Le messager de l'espoir

I have been searching for this forever (years ago it didn't even show up at IMDb). I only wish I would have taped it when it aired and I cannot understand why such a beautiful movie is no longer aired, there is so much crap out there and this gem gets missed - it's mindboggling! Lifetime are you listening? AMC ? anyone? wake up!!!! I would really love to see this either out on DVD or aired this Christmas season! The story, performances and history all make this movie a standout. I again wonder WHY???? it isn't aired or accessible to viewers. I remember thinking Richard Thomas reprised his role as John Boy....Ed Asner and Charles Bronson, as always, were fantastic as were the rest of the cast.

Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus (1991)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

After the death of his wife and child, reporter Frances Church (Charles Bronson) hits a wall of depression and alcohol. Soon he's thinking about suicide until his paper receives a letter from a child named Virginia asking if there's a Santa Claus. Based on a true story, this made-for-TV film isn't a classic and it's certainly far from a great film but there's a certain charm to it that makes it worth viewing. I think the main appeal is going to be to fans of Bronson who are going to get a real kick out of seeing him play such a nice guy. Bronson made a career out of beating and killing hundreds of people but after the death of his wife he decided to try and do something softer and he does a very good job at it. You can't help but feel that Bronson was still feeling some of the same emotions as this character since his wife had died about a year before this film was made. Bronson gives it his all and really makes you feel sorry for his character. There's a scene inside an apartment room where the actor talks about guilt and you can't help but feel it's one of the best things the actor has done. Richard Thomas does a good job playing the father of Virginia. The side story deals with him being fired from his job and trying to find a new one while his family are without money. Edward Asner plays the editor of the paper and does a fine job too. I thought the producers did a very good job capturing the look and feel of when the story was set and there's no question that the costume and set designs are impressive. I think the one problem with the film is the direction, which never really pulls the two stories together and mixes them well. It really did seem uneven when the film jumped back and forth between the two and there just wasn't enough of an emotional connection to the family. With that said, the performance of Bronson is clearly the stand out here and it's good enough to make the film worth viewing.

In 1897, the New York Sun newspaper ran a short article in its editorial section that has become famous. The heading read, "Is There a Santa Claus?" It was in response to a short letter written by eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon of New York City. The article printed the letter and then, with rhetorical questions and prose, answered it. "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," penned Sun editorial writer Francis Church.

This is a TV movie about that event. The essential details are true, and the main characters are real. But the story in this film is mostly fictional. Yet it works to make a fuller and more meaningful plot; and, therefore, a better Christmas movie.

The film was shot in British Columbia, Canada. The scenes and settings seem to be authentic for 1890s New York or any North American city at the time. The cast has some big name actors and others - all of whom give very good performances. Katharine Isabelle is superb as Virginia O'Hanlon. Tamsin Kelsey is especially good as Evie O'Hanlon, wife of James. She plays an Irish immigrant woman who keeps a bright outlook for her small brood, in spite of the hard times.

The portrayal of hard times for immigrants adds some meat and meaning to the story. Richard Thomas plays Virginia's father, James. He and his friend, Donelli, spend cold days looking for work after being fired as dockworkers. The story gives a light portrayal of the ethnic tensions of the time. During the immigration of many Irish, Anglo-Protestants resented their competition for jobs. And, neighbors in tenement apartments help one another, by sharing food. A Jewish landlady widow, Mrs. Goldstein (played by Lillian Carlson) cooks too much brisket for just herself, so she begs the O'Hanlon's to take it off her hands.

Charles Bronson is very good in his role as Francis Church. But the character he plays was not the real Francis Church. Here, Church has been drinking heavily since losing his wife and daughter a year earlier. The film doesn't say, but it's implied it was a disease or epidemic. That's another nice touch in showing that aspect of history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The real Frank Church was in his 50s and had covered the Civil War more than 30 years earlier.

It's true that Church didn't want to write the editorial, and didn't want his name associated with it. Only many years later was his authorship of the article made known. Even then, one wonders, because Church was supposedly an atheist. Yