Those of us fortunate enough to have seen this in its original network broadcast, (as a "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation I believe) were I'm sure deeply touched by its deft balance between genuine sentiment and the non demonstrative (and hence never cloying) depth of its emotional honesty.
There is a quiet dignity here--missing from many Christmas programs, a dignity bolstered by the superb mise en scene of a mid west Christmas in 1946, a time in America of self sufficiency, a time when the body politic did not blame the government for natural disasters or acts of God, and a time when people still presumably were able to save "six thousand dollars" on a limited income.
The domestic focus here, on a 10 year old bespectacled girl named Addie who lives with her widowed father and paternal grandmother amply demonstrates not only these characteristics but the small pleasures (which can dwarf expensive pleasures) of that day and time: of an extra quarter for the movies, sewing one's own costume for the Christmas pageant, baking cookies, buying a gift for the schoolteacher at the local pharmacy, and most importantly, erecting a Christmas tree to celebrate the birth of the Christ child.
What's refreshing here is the refusal of the script to sugar coat, and it is the undeniable sadness of a man bereft of his deceased wife, which casts a pall over the entire household that constitutes both the stories subtext and its principal conflict.
The cast is superb! The youngster playing Addie avoids the fatal cuteness that afflicts many child actors, and delineates a character of both gumption and vulnerability. Who can not smile over the way she conceals a crush on a school mate by claiming all she admires about him are his new cowboy boots? Jason Robards Jr. is just as good here as he was in a "Thousand Clowns," and his taciturnity does not prevent our more than once glimpsing into his broken heart.
And Mildred Natwick! What a treasure she was. It is her performance you may savor most of all, a woman of love and compassion, but one firmly grounded by the limitations of this life, who has that seasoning, that sense of recollection that the years bring to the best of us, and which is known as wisdom.
And a special accolade to the young actress playing the schoolteacher, who also contributes a memorable job (and who also does the voice over in the prologue, it sounds like).
The production design team does excellent work here, and is to be commended on snowy mid-Western exterior locations which beautifully match the school and domestic interiors, (with hook rugs, Eastlake settees, and cabinet radios) which will bring back warm memories of all those who shared in that place and time.
This is family entertainment in the best sense--genuinely moving without an ounce of schmaltz.
There is a quiet dignity here--missing from many Christmas programs, a dignity bolstered by the superb mise en scene of a mid west Christmas in 1946, a time in America of self sufficiency, a time when the body politic did not blame the government for natural disasters or acts of God, and a time when people still presumably were able to save "six thousand dollars" on a limited income.
The domestic focus here, on a 10 year old bespectacled girl named Addie who lives with her widowed father and paternal grandmother amply demonstrates not only these characteristics but the small pleasures (which can dwarf expensive pleasures) of that day and time: of an extra quarter for the movies, sewing one's own costume for the Christmas pageant, baking cookies, buying a gift for the schoolteacher at the local pharmacy, and most importantly, erecting a Christmas tree to celebrate the birth of the Christ child.
What's refreshing here is the refusal of the script to sugar coat, and it is the undeniable sadness of a man bereft of his deceased wife, which casts a pall over the entire household that constitutes both the stories subtext and its principal conflict.
The cast is superb! The youngster playing Addie avoids the fatal cuteness that afflicts many child actors, and delineates a character of both gumption and vulnerability. Who can not smile over the way she conceals a crush on a school mate by claiming all she admires about him are his new cowboy boots? Jason Robards Jr. is just as good here as he was in a "Thousand Clowns," and his taciturnity does not prevent our more than once glimpsing into his broken heart.
And Mildred Natwick! What a treasure she was. It is her performance you may savor most of all, a woman of love and compassion, but one firmly grounded by the limitations of this life, who has that seasoning, that sense of recollection that the years bring to the best of us, and which is known as wisdom.
And a special accolade to the young actress playing the schoolteacher, who also contributes a memorable job (and who also does the voice over in the prologue, it sounds like).
The production design team does excellent work here, and is to be commended on snowy mid-Western exterior locations which beautifully match the school and domestic interiors, (with hook rugs, Eastlake settees, and cabinet radios) which will bring back warm memories of all those who shared in that place and time.
This is family entertainment in the best sense--genuinely moving without an ounce of schmaltz.