simple, small town, going back to where you are from...a movie i can watch over and over again - and hope to as long as my tape lasts. the message about the "secret place" is one that i take to heart in my own marriage. every once in awhile a movie just hits all the buttons that make it heart-warming, this movie does it in a subtle, but effective way.
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don turner23 December 2001
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lrpburt18 December 2013I love this movie for Xmas....why doesn't AMC or TCM pick it up??? They show enough of the others!! I miss this movie.... :( It had so many stories inside the main story line and really brought that feeling of Christmas to your soul.
With the stars in it I'm surprised it doesn't get put on television during the holidays...I mean Angela Lansbury alone should be enough! The love story and the drama are excellent.
We used to watch it every Christmas and I've never forgotten it, which is very unusual so I really think we should try to get the networks to pick this movie up for the holidays in the future...it would truly benefit another generation of holiday movie watchers and lovers!! -
denis.fournier23 June 2000My mother recorded this tv movie when it played and i recorded over it.Tried finding it for many years after without any luck.This story reminded my mom of her mother,a heart warming story of love and family at xmas time,it wasn't IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE but to my mother it was a piece of her younger days with her mother caught on film.Hope to see it again someday.
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Funny but when i found this on utube, i decided to watch it and I thought the whole time it was from the 70s...like 76 or 77 kind of vibe.
Anyway, I enjoyed it. Something about these late 70s early 80s movies...especially the TV movies, that just have this simpler vibe to them.
Much more concentration on interpersonal dyamics...lots of chatty scenes between characters without all the special effects and crazy plot twists.
Very homey. You should give it a try. It's got a great New England at Christmas vibe. And anything with both Lee Remick AND Angela Landsbury(as her mom) has got to be good. And Polly Holliday (from the old TV series Alice) is in it too as a spinster aunt. She's great.
Two child actors, who didn't do much else, are in it and I gotta say, it's refreshing to see them played very simply. They feel more like real kids than so many Hollywood cliches.
Earl Hamner Jr (of Waltons fame) wrote the screenplay and produced so I guess that's where all that "simpler time" vibe comes from.
If you're feeling nostalgic for a past that maybe you never even had, give this little charmer a try. -
gaelicguy12 February 2004I remember seeing this movie years ago and I wonder why it has never played on any of the cable stations. It is deeply moving and the acting is excellent. Polly Holliday is incandescent as the spinster aunt and she managed to do something that is virtually impossible. She moved me to tears. A wonderful, warm gem of a film. How I miss Lee Remick! She died too young and we have been deprived of her ample acting talent and wonderful presence. I do hope that one of the cable networks airs this movie one of these holiday seasons. It is one of the very best TV films made, hands down, IMO!
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I_Ailurophile24 December 2021I begrudge no one who earnestly who enjoys this film. There's an audience for it, and I'm not it. But what I see is a family-friendly, holiday-themed, made for TV feature that is roundly unremarkable. That goes for its narrative, scene writing, characters, dialogue, themes (love, finding strength, overcoming difficulties), acting, direction, music, wardrobe, set decoration, and so on and so on. Save for that it stars Lee Remick and Angela Lansbury - having watched this movie, I can all but guarantee there's almost nothing I will remember about 'The gift of love: A Christmas story' come this time tomorrow.
Assess each element of the film by itself, and there's nothing wrong with it. This is competently made in all regards. Even so, in every meaningful way it so readily blends in with other Christmas TV movies of the 70s and 80s as to be mostly indistinguishable. I wouldn't say that it's not enjoyable. But unless one appends some particular personal purport to this picture, then it's one that you can "watch" while scarcely affixing your gaze upon it. It's all to easy to disengage from a title so blase. And there's the rub.
Not truly bad, but not especially good, 'The gift of love: A Christmas story' slides into a liminal space of no major import. If there's any overarching reason why this endears itself to one viewer or another, that's great. Otherwise, save for those who are utmost fans of the cast or dead-set on watching every holiday film they can, I just think checking this out is rather unnecessary. -
iblynnb53 March 2001This is the best Christmas movie ever made! If anyone has a tape of this movie, I would love to buy a copy. Please email me and let me know.
I love the message behind this movie. It reminded me that all of the people I have ever known are still alive inside of me, in my "special place", as Lee Remick's character says. -
"The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story" is a TV film that is a big draw because of the cast. But the plot and screenplay for this film just don't work. The very long dream that Lee Remick's Janet Broderick lives through drags on and on. In one scene after another there's just a little dialog and then long periods of silence. That's supposed to convey Janet or Aunt Min as pensive and thinking. Well, it doesn't take long or much acting or camera work to get that idea across. Audiences can pick up on things like that very fast.
