roberts, Ivan Goff, Walter Bullock, Nunnally Johnson (Based on the Story by O. Henry); 20th Century-Fox; 1952
When I first read “The Gift of the Magi” in junior high school, I thought the greatest gift of all was to have someone love you so much they would give up their most precious possession. As I grow older, I realize, first, that I wasn’t such a dumb kid and second, that a gift just as precious is to love someone so much you would give up your most precious possession for them.
Folk writer O. Henry placed pen to paper and wrote short stories filled with such down-to-earth wisdom-stories that were populated by average people you would be happy to call friend.
O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter. Porter was a newspaperman who in his younger days had worked at a bank in Austin, Texas-a bank with a sloppy bookkeeping system which led to him being called to face embezzlement charges. He had previously argued nobody could balance the books, but decided to flee the country. When he learned his wife was dying he returned and gave himself up. The authorities saw his leaving as an admission of guilt and he spent three years in prison. When he was released he moved to Pittsburgh and began using the name O. Henry. He then moved to New York and began to write his most famous stories.
O. Henry’s Full House is a compilation of five O. Henry stories introduced by celebrated author John Steinbeck. All the stories are charming, with “The Ransom of Red Chief” perhaps the most amusing as a pair of bumbling kidnappers (Oscar Levant and Fred Allen) snatch a kid so bad his parents finally make the kidnappers pay them to take him back!
But we shall concern ourselves with the final story, “The Gift of the Magi.”
“O. Henry said the Magi were the Wise Men. The wonderfully wise men who brought gifts to the babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents,” Steinbeck says to introduce the story.
1905. Times are hard and people cherish their few possessions, items often handed down through generations. A scruffy Santa rings a bell outside an apartment building. His sign says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” It is Christmas Eve.
Della (Jeanne Crain) and Jim (Farley Granger) are content in their small apartment, expecting their first child and make a game of pretending they are among the idle rich. She happily walks him to work and the couple window shop along the way, taking time to “ooh” and “ah” over the beautiful things in the windows-things they can’t afford. Della spies a beautiful watch fob (a holder for a pocket watch) for $22.50 that would be perfect for Jim’s watch, one that has been passed down through his family. The couple then spy a set of hair combs that once belonged to a Chinese Empress-a mere $25. Jim priced them yesterday, you see.
Della returns home and carefully pours the milk back into the container and replaces it in the icebox right outside their window. She looks up and sees a sign, “Hair Goods of All Kinds” as “O Come All Ye Faithful” is sung in the background.
“Do you buy hair?”
The owner looks her over. “If it’s good. Yes.”
Della lets down her exquisite hair as he raves about its beauty but not wanting to overpay, he quickly calms down and says, “Hm, it’s not bad.”
He offers her $20. “Take it or leave it.”
Della realizes it is not enough and almost leaves.
“Can you cut it quickly so I won’t change my mind?”
“Now it’s better if you close your eyes.”
The lovely locks fall to the floor.
Meanwhile Jim, a clerk, slaves over his books, anxiously checking his watch. In a scene right out of Dickens he is reprimanded by his boss. “Time is money. Christmas Eve here is just December 24.” Jim, who makes the kingly sum of 33 cents an hour, is counting on his Christmas bonus to buy Della a gift. He is crushed when he learns there is no bonus this year. They each will receive three dollars, the money the boss didn’t spend on a Christmas party.
Della, a scarf over her shorn head, goes to the jewelers to buy the fob. She tells the jeweler it is the only fob as beautiful as Jim’s watch. The kindly man sells her the watch fob for $20. She is so happy she drops a coin into Santa’s pail. However, her joy is short-lived as she sees her reflection. The barber didn’t spare the scissors, taking every piece of hair possible. She sobs, “Oh dear God. Let him still love me. Please let him still love me.”
Della is trying to curl her hair when Jim bounds up the stairs singing “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”
At first he is speechless when he sees her. Della nervously gives him the priceless gift. Jim, having sold his watch, gives her the beautiful combs. The couple laugh as carolers below sing “Joy to the World.”
I’m sure everyone knows the story of “The Gift of the Magi.” It is a cherished piece of Americana. O. Henry managed to touch the heart of everyone with his tale of a love so deep that nothing is more valuable. We either hope someday to find a love that special, thank the Lord we have found that special someone or mourn the loss of such a beloved. In a few short pages of the O. Henry story or in 21 minutes of the film, we are reminded of what is truly important, not only during Christmas, but all the time.
As the sweet Della, Jeanne Crain would steal audiences’ hearts in “The Gift of the Magi.” She would charm those same folks with roles in State Fair (1946) and as the title character in Margie. Farley Granger, so caring as Roger, would make perhaps his most famous appearance as one of the cold-blooded killers in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope. Of their performances Variety said, “...splendidly trouped by Jeanne Crain and Farley Granger under Henry King’s topnotch direction.”
