Christmas in Starland

 Did you ever wonder how movie stars celebrated Christmas back in the 1910's? Well wonder no longer. The following is an article from a 1918 issue of Motion Picture Magazine that talks about how movie stars spent their Christmas. 

Movie Review: Violent Night

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

A real yuletide treat with all the R-rated violence to fill your heart with Christmas joy. 

This movie may be simply dumb fun, but it is just the kind of dumb fun that I love. Though admittedly it takes this movie a little bit to get going, once it gets going it is simply delightful. For those of you who don't know the basic plot of this movie, Santa Claus beats the heck out of some bad guys to help protect a little girl who believes in him. The violence here is not for the squeamish, but that is just what will endear this film to many others. What makes it work so well for me is the over-the-top cartoony-ness to all this violence and the fact that there is a wonderfully dark sense of humor to much of the action here. The filmmakers know just why someone will go to see a movie with this plot and so they just have a lot of fun with the action scenes and if you see this film in a theater, you will see just how well this pays off. The most violent and bloody moments are the ones where you will hear the most laughter and that is just the way it should be. This especially pays off during a scene that is the best Home Alone homage you will ever see. If you see this movie, you will recognize this scene immediately. Yet beneath all this R-rated violence and dark humor, this movie has a surprisingly warm heart. This film is really about Santa Claus becoming cynical and forgetting why he became Santa in the first place, until he meets a little girl who believes in him and the spirit of Christmas. This could have made for a really charming family film, if that is what the filmmakers wanted to make. Even if this is not that family film, it still has a few moments that make you feel warm inside between the blood and guts. One might say that this is an R rated Christmas film with the heart of a G rated Christmas film. Holding this all together is a wonderful performance by David Harbour as Santa Claus. He somehow manages to feel like both an action hero and the real Santa. 

My biggest complaint about this movie is the villains. They are simply not as memorable or fun as they should be. They are simply generic villains. Even the humor revolving around their characters often falls flat. There are also some story points that do feel quite rushed (dang it, I want a full feature length movie about this Santa's backstory). 

This may not be a movie for everyone, but if you are the type of person a film like this would appeal to (which I apparently am), you are in for a lot of fun. 

Movie Review: I Heard the Bells

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A wonderful faith-based Christmas film. 

This movie marks the feature film debut for Sight and Sound Theatres, which puts on elaborate Christian themed plays (often with big special effects) often times telling stories from the Bible. This is an especially impressive film debut and simply great movie. Rather than telling a story from the Bible, this movie tells the story of how the poet Henry Longfellow wrote the words to the classic Christmas carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. They adapted to the movies very well. This film never feels stage bound, but instead very cinematic. Rather than staying for a long time in one place this film will move to many different locations over the course of the film. All these locations are given a real authenticity. As well as this the camera does not remain stationary and the cinematography is often excellent. This movie is also less effects heavy than the company's plays. This is very important because while these effects are jaw dropping on a stage, in a time with many effects heavy films, they would just get lost in the shuffle in a movie. These effects also while they would feel at home in many biblical stories, would feel out of place in a film like this. 

Beyond just the technical aspects, this is simply a very moving film. This movie is quite sentimental, yet the sentimentality always feels genuine and never forced. A major reason for this is that we truly grow to care about the characters here. Our main character, his wife and his oldest son are all fully fleshed out characters with many virtues as well as all too human faults. Yet none of these faults ever make the characters unlikable, but only more human and real. All this is helped by a wonderful cast who bring the heart and soul out of each character. The story is also a wonderfully touching one and it is told in a way where every emotion rings through. This movie lightens many of the darker moments with some humorous moments. However these moments are truly funny and seem to come naturally out of the story instead of feeling forced in. They also never take away from the impact of the drama. This film can be a bit of a tearjerker, but it is an incredibly well made one. This movie also does a wonderful job getting across in Christian message. It does this in a way that makes this feel like a film instead of a sermon, but where the message is still just as clear and powerful as in a great sermon. The message comes directly from the story and there is never a moment when the film stops so a character can preach it to us. As a Christian I fully agree with this message and appreciate they intelligent and cinematic way it is conveyed. 

A wonderful movie. 

Silent Film of the Month: A Christmas Carol (1910)

 

Studio: Edison. Runtime: 13 mins. Director: J. Searle Dawley. Based on the short story by Charles Dickens. Main Cast: Marc MacDermott, Charles Ogle, William Bechtel, Carey Lee, Viola Dana, Shirley Mason.

Probably no Christmas story is more familiar to movie fans than that of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. This story has been made into countless films, from straight adaptions to parodies to versions with popular characters (Disney cartoon characters, The Muppets, Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, Mr. Magoo, etc.) and this doesn't look like a practice that is going to end anytime soon. This makes it fascinating to go back and look at an early film version of this story that dates back to 1910. This is especially true when that film version is still very entertaining to a modern audience. 

Everyone knows the story of A Christmas Carol. Scrooge is a greedy and mean old man. He mistreats his employees and cares little about those who are less fortunate than him. However, around Christmas time, he receives ghostly visits where he sees memories from past Christmases that helped make him into who he is today, present Christmases where he sees how his actions affect others and a future Christmas the consequences of his actions now. After seeing these visions, he repents from his evil ways and receives the true Christmas spirit. This short film follows the story very closely, with one major exception. Rather than seeing multiple ghosts, Scrooge only sees one ghost.

The reason for this change is very understandable and that is the film's length. It was very common in the days before feature films became a major part of the moviegoing experience, to have films that told shorter abridged versions of classic literary stories. Many of these films would simply show highlights from the story, excepting movie audiences to already know the story (back then people where more read, so most probably did know the story). This film applies that type of storytelling, where we only catch brief glimpse of the Christmases from Scrooge's past, present and future. For this, having only one ghost was the simplicist way to frame these Christmas visions.   

Despite the short length this movie does a great job of capturing the spirit of Charles Dickens’ famous story. While understandably many today will prefer the later longer Christmas Carol films, this movie is still quite engaging and a lot of fun. Even in this short time, the themes of the story are wonderfully conveyed and we understand and relate to Scrooge’s character arc. The sets are wonderful and set up perfectly the atmosphere of the story. The special effects are not only really good for the time but hold up quite while today. 

This movie’s director was J. Searle Dawley. He was one of the finest directors the Edison studio had at this time. The same year he made this film, he made a similar short film version of Frankenstein. That film starred Charles Ogle (who plays Bob Cratchit here) as the monster.  His work after leaving Edison is also fantastic. Of special note are his movies with actress Marguerite Clarke, which would include Snow White (1916) and Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1918). Though he does not get as much attention as he should today, Dawley is a truly remarkable director, whose films are just as wonderful today as they were when originally made. 

For anyone interested, this film can be found on YouTube. 

How to Get the Most out of Christmas

 

Radio and Television Mirror, 1940

Christmas With the Young Stars

 

New Movie Magazine, 1932

Is There a Santa Claus?

 

Radio and Television Mirror, 1950 

Mrs. Santa Claus on the Air

 

Radio Showmanship, 1947

Merry Christmas From Hollywood

 

New Movie Magazine, 1930

Cowboy Church #149

 Hello my friends and welcome back to another service of Cowboy Church. 

