Christmas Oranges

What an example Rose is. Always patient and loving despite such trials. I always enjoy watching it at Christmas.

This is the story of Rose, a young orphan who narrates some of the story. It takes place in the early years of the 20th century, when state-run orphanages were often little more than holding tanks for unwanted children.

Rose was one of the lucky ones. She lived at Greenwoods, where the kindly Mrs. Hartley (Nancy Stafford), treated all the girls as if they were her children. But then came the epidemic of 1918, and the death of Mrs. Hartley. The girls were scattered among local homes and some, like Rose, were taken in by other orphanages.

Her new home was called Irongates and was run by the stern Mr. Crampton (Edward Herrmann). There she finds both friends and enemies. She has difficulty adapting to the strict rules of Irongates. But Rose never loses her inner spirit.

The story finds comparison with "Annie" or "Heidi". Its main flaw is the dialogue of some children, which often feels unauthentic, too adult to be realistic. But Rose is an interesting character to watch.

A beautiful, touching movie, that captures the true spirit of what Christmas should be all about.

Loved this darling movie. It is well written, flows nicely, the camera work, settings and acting is flawless. An absolute gem. It is sort of along the same storyline of a Dickens novel.

I love finding sweet movies like this. This is one you can watch with the whole family and not have one cringe at all! So do yourself a favor and watch it. I am going to watch it again with my whole family in attendance. Our grandparents have told us stories of how special it was to receive an orange at Christmas and many of us put them out now as a tradition. It is fun to see how excited the children so long ago were over something we take for granted. What a stark contrast to what our children now a days get excited for at Christmas. If all they got was an orange boy would they be disappointed.

Bravo to the cast & crew. Sad movies like this don't get more attention.

I didn't know what to expect. A surprisingly charming and nostalgic movie. Wonderfully moving hitting you right in the heart-where we all need it most.