This is one of the earliest holiday-themed movies that still work well today, and for its time it works very well. The story's theme is quite similar to the more familiar "A Christmas Carol", but in a completely different and more contemporary setting that in some respects allows the story to hit even closer to home.
The story follows and contrasts two neighboring families, an unhappy well-to-do couple and a large, impoverished family. The affluent husband is an incurable grouch, who constantly fusses at and blames the neighbors for the most trivial of things, and who then is transformed by the 'Accident' of the title.
Most of it is straightforward, but believable. The setting is simple, but it works because the homes still don't look too out of date, and because the domestic concerns and disagreements are the familiar types of things that often arise between neighbors if there happen to be underlying tensions.
Probably the best aspect of the movie is Edna Hamel, as one of the poor children. She has a good screen presence and is quite sympathetic. Her few moments in the spotlight really give the whole movie a big boost.
The story follows and contrasts two neighboring families, an unhappy well-to-do couple and a large, impoverished family. The affluent husband is an incurable grouch, who constantly fusses at and blames the neighbors for the most trivial of things, and who then is transformed by the 'Accident' of the title.
Most of it is straightforward, but believable. The setting is simple, but it works because the homes still don't look too out of date, and because the domestic concerns and disagreements are the familiar types of things that often arise between neighbors if there happen to be underlying tensions.
Probably the best aspect of the movie is Edna Hamel, as one of the poor children. She has a good screen presence and is quite sympathetic. Her few moments in the spotlight really give the whole movie a big boost.