Today's musical selection begins with Gene Autry performing, O Little Town of Bethlehem. The lyrics were written by Phillips Brooks in 1865. He wrote the words this hymn after taking a group of Sunday school children on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem. The music was written by Louis H. Redner, the church organist. There was originally another verse to this hymn, "Where children pure and happy pray to the blessed Child. Where misery cries out to thee, son of the undefiled; where charity stands watching and faith holds wide the door, the dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more." However, Redner objected to the words "son of the undefiled." Brooks briefly changed the line to "son of mother mild" before dropping the verse all together. This hymn appeared on a small leaflet in 1868 and in The Sunday School Hymnal in 1871. This version of the song comes from an episode of Gene Autry's Melody Ranch radio show that aired December 22, 1946. Next is Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with The Little Boy Couldn't Find Christmas. This is followed by Jim Reeves' 1962 recording of Have Thine Own Way Lord. This hymn was written by Adelaide A. Pollard. It was partly inspired by how in 1902, she heard an old woman praying at a prayer meeting, "It really doesn't matter what you do with us, Lord -- just have your way with our lives." Adelaide wanted to be a missionary in Africa, but this was not happening as quickly as she would have hoped it would happen. Not long before writing this song, she tried to raise funds to go to Africa, but this proved not as successful as she had hoped. This led her to follow into what she called a "distress of soul." It was then that she attended this prayer meeting, heard that prayer and wrote this hymn. She eventually did become a missionary in Africa, even if it was only for a brief time. This is followed by the Louvin Brothers with their 1963 recording of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. This hymn began creation with a man named Anthony Showalter. As a fan of gospel music and an elder in a Presbyterian church, he held many "singing schools" at various churches in the south. One day he received two letters from former students who were struggling after their wives had passed. To respond to these letters, Showalter consulted scripture. He came across Deuteronomy 33:27, "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." After reading this verse lyrics for a song chorus went through his head and he wrote down, "“Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.” After using this in the letters to his former students he sent this chorus to his friend hymnist, Elisha Hoffman. In the letter he also wrote, “Here is the chorus for a good hymn from Deuteronomy 33:27, but I can’t come up with the verses.” Hoffman then wrote the rest of the lyrics to which Showalter put to music. The hymn was published in 1887. Following is The Sons of the Pioneers with Star of Hope. This song comes from their 1963 album, Hymns of the Cowboy. Up next is Red Foley with his 1949 recording of Our Christmas Waltz. Today's musical selection ends with Johnny Cash singing What Child is This. 

Up next is Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Gene Autry all appearing on TV together. 

Here is C.S. Lewis' essay, Meditations in a Tool Shed.

The Book of Jonah 

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.

Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said:

“In my distress I called to the Lord,

    and he answered me.

From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,

    and you listened to my cry.

You hurled me into the depths,

    into the very heart of the seas,

    and the currents swirled about me;

all your waves and breakers

    swept over me.

I said, ‘I have been banished

    from your sight;

yet I will look again

    toward your holy temple.’

The engulfing waters threatened me,[b]

    the deep surrounded me;

    seaweed was wrapped around my head.

To the roots of the mountains I sank down;

    the earth beneath barred me in forever.

But you, Lord my God,

    brought my life up from the pit.

“When my life was ebbing away,

    I remembered you, Lord,

and my prayer rose to you,

    to your holy temple.

“Those who cling to worthless idols

    turn away from God’s love for them.

But I, with shouts of grateful praise,

    will sacrifice to you.

What I have vowed I will make good.

    I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”

 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again.



 

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

 

Possibly the greatest Christmas film ever made, and a classic on every level. The Characters and situations are very relatable. The writing directing, and acting, all come together perfectly.  A must watch every Christmas season.

It's A Wonderful Life was the first film to be made for Frank Capra's Liberty Films studio. The original first film for the studio was going to be another Christmas themed movie called It Happened on Fifth Avenue. However, Capra fell in love with this story and gave It Happened on Fifth Avenue to the Allied Artists studio and to director Roy Del Ruth.

It's A Wonderful Life started its life as a short story called The Greatest Gift written by Philip Van Doren Stern. RKO had bought this story in 1944, and showed it to Cary Grant's agent, to turn it into a vehicle for the actor. However, they could not come up with a suitable script. So, they sold the rights to Liberty Films.

This film was also important because it was the first film Frank Capra directed after WW2. During World War 2, Capra had not been making his usual films. He instead was enlisted by the army, to make films for the army, and these became the classic, Why We Fight series. The only non-army movie he made at this time was Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). While other directors who were enlisted in the army such as William Wyler and George Stevens, had begun making films that related to their war experience, Capra's film hardly changed and rarely reflected his war experience.