Henry King, who had directed Crain in Margie, was one of Hollywood’s most respected directors. His list of film work includes Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Beloved Infidel, Carousel, In Old Chicago, Jesse James and The Song of Bernadette. He also directed the first version of State Fair in 1936 which starred Will Rogers.
I consider “The Gift of the Magi” required holiday viewing and urge readers not to miss this lovely film. Copies of the film are difficult to find on video but the classic movie channels can usually be relied upon to broadcast this treasure during the December holiday season.
On Moonlight Bay
Cast: Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Leon Ames, Rosemary DeCamp, Billy Gray
Credits: Producer: William Jacobs; Director: Roy Del Ruth; Writers: Booth Tarkington, Jack Rose and Melville Shavelson; Warner Bros., 1951
This musical features a Christmas segment where young Wesley has again gotten into mischief and his angry father is searching for him. A group of carolers approach the house, and lo and behold there’s Wesley dressed in an angel costume singing sweetly. Doris Day and Gordon MacRae meet the carolers on the front porch and sing “Christmas Story” as the smiling parents look on though the living room window. Wesley offers a tentative wave and smiles with relief when father waves back.
On the 2nd Day of Christmas
Cast: Mary Stuart Masterson, Mark Ruffalo, Lauren Suzanne Pratt
Credits: Director: James Frawley; Writer: Brian Hohifeld; TV, 1997
A conwoman and her adorable niece are busted before Christmas. Bert, a security man at the store agrees to be responsible for them so the little girl won’t be sent to social services for Christmas. He takes them home with him for Christmas Eve dinner and soon falls in love the with little girl and her aunt. Not a great film, but a cute holiday romance.
One Christmas Eve
Cast: Emily Hamilton, Scott Hamilton, Katherine Hamilton
Credits: Director: Brett W. Nemeroff; Writer: Dean F.H. Macy; TV, 2003
Two little girls spend the first Christmas since the death of their mother which also killed their baby sister. The girls and their father sit by the fire and talk about how their mother would have helped them celebrate Christmas.
One Magic Christmas
Cast: Mary Steenburgen, Gary Basaraba, Harry Dean Stanton, Arthur Hill
Credits: Producer: Peter O’Brian; Director: Phillip Borsos; Writer: Thomas Meehan; Based on a Story by Meehan, Borsos and Barry Healey; Buena Vista; 1985
When I watch this movie, and I’ve seen it quite a few times, the ache it causes deep in my heart is actually a physical pain that comes back each time I watch or even think about the film.
One Magic Christmas is sometimes compared to the story of A Christmas Carol as Ginnie Grainger (Mary Steenburgen) comes to terms with her derisive attitude toward Christmas. But 
Ginnie really is more closely related to George Bailey of It’s a Wonderful Life, for Ginnie is not the ogre Mr. Scrooge was, but a loving wife and mother who cannot bring herself to enjoy the spirit of the holiday or to even say “Merry Christmas.” George loses his faith in one brief moment, but we’re never sure why Ginnie is so anti-Christmas. It could be the death of her father the previous year, but we don’t think so, for this emotion seems to have built up in her over a period of time.
Of course, Ginnie does have reason to be depressed. Her husband Jack (Gary Basaraba) has been out of work since June, and they must be out of the house they are living in by January first (in one scene Ginnie must stand by while her husband’s former employer brings new tenants to look at the house. The woman cuttingly insults Ginnie’s choice of paint color for the kitchen). She’s stuck in a dead-end job as a grocery store clerk (when she goes to the bank to stop Jack from taking out money, Ginnie tells manager Herbie [Timothy Webber] she has to go across the street. “That’s it. You’re fired, Ginnie.” “Go jump in the lake Herbie,” she replies). Finally, there is no money for Christmas this year. When Ginnie comes home from work one night, she shows Jack the presents she bought for the kids, an Etch-a-Sketch for Cal and a tea set for Abbie. Jack adds they’ll get the rest of the gifts later; Ginnie agrees, adding they will only be small items. Jack wants to take a couple of hundred dollars from savings to give the kids a wonderful Christmas, but Ginnie argues with him. “Jack, that money’s all we’ve got between us and the poorhouse.”
The film opens with angel Gideon (Harry Dean Stanton) sitting in a tree top. Nicholas (could this be Saint Nicholas?), a heavenly voice, gives him his Christmas assignment. “I have a very difficult case for you this year... Ginnie Granger... she never even says Merry Christmas.”
Gideon arrives at the local mall in time to hear Ginnie tell daughter Abbie (Elizabeth Harnois) she can’t afford to let her see Santa. Back at home Jack wants to work on bicycles that he is putting together for the neighborhood kids, but Ginnie wants him to help her pack. He is also making a bike for Molly Monaghan (Sarah Polley), a little girl in the neighborhood whose family is very poor.