So many strange and far-out things happen that together make this such a hokey story. An out-of-town stranger proposes on first sight, and the couple marry at some time later. A bell-ringing Santa and helper, after the first person of the morning drops some money into their bucket, decide to pick up and move "to the mall." Dad in the dream shows up with a horse-drawn sleigh and carries the family back home. The sleigh crosses a small town in front of the town's Christmas tree and large church, where there are no apparent streets or sidewalks. A young boy falls through the ice of the mill pond, and is later found alive and dry under a big fur blanket in an abandoned cottage in the dead of winter. A grandfather finds a boy's hat floating in a small hole in the mill pond ice and returns home saying the boy is missing.
This is a hodgepodge of a screenplay that seems to have a bunch of small incidents just thrown together. It doesn't link events in any semblance of continuity of a story. The two kids get in fights in two places that seem overly contrived. They go to a costume party before Christmas and are the only ones in costume, and after they are made fun of, the next scene shifts to the adults at home with nothing further about the kids and their experience.
I have seen any number of good Christmas and holiday films about love, and redemption, and courage, and change, and loss, and love rediscovered. But this one is flatter than a pancake. Except for Angela Lansbury, the acting is subpar by everyone, starting with Remick and including all the rest of the cast. The story is hokey, and without any really redeeming aspects. It was a challenge to sit through this film. From the midpoint on it was boring and even aggravating - as though Remick could never get it together to finish her dream.
Very few people have rated this film nearly 40 years after it appeared. My guess is that some have started it, given up halfway through and just not bothered to weigh in on it. Even many of the sappy holiday romance and other films that are standard fare for the end of the year are more tolerable to watch than this very slow and dull film. When the kids' fights seem hokey and phony, one can't expect much of a heart-warming or meaningful story.
My guess is that nine out of 10 viewers wouldn't care to stick with this film to the end. This TV film was made for annual viewing and apparently was shown by CBS a few years. I'd never heard of it before this year, and my family used to watch all the Christmas movies that appeared on TV. That included some that were not so good and that we probably forgot and never watched over successful Christmas holidays. We may have watched this film one year and completely forgotten it - for the impression it left.
Many an old Christmas story is repeated annually on TV, but this isn't one of them. "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story" was made 12 years before this film and it's become a holiday classic. One can buy a DVD of that film for half the price of this poor film. And many more people - young and old, will watch and enjoy "The Homecoming" story for decades to come. But this movie is truly a Christmas turkey. -
Rubyzoi13 December 2001I have watched this movie since I was a child. As I grow older and watch this movie from year to year, it touched me in a new way. It is indeed a touching story of love and self discovery. It grieves me that I can't find it on a prerecorded tape!
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slras11 August 2005I was living in Burlington, VT at the time this movie was being filmed. There was a rumor going around that Tom Sellick was in town, and everyone was rushing to the house on South Union Street, that the producer's used for filming part of the movie, in hopes of seeing him. I got to see Polly Holiday and Lee Remick from about 15 feet away and they said hello to me. I know the store that they used at the top of Church Street very well (it had gone out of business about a year before the film was made) The rest of the movie was filmed mostly in the Underhill, VT area, where they decorated the town square like it was Christmas. If I remember correctly, the movie was filmed in late March or early April, and there wasn't a lot of snow in Burlington so they had to bring it in by truck. This is a great movie. I taped it the first time it aired on TV and try to watch it at least once a year around Christmas. I live in Western, NY now and miss VT so it is nice to see some familiar things from VT in the movie. I hope that it gets released on DVD soon.
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schusmith1 December 2002The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story, was a beautiful story; one that you never forget after watching it. It was just a heartwarming story that makes you sad, but also gets one to think about life and family. It should be televised every year at Christmas.
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KittyLover618 February 2002This movie used to air every Christmas Evening for a few years. I was getting used to watching it every year, then they stopped broadcasting it. Lee Remick was one of my favorite actresses, and this is a great feel-good Christmas movie. I just wish there was a way to get a copy of this movie. My favorite scene was when the boy fell into the pond and how it changed everyone.
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billshepard19 December 2003I haven't seen this movie in years, but remember it well. I loved it, as with most of the other people who commented on it I too am grieved that it is not out on video or shown on television. There are so many bad Christmas movies that are shown over and over every Christmas season and a gem like this one goes lost. The movie definitely gets you thinking about what the holidays are all about, everyone should see it.
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Star.*.Dust12 December 2000It is a Christmas Classic - Warm and Heart-Wrenching. I wish that someone would either put it back on TV or produce the video so that we can all enjoy it again. If I knew how to find the e-mail address of the copyright owner, I would ask them to allow it's release.
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Star.*.Dust24 November 1999I truly wish that this movie was available for purchase. It is a touching piece that I have seen two or three times many years ago. I watch for it every holiday season, but before the IMDB, I could not remember the name. This is wonderful. Now if I could just find a tape of it!
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mdrnhome6 January 2001I have seen the movie two times with my mother many years ago at Christmas time. I pray it will come out on video so I can re-live those special moments with my mother. I wish I could even get in touch with Angela Lansbury (who played the mother) to see if she would sell me a copy, because Lee Remick (who played her daughter, Janet) has since died.
My mother died unexpectedly since that time and I would give anything to bring back those special memories with her.
Janet -
corrinel27 November 1999I absolutely love this movie, and look for it every year, only to be disappointed again and again. I've also checked MANY stores to try to buy it, but NO ONE has it. If anyone finds it anywhere please post a bulletin or something! Lee Remick and Angela Landsbury do such a great job in this movie. I place it right up there with It's A Wonderful Life.
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I only had the pleasure of seeing this movie once back in 1985. It was one that I was completely committed to watching; on a cold winter afternoon of flipping through the channels. How lucky I was to find it and how stupid I was for not taping it when I realized how good it was. I would have been happy with just taping and watching just half of the movie had I known it would never be on again.
For 15 years I've been looking in the TV guide to see if just MAYBE I might find it there to watch; until I found this website and realized I would never see it again. Lee Remick was an extraordinary actress, taken away from us far too soon. And Angela Landsbury????? A classic as well.
What a shame it is that myself (and my daughter who was not born when I first saw it) can no longer see this heartwarming movie.
What do we have to do to get this on video????? -
christinajbk29 January 2001This is a wonderful movie and its a shame people cannot buy it in the store or catch it on tv. My boyfriends grandma wanted this movie really bad so her daughter and I looked and looked for it. I was lucky enough to find it, and now I can give her this wonderful gift for her birthday coming up in February. I'm glad she wanted this movie or I would probably have never got to see it. It seems most people have really forgotten the true meaning of Christmas, and they take for granted things they shouldn't. Maybe if more people watched this movie they might think of their lives and be happy for what they have, instead of complaining of what they don't have. It seems like a lot of people who live alone are quite crabby like the aunt. Most people just think they are crabby and dont want to go around them but this movie shows that all they really want is to be loved. This is a great movie and Im glad I have it.
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lwbobrob14 August 2006The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story, is one of the best "Holiday" movies I've ever seen.
Polly Holiday brought tears when she enacted the "Christmas Ghost" scene. (I had an Aunt Min)
Trust me... this made-for-TV movie is not a usual one. I wish it would be "re-done" for DVD. It's a lost treasure. A real "total box of Kleenex" film. However, that does mean that it does not have a message and that it is not uplifting. Lee Remick wonderful and beautiful in this film. Guest starring Angela Lansbury, and Polly Holiday are as good as it gets.
I recorded the film, but cannot seem to find it among all my video tapes. I'll keep looking. -
overby24 December 2001I first saw this film in 1986 and really liked it. After that, I watched every Christmas for it to reappear on TV, but it never did. Then, about 3 years ago, I saw a listing for it in the TV Guide. It was on a local channel really late at night. I taped it, and now I watch it just about every year. I love Angela Lansbury in it, and I love the message of hope. For those of you who can't find the movie anywhere, take heart! It may just appear on your local station one year. You might even consider contacting them and asking them to run it.
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stephanar29 July 2003Without a doubt, the best Christmas movie ever made. What a waste it has not been distributed on video. There's a whole generation that has not had the opportunity to see it, as well as many who missed it the few times it was on TV. I, too, like many others, watched it faithfully at Christmas for a couple of years and then searched in vain every Christmas since then hoping to see it again...
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This is by far one of the better Christmas films - it contains all the elements required to bring back memories of an old fashioned family Christmas. The acting is fantastic- with Angela Lansbury and Polly Holiday giving Golden Globe award nominee performances! My only regret is that this film was never made available on video so that it could be enjoyed over and over.
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roger-hampton17 December 2002This film should be a classic seen every year along with "White Christmas" and "Its A Wonderful Life". It just has real meaning and feeling and deals with pertinent issues that effect regular people every day. It tells you life is hard and sometimes sad but happy to with joy that makes it all worth while and you have to deal with all aspects of life.
My favorite scenes are when the aunt talks about her Christmas visitor, and when the Mother tells her grown daughter about how to deal with the difficulties in life and about the secret place. You just know , that no matter how old you are there are still things in life to learn. I just don't think there is a truer film out there.