Capra had trouble casting many of the parts, and went though many people, but for George Baily, he knew the actor had to be Jimmy Stewart from the beginning, and he was right, Stewart was perfect. In fact, it is hard to imagine this movie without Jimmy Stewart. His performance is a very complex one that adds many layers to George Baily. He gives the character a lot of warmth and humanity. Yet he also perfectly captures the dark side of the story. When he loses his temper or considers suicide the result is just as powerful and yet this always feels like the same character we see in the happier scenes of the film. In many ways this looks forward to the darker roles he would take in the future in films directed by Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Mann. The rest of the cast is just as great. Especially standing out is Henry Travers as Clarence. Though he would be in many movies this is his defining role and movie fans will always associate him with this character.   

Despite this movie being best known for its uplifting and inspiring message, it certainly has its share of darker moments. The film is often heartbreaking and never shies away from the harshness reality can bring us. Despite its reputation no one after watching this movie can call it sugar coated. This however does not make the film any less joyous, but actually more so. The happy scenes become all the happier because of what the character have to go through to get there. The famous scene of George running down the street telling everyone "Merry Christmas" as well as the "teacher says every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings" scene are among the happiest moments in the history of movies and they would not be so if we didn't have to go through the dark scenes to get there.  

Oddly enough when this film came out it lost money at the box office and received mixed reviews from critics. Not quite the welcome back Capra was expecting. However, through various TV showings this film has earned its rightful place as a classic.

For more of Michael's Christmas Movie Guide click here.

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999)

 

An excellent direct to video animated Disney movie. 

This movie is broken up into three segments. Each of these segments is connected by narration by Kelsey Grammer and a theme of spreading kindness and joy at Christmas times. Each segment is a cartoon featuring Disney's main cartoon stars. The first is a Donald Duck cartoon, where Huey, Dewey and Louie wish that it was Christmas every day. When this wish comes true, they find out how to make Christmas truly special. The second is a Goofy cartoon where Goofy tries to convince his son Max (younger here than he was in Goof Troop) that there is a Santa Claus. The last is an adaption of The Gift of the Magi starring Mickey and Minnie. 

Each of these segments is truly delightful. They are very sentimental, but the sentimentality works perfectly. These stories are truly heartwarming and give you the perfect warm Christmas feeling. While part of that is due to the love, we Disney fans already have for these characters, there is much more to it than that. Each of these stories has a nice message about sharing Christmas joy with others, but none of them tell this message in a forced or heavy-handed way. Instead, the message feels like a perfectly natural part of the story. There is some real Disney magic in this film. Naturally this movie also features a lot of slapstick humor. The slapstick humor is pretty good. However, this slapstick gets more smiles and giggles than all out laughs. The gags are clever but lack the perfect timing of the short films of the 1930's, 40's and 50's. 

This movie is a delight for Disney fans and lovers of Christmas. 

For more Michael's Christmas Movie Guide click, here.

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: One Magic Christmas (1985)

 

An excellent Disney Christmas fantasy. 

It has often been said that Disney films are just simple escapism that simply sugarcoats everything. While this may be true of the studio's worst films, many of their films do not fall into this category. One Magic Christmas is a perfect example. This movie may have some great moments of Christmas fantasy, but it also hardly overlooks the harsh realities of life. The darker moments of this film, never talk down to anyone, as they deal with such subjects as how hard Christmas can be when you are poor, living with a job you hate, Christmas becoming a chore (even though it is meant to be a joyous time) and even the death of a family member. These scenes hit you emotionally because they are so real. Yet this movie is not at all lacking in the department of Disney and Christmas magic. This is a movie after all that features Santa Claus (Jan Rubes) and a Christmas angel (Harry Dean Stanton). The way these actors play the characters are not the way most people would picture them being played. Both are played in a more subtle and subdued manner than you might excepts. Yet for a film like this that works perfectly. It makes this magically moments and the darker moments feel like they are from the same movie. Yet at the same time, these magically moments are not any less magical. You leave this movie believing in Christmas magic, because of how much these scenes work. 

On the downside the special effects in this movie are very dated. They actually feel more dated than some of the special effects in Disney movies 2 decades earlier. There are also some really forced lines of dialogue and some awkward deliveries.   

This is one of only five feature films directed by Phillip Borsos and his only one for Disney. This is also one of the only two of his movies he was a writer on (the other being Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995)). The other writers were Thomas Meehan (Spaceballs (1985)) and Barry Healy. This is one of the only two feature films written by Barry Healey, the other being Hollywood North (2003). Healey directed one feature film, Big Deal (1985). He also was a co-producer for the movie The Grey Fox (1982) directed by Phillip Borsos.  

This is an excellent Christmas time treat for any fans of Disney movies. 

Movie Review: Operation Christmas Drop

 

Note: This movie is only available on Netflix as far as I know. 

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

Charming, if very familiar Christmas romantic comedy. 

What makes this movie work is that the two main characters are simply so likable. Much of this is thanks to the performances of Kat Graham and Alexander Ludwig. The two bring such charm to these characters. The character arcs for both them are believable and relatable. The story moves at an easygoing pace that perfectly suits the material. The story may be cliché but it never feels forced and the sweetness of the film feels completely natural as well. This movie is not only a movie that takes place at Christmas, but one that is just completely full of Christmas from beginning to end. Because of this the film is sure to give Christmas lovers like me their Christmas fix, which is just what its target audience is looking for. 

Strangely the weakest part of this movie is the romance itself. There is nothing wrong with the chemistry between the two main characters but it just never feels like a love story. Instead these characters simply feel like good friends with nothing romantic between them. It makes one wish that the filmmakers could have simply made this a movie where the two leads simply become good friends, but sadly that is not how the cliché works, so that is not what is going to happen in this film. Also what the heck is up with the obviously CGI gecko?

This is not going to be anyone's favorite movie, but it has more than enough Christmas and charm to give its target audience just what it wants. 

-Michael J. Ruhland   

Video: Brand New Animated Music Video - Bing Crosby's White Christmas.

 

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale (2007)

 A Nutcracker Tale is my favorite of the direct to video Tom and Jerry movies. Unlike some of the other movies from this series, this film feels first and foremost like a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Often times the duo is shoehorned into a story that has no use for them, making both the story and the slapstick comedy become at odds with each other. Since the focus here is Tom and Jerry battling each other, this is never the case in this movie.

This movie is a loose retelling of E.T.A. Hoffmann's story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King and the famous Christmas ballet based of that story. Jerry takes the role of the nutcracker, while Tom takes the role of one of the subjects of the mouse king (now the cat king of course). The story idea for this movie came from Tom and Jerry co-creator, Joseph Barbera. As he died before the movie was finished this film is dedicated to him.

This movie does an excellent job with making a feature length film about the cat and mouse duo that has enough of a story to justify the feature length, while still keeping the focus on the character we watch the movie to see. The story itself is charmingly simple. Even with this simplicity it mixes slapstick humor and sentimentality very well. While some may not be happy with the idea of sentimentality in Tom and Jerry, it is done very well here and never distracts nor takes away from the humor. The animation here is also wonderful. Not only does it look very appealing but it is perfectly timed. Each joke is timed just right to make sure it has the greatest impact possible. This probably makes this one of the finest directing jobs from Tony Cervone and Spike Brandt.

If I were to make a complaint about this movie, it is that there is more dialogue than needed. While Tom and Jerry remain pantomime characters, the side characters speak quite a bit and too often say what we can easily see. Still I believe the good parts of this movie outshine this fault.

While this may not be the classic shorts it comes closer to capturing the spirit than any other feature length movie with the cat and mouse duo.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Santa and the Three Bears (1970)

Christmas is not a time for complexities. In fact much of the charm of this time of year is its childlike simplicity. The abundance of childlike simplicity is what makes Santa and the Three Bears a perfect watch for Christmas.

This movie's story revolves around two bear cubs (voiced by Chris Gilmore and Bobby Riha) and their mother (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl (the voice of Wilma Flintstone)) living in Yellowstone park. It is winter time and time for all bears to hibernate. However the cubs can't sleep and see the park ranger (Hal Smith (Otis on The Andy Griffith Show)) cutting down a big tree. They decide to find out what is going on. The ranger tells them all about Christmas including the story of Santa Claus. The cubs then decide they are going to stay up until Christmas Eve to see Santa.