Parents not having money during the holidays is always painful to them. In one scene, Molly’s mother is at Ginnie’s checkout, but she has too many items for the number of food stamps left. Ginnie doesn’t know what to do but offers to lend her the money. Even with all her problems, we know Ginnie is a good person.
Ginnie good-naturedly tells Jack to go work on the bikes. Jack and his friend are also collecting money to help light the community Christmas tree. In the few short moments we meet Jack, we know he is a good man who loves his family and community and can’t understand his wife’s loathing of Christmas.
Abbie and her brother Cal (Robbie Magwood) also don’t understand why Christmas brings out the worst in their mother. They sit outside with Molly watching the older kids play ice hockey when Abbie asks Molly what she’s getting for Christmas. “Nothin’ I guess.” “What would you like?” Abbie asks. “A bike I guess.” Abbie and Cal exchange knowing smiles. “Does your mom like Christmas? My mom doesn’t... wish she did,” Abbie tells her little friend.
We know Ginnie’s not the Grinch we may think, for she begins to smile and sing in the shower before being interrupted by a ringing phone and the kids, who have to use the bathroom. She waits outside since Abbie is in the bathroom. “Why don’t you ever say Merry Christmas, Mom?” Abbie yells through the door. “Well, nobody ever really means it when they say it anyway,” Ginnie sighs.
That night as Jack tucks Abbie into bed, she asks him, “Dad, is there such a thing as an angel? Mom says there isn’t.”
“Oh, well, I believe that there is. I believe that whenever anybody who’s really good dies they go up to heaven and become an angel. A Guardian angel or a Christmas angel, all kinds of angels.” One Magic Christmas explains angels and Santa’s elves as kindly people who led good lives and have died. When Abbie runs outside to mail her letter to Santa, she meets Gideon who tells Abbie he’s an angel and explains he was a cowhand out west, and one Christmas he saved a child from drowning but drowned himself. The next thing he knew he was a Christmas angel. Later, when Abbie goes to Santa for help, he takes Abbie through his workshop. She recognizes a janitor from school who died. Santa tells her, “Most people think it’s elves, but it’s just nice ordinary people, young and old, who work here.” This is a refreshing idea and a comforting one for people who have lost loved ones.
Gideon tells Abbie to let her mom mail the letter to Santa, but Ginnie thinks it is nonsense. The next evening Gideon appears in Abbie’s room. He tells her they are going to help Ginnie. “We’re gonna give her a Christmas present that only angels and children can give, and I want you to listen real careful now. No matter what happens between now and tomorrow night, I don’t want you to be afraid.”
That same evening Jack discusses his dream of owning a bike shop, but Ginnie insists he be realistic and get a regular job. Jack angrily walks out the door, and Ginnie follows him into the snowy street. “Just seems like nothin’s going right for you and me, just nothing and now Christmas. I don’t know one thing we’ve got to be joyful about,” Ginnie says in a softly resigned voice. In her own way Ginnie is trying to justify her feelings about Christmas.
Jack continues his walk around the block while Ginnie goes to the mailbox to mail some bills-but not Abbie’s letter to Santa. Gideon is waiting there.
“You don’t sound like you got much Christmas spirit.”
“No, I don’t have much Christmas spirit.”
“But you should, you know. That’s sad.”
“Why?” Ginnie asks.
“You’ve got to find out Ginnie. I want you to find out.”
She turns to ask Gideon how he knew her name, but the angel is gone. As Ginnie walks back to the house all the Christmas lights on the street go out. Ginnie will soon face an even greater darkness in her own life.
The next morning, Christmas Eve, Ginnie leaves to work a double shift. She rides to work with her neighbor Betty (Michelle Meyrink), who stops at a gas station. Harry (Wayne Robson), a rude man Ginnie had a problem with in the grocery line, tries to sell the owner his old car. The owner doesn’t want it; and Harry, in desperation, tells his son, “I’m gonna drop you off at the bus station for a coupla hours. There’s something I got to do.”
Harry goes into the bank just as Jack, a Christmas tree atop the car and the kids in the backseat, double parks and enters the building. Abbie disobeys her father and climbs out of the car and goes to see her mother at work. Ginnie fumes as she storms across the street just in time to see Harry rob the bank and take a girl hostage. She watches in desperation as Jack tries to talk him out of taking the girl, but Harry panics and shoots Jack. “He’s killed him!” Ginnie cries. But the worst is to come, for Harry has taken Jack’s car with the kids in the backseat.
Ginnie frantically finds Harry’s car and follows over the icy roads until the car stops running. A police car picks her up, and they continue to where another police car has blocked the road. Harry tries to avoid the car and crashes through the side of a bridge into the frigid water. Ginnie stumbles down the hillside seeking signs of the children, but the car has vanished.
