It Happened One Christmas (1977) (TV)

Director:

Donald Wrye

Writers:

Jo Swerling (1946 screenplays)
Frank Capra (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 December 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy

Plot:

This reworking of the 1947 classic "It's A Wonderful Life" has a woman whose life is coming apart despairingly wish that she had never been born...

Plot Keywords:

Remake Of Cult Classic | Color Remake Of B&W Film | Christmas | Angel | Remake

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys.

Cast

Marlo Thomas	...	Mary Bailey Hatch
Orson Welles	...	Henry F. Potter
Wayne Rogers	...	George Hatch
Cloris Leachman	...	Clara Oddbody ('ASC'), Mary's Guardian Angel
Barney Martin	...	Uncle Willie
Karen Carlson	...	Violet
Dick O'Neill	...	Mr. Gower, the Druggist
Doris Roberts	...	Ma Bailey
Cliff Norton	...	Martini
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dan Barrows	...	Toll Keeper
James Brodhead	...	Bank Examiner
Ceil Cabot	...	Cousin Tillie
Gino Conforti	...	Sassini
Richard Dysart	...	Peter Bailey
Robert Emhardt	...	Judge
Med Flory	...	Nick, the Martini's Bartender
Rita George	...	Helen Bailey
Christopher Guest	...	Harry Bailey
Archie Hahn	...	Ernie Baker, the Taxi-Cab driver
C. Thomas Howell
Jim Lovelett	...	Sam Wainwright
Linda Lee Lyons	...	Zuzu Hatch
Bryan O'Byrne	...	Doctor
Morgan Upton	...	Officer Bert Andrews
Lynn Woodlock	...	Mary, age 12

Runtime:

USA:109 min (excluding commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Daisy Productions

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In the closing credits, "It Happened One Christmas" carries a 1978 copyright date, although the film originally aired on Sunday, December 11, 1977. The notice reads: "Copyright (C) MCMLXXVIII by Universal City Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved;" whoever printed the titles unknowingly inserted one "I" too many. It should have read MCMLXXVII, for 1977.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (#4.21)" (1991)

I'll take THIS version EVERY time. If Universal was smart they should put it on DVD!

I must admit, I liked "It Happened One Christmas" MUCH better than "It's a Wonderful Life." As with a few other IMDbers, this was the first version of the story I ever saw; when ABC stopped running the film after 1978, and until Universal Television syndicated it to local stations in 1986, I had to settle for "It's a Wonderful Life" in the interim, which I think couldn't, and NEVER will, hold a candle to "It Happened One Christmas" (for one thing, Marlo Thomas DOESN'T go screaming through the scenes, like James Stewart did in the original, where she saw what life would be like without her; for another, Ms. Thomas' version was in Technicolor; and for yet another, there was the novelty of the gender switch in the lead role, telling the story from Mary Bailey's point of view. And, there was yet another plus in seeing such up-and-coming stars as Doris Roberts and Christopher Guest in one of their earlier roles).

"It Happened One Christmas" not only holds some cherished memories of my "wonder years" (I was 15 years old when this film was first shown on ABC; little did I realize December 1977 would be my family's final Christmas in Lansing, Michigan since my father capriciously decided to move us all to Illinois in June 1978), but four years later, in July 1981, my father and I took a trip to California, and we went on the Universal Studios Hollywood tour. When I saw "It Happened One Christmas" again in 1986, there were some parts of the Universal lot I recognized where the film was shot ("Leave It to Beaver" and "The Munsters" were also filmed on that same portion of the Universal lot where the exteriors of "It Happened One Christmas" were done), so yet another pleasant memory was encoded into it!

In mid-1987, shortly after my family bought their first VCR, I wrote to MCA/Universal Home Video (as the company was then known), asking if they would ever put "It Happened One Christmas" on videocassette; they sent back a form letter essentially saying, "not at this time," along with a catalogue of their then-current releases. Two years later, in December 1989, the film was rerun on USA (which Universal had a stake of ownership in at that time, and still does today); I was lucky to have taped "It Happened One Christmas" then (USA showed the entire film uncut, not edited to fit the time slot), but now the tape is beginning to deteriorate after 17 years. (I almost rerecorded "It Happened One Christmas" when it was shown on the ion Network December 22, but was glad I didn't after seeing the "hatchet job" they did on it - all the more reason Universal should put the film, uncut, on DVD!)

All I can suggest is: To those of us like myself who DID like and enjoy "It Happened One Christmas" better than "It's a Wonderful Life," and would like to see Universal Studios Home Entertainment (as they are now known) release the film on DVD, Universal's contact e-mail and snail-mail addresses should be given at their website. E-mail or write Universal and tell them to put "It Happened One Christmas" on DVD; remember: the more requests Universal gets about this film, the faster they'll unearth it and put it on DVD (one point to emphasize to Universal when writing: they NEVER even released this TV movie on VHS tape)!

I give "It Happened One Christmas" a perfect 10. And to those who thumbed their nose at this version, I'd like to rephrase a statement the late showman P.T. Barnum once made: "The critics be damned!"

Happy Holidays!