This movie takes a simple story and tells it well. The film is completely full of charm and Christmas spirit. The pure innocence and simplicity takes us back to a simpler time, when Christmas meant everything to us. While the animation is low budget and simplistic it is very appealing. The characters are designed perfectly and the animators knows how to make the most out of its low budget. Having Hanna-Barbera veterans such as Tony Love, Bill Hutten, Volus Jones and director Tony Benedict working on the movie shows perfectly why this aspect works so well, as these people had already done much work on some of the best low budget animation of the era. The voice work is equally excellent and Hal Smith's voice as the ranger embodies the warm Christmas-y feeling of this movie. However criticism where criticism is due, I must admit the songs do feel bland and lazily written. Part of what I like about this movie is there is no need for a villain and Christmas never has to be saved. It is a simple story that doesn't need any of that excess.

This film was originally released in theatres with live action opening sequences. These scenes were directed by Barry Mahon. Strangely most of his filmography is comprised of pornography. However, when this movie was issued to TV these, and more were cut out. These cuts lead the movie from being 63 minutes to 46. This version is what most of us will see today. Both versions are available on YouTube, and you can watch them below.

All in all, this is a charming little movie that I enjoy watching every Christmas season.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Holiday Affair (1949)

Holiday Affair is an extremely delightful example of a classic romantic comedy. With how romantic comedies have such a bad reputation today, it is easy to forget how many delightful romantic comedies were made during the 1930's and 40's with seemingly effortless charm. Setting this movie around my favorite time of year, only adds to its charm.

Connie Ennis (Janet Leigh) is a war widow with a young son named Timmy (Gordon Gelbert), who makes her living as a comparative shopper. Connie goes to buy a toy train for her job. When she brings it home Timmy thinks it is a Christmas present for him, and is disappointed when she goes to return it. When she does return it, a clerk named Steve (Robert Mitchum) has figured out what Connie's job is. He is supposed to turn her in but when he finds out that she is a war widow with a kid he decides not to. This ends up getting him fired. To make it up to him Connie takes him out for dinner. This ends up making her boyfriend, Carl Davis (Wendell Correy) jealous. When she takes him home he meets Timmy. Learning that Timmy wants a toy train like her mother returned, he buys him one for Christmas. This act causes tons of trouble.

This was one of only five movies directed by Don Hartman. The other four were It Had to be You (1947), Every Girl Should be Married (1948), Mr. Imperium (1951) and It's a Big Country: An American Anthology (1951). He was more prolific as a writer. Some of his writing credits include Road to Singapore (1940), Road to Zanzibar (1941), Road to Morocco (1942), The Gay Deception (1935) and My Favorite Blonde (1942).

Robert Mitchum was an odd choice for the lead in a lighthearted romantic comedy like this. He was mostly associated with tough guy roles. An advertisement in Box Office Barometer stated "Here's a new kind of warm romantic role for Mitchum and a new kind of thrill for you". To add to this he had been arrested the previous year for possessing marijuana. However Howard Hughes, who owned RKO refused to drop Mitchum's contract, despite the fact that most studios would have dropped a star after something like that. Janet Leigh was surprised to learn that Mitchum despite his rough image, was an extremely dedicated actor. He did play some practical jokes while working but none of them were mean spirited and he was certainly giving his all to his work.

This film was a box office failure when first released, but fortunately has gained a dedicated following today that is well deserved. To many of us it has become a Christmas classic.

No word describes this movie better than delightful. Every scene of the film is just so enjoyable to watch. The movie is full of great dialogue and the chemistry between the whole cast is absolutely perfect. The climax is a prefect example of classic screwball comedy. Most of all though this movie just moves at a fast breezy pace, and never loses an audience's interest.

An issue of Showman's trade review talked about an interesting promotion for the film. Here Charles E. Lewis wrote "Santa Claus stayed around Ashbury Park and Morristown, N.J., for an extra week to ballyhoo 'Holiday Affair' the New Year's Eve attraction at Reade's Asbury Mayfair and Morristown Community theaters. St. Nick walked around the streets bearing this sign: 'I'm staying around until New Year's Eve to see 'Holiday Affair'.' Active in persuading the jolly old gentleman to hang around were Ashbury City Manager Guy Hevina and Morristown City Manager Ralph Lanterman."

-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Usedhttp://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/78191/Holiday-Affair/articles.html

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: The Gathering (1977)

This rare live action made for TV movie from Hanna-Barbera is a very lovely film. Joseph Barbera stated in his autobiography, My Life in Toons: From Flatbush to Bedrock, he wishes Hanna-Barbera had done more live action films and with a movie like this it is easy to see why. This film would rightfully go on to win an Emmy. The director of this film was Randal Kleiser, who is most remembered for directing Grease (1978). The writer was James Poe who had written for such movies as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and They Shoot Horses Don't They (1969).

The film is about a man named Adam (Ed Asner (who would make many more made for TV Christmas movies, thanks to the Hallmark Channel)) who being a workaholic never spent the time he should have spent with his family. When Adam discovers that he doesn't have long to live he and his estranged wife Kate ( Maureen Stapleton) invite their four kids over for one last Christmas. However he is very nervous about seeing his son Bud (Gregory Harrison), who he has not seen and years and the last time he saw him they had a very heated argument about the Vietnam War.

This was a very different film from what one expects from Hanna-Barbera. Not only was it in live-action, but it also was more for an adult audience than a family audience, though with the exception of very little very mild langue, there is not much inappropriate for kids. This is also a movie that doesn't focus on comedy or action. This, for Hanna-Barbera, is a fairly straight drama. Despite these differences it really succeeds. It is very touching. The story can be quite emotional but it never feels forced. Ed Asner's acting is fantastic and really brings his character to life. Most of all though it is full of Christmas spirit, and can help make one realize just how important both Christmas and family are. This is a classic, and I can perfectly see why Joseph Barbera wanted to make more films like this (though I love Hanna-Barbera's regular stuff as well).

By the way notice how our good friend Yogi Bear makes a cameo as a stuffed animal.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Hal Roach Presents A Silent Film Comedy Christmas

Hello my friends and Merry Christmas. With apologies to Mack Sennett, no producer ever brought us a better selection of live action comedy films than Hal Roach. After all how can any comedy fan not love Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Our Gang, Charley Chase or the much underappreciated Boyfriends films. Since Christmas is so close, I feel it is only right to celebrate with a selection of two classic comedy shorts produced by Hal Roach and centering around my favorite time of year. Both of these films comes from the silent era and in my mind are Christmas classics. 

First up is one of my favorite silent comedy films (not just shorts, but films), a classic starring Laurel and Hardy, Big Business (1929). One of the most important rules in all Laurel and Hardy-dom is the law of tit for tat. If someone does something bad to you, you must do something worse to them. This film takes that idea to extremes by doing what Laurel and Hardy films do best. This is to start with a simple somewhat mundane idea (like selling Christmas trees) and step by step turn it into over the top slapstick comedy. This type of comedy has never and will never be better than in this fantastic comedy.


Anyone interested in where classic films were shot should watch this video as well.

A 1926 advertisement in The Motion Picture News Magazine.


Up next comes a Christmas themed short staring Hal Roach's second most popular comedy team, Our Gang, Good Cheer (1926). Though sentimentality would later find its way into the Our Gang films, during the silent era, this was rare. However Good Cheer is an exception featuring a surprising amount of sentimentality. Of course being a Christmas film helps make this one of the more successful sentimental Our Gang shorts. This is a purely delightful film from start to finish. One exhibitor's review from The Exhibitors Herald was very positive stating "Another dandy from Our Gang." Another was not as positive calling the film "Only fair." Another exhibitor's review from the same magazine was much harsher in its criticism stating "This is what I would call a very poor comedy and from the reaction, the audience felt the same way." Still another review (not an exhibitor's this time) was extremely positive stating "A great comedy and full of the usual bright titles that make these distinctive. When you consider that this was made in September during the hottest weather Hollywood had this year, it's all the more remarkable!" 

-Michael J. Ruhland

P.S. For anyone interested I have written about another silent Christmas themed comedy short from Hal Roach Studios on this blog and you can read that by clicking here.