Weihnachtsmann in Not

For those who love this film, it's now available on DVD, which I just got through watching. I guess I discovered it much too late in life. The review accessible via the "external reviews" link here pretty much sums it up for me. I found Alberto Rabagliati to be a rather drab and depressive, even depressing, Santa, and in 1966 veteran character actor Mischa Auer was as frightening to behold as the Crypt Keeper himself. Also, Paul Tripp's portrayal of the lawyer Mr. Whipple reminded me that I never wanted to see another singing attorney since the cancellation of "Cop Rock."

Oh well, maybe I shouldn't sneer at this film. I did appreciate it as an interesting relic of the 60s, and I can see it's well-loved by people on whom it was imprinted when they were young. After all, that's the very reason I still get misty over "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol." Merry Christmas!

In all fairness this is your quintessential movie from the 60s. The plot is loose, the acting is dry, and the budget is low. However, I can see the charm it had in its time, especially to children. My first time seeing it was tonight with the Mystery Science Theatre however and that was absolutely more enjoyable than the original would have been.

I'm considering this Italian film as a "first viewing," but this may have been one of the very first movies I ever saw in a theater when I was 4, I can't recall exactly. I know I definitely remember as a child seeing a rather grim TV commercial for it where a sad and solemn Santa Claus says: "Christmas isn't coming this year", and it stuck with me ever since. I've been meaning to track it down for years and I finally did, better late than never.

When I was a kid there was a fun TV show called "Birthday House", and its host was Paul Tripp. Well, Tripp wrote the screenplay for this film and stars in it as a good-spirited and kindly man who gets a visit from Santa Claus himself (Alberto Rabagliati) one year. Poor Santa's heartbroken because his mean landlord up at the North Pole (Rossano Brazzi - who also directed) is a tightwad who wants his back rent by Christmas Eve, otherwise Santa will get evicted and have to cancel Christmas. Since Santa doesn't have the money, he and Tripp get jobs to try and raise the cash (since Paul Tripp's profession in the film is a lawyer I don't understand that, but whatever). But it's also up to the kids to help Santa out for a change, as old St. Nick gets back some generosity himself this time.

This movie's got a pretty unflattering reputation. First off, it plays a little strange (well, to U.S. audiences, I mean) because this is an Italian production with sometimes plastic-looking effects, and dubbed into English. There are also pot shots taken against the actors, but I thought the cast was pretty well chosen... Paul Tripp makes for a really likable leading do-gooder, and Rabagliati as Santa Claus looks the part. Yet it's director Brazzi who steals the show as a really villainous ogre who hates Christmas and despises all children (we eventually learn why, in an ending that's actually pretty touching). This isn't a good film, but I found it had enough holiday spirit to probably merit repeat viewings every year. It's also a musical, meaning there a quite a few songs, only a couple of which are somewhat memorable. **1/2 out of ****

I vividly remember going to see this in the movies when I was 5 Years old. The commercials promoting it on TV stick in my head also. As another reviewer said, going to the movies was a big deal then. Now that I am 43 I have been getting very nostalgic. I was very happy to see that this movie was available on DVD. When I watched the movie I was really surprised at how bad it was, as Billy Joel says in one of his songs "The good old days weren't always good" To start with the opening song "A Christmas that almost wasn't" sounds more like a halloween song, a little haunting. The colors in the movie were also very dark and drab. As for Santa "my God" what a depressing Santa he was a little whiner, I wanted to grab him ala the Godfather and say "You can act like a man" The whole movie is just cheaply done, songs and everything. This is a case of my childhood memories playing tricks on me. Oh well there's always Rudolph.

I first saw this film back in 1966 at a Saturday matinée. Years later It popped up on HBO sometime in the early 80's. I have not seen it again until I saw the DVD on sale. Back around the time the film first came out. I was a kid living in New York City. This film holds special memoires for me. Paul Tripp was hosting a children's show called Birthday House at the time. I remember him talking to us kids watching at home about the movie. Sonny Fox was known for hosting Wonderama. Another children's show that aired on Sunday mornings on WNEW channel 5 in the New York area. Sadly this might be the only film record of these two people and the local children's shows that aired in the New York City viewing area during the 1960's.