Our hearts ache for this woman, who now really has no reason to celebrate Christmas. She sits alone in the bathroom sobbing. Great-granddad tells her the police have found the children, and they deliver them safely home.
There are friends and relatives at the house as Ginnie sits with the children and tries to tell them about their dad and how sometimes bad things happen to good people. “What bad things mom?” the children want to know. “He’s not coming back ever. Your dad died.”
Abbie tries to find Gideon, so she can ask him to bring her dad back. He can’t but takes her to see Santa Claus at the North Pole. In the truly wonderful acceptance of little children, Abbie doesn’t bat an eye as they travel to see Santa, who tells her he can’t bring her dad back, only her mother can. He takes Abbie to the mailroom and gives her a letter that her mother wrote when she was a young girl. He tells her to give it to Ginnie.
Ginnie, thankful for Abbie’s safe return, gets her ready for bed, gently scolding her for running away and for fibbing about visiting the North Pole. Abbie, almost asleep, tells her about the letter in her pocket. Ginnie reads the childish scrawl in amazement and can only say, “Oh my.” Ginnie’s deepest beliefs are shaken to the core as she comes to terms with the yellowed envelope.
Gideon waits by the mailbox as she finally mails Abbie’s letter to Santa. “Goodnight Ginnie. Merry Christmas.” The Christmas lights come back on and Jack is returning from his walk around the block. Ginnie rushes to him and sobbing, throws her arms around him.
It has been a tough but much-needed lesson as Ginnie finally realizes the importance of her family and the blessings they have.
The next morning she tells them she is not going to work. They are spending the day together. The kids look shocked at this sudden change. Ginnie goes to the gas station and buys a camp stove from Harry for $50. “Thanks a lot lady. Merry Christmas.” The family then drops off the bike at Molly’s yelling “Merry Christmas” as Molly runs out to the porch in delight. They then attend the tree-lighting ceremony as Jack does the honors and lights up the treetop angel.
Later that evening Ginnie places a check for $5,000 on the tree for Jack’s bicycle shop as Cal and Abbie wait in the attic to hear Santa. The children hear the reindeer’s hoofbeats on the roof. Cal is astonished and has to rethink this whole Santa thing. Ginnie hears noises too and goes downstairs to find Santa putting presents under the tree. “Merry Christmas, Ginnie.” “Merry Christmas,” Ginnie replies.
Gideon, the Christmas angel, smiles from a nearby treetop.
I could tell you all sorts of facts about this film, how it was filmed in Canada during February and March but because of warm weather they had to truck in all the snow, or how the agreeable residents took down Valentine decorations to redecorate their houses with Christmas lights. Or I could rave about how the writers and directors wisely stayed within middle-class roots as the Grangers dealt with struggles achingly familiar to most of the audience. Or we could discuss the wonderful performances by Mary Steenburgen, so strong and touching as Ginnie, Harry Dean Stanton as the kindly Gideon and Gary Basaraba as the loving father and husband. Of course let’s not forget little Elizabeth Harnois and Robbie Magwood as Abbie and Cal, who are two of the most precious of movie tots and help make the movie all the more touching.
But let me explain why this film affects me so deeply and why it seems the writers were gazing down at my home one not-so-magic Christmas.
On my 17th birthday my dear dad was admitted to the hospital with another heart attack. Becky, the six-year-old baby of the family, asked our mom if we would still have Christmas even if daddy wasn’t home. A week later, December 12, 1972, my mom had to come home from the hospital and tell her six kids, ages 6 through 17, that their 42-year-old dad had died of a massive heart attack. I can still remember my mom trying to be strong, much like Steenburgen tried as Ginnie, when she told us our dad would never be coming home. Christmas would never be the same for any of us. I’m sure there were many presents under the tree that Christmas, the local churches and friends of the family saw to that; but not one of us could tell you what those presents were. We would have given them all back in a heartbeat to have our dad with us. As I watch this film, those memories and feelings rush back as though they happened yesterday.
At the time we didn’t have a Christmas angel like Gideon looking after us, but eventually we did have Christmas angels help bring joy back to our holiday. For me it was my wonderful husband Gary, who returned the Christmas spirit to my life. His love of the season is contagious, and we spend delightful Christmases together sharing moments in front of a gaily decorated fireplace and tree. The presents are purely a formality; we don’t need them to appreciate our precious time together. My brothers John and Dan and sisters Jean, Sharon, and Becky found their Christmas spirit in their children’s joy of the holiday and my mother found her happiness in her grandchildren. Which, when you come to think of it, is what One Magic Christmas is telling us-Christmas is the joy in everyday life and the love of our family and friends. If we remember that, then Christmas is every day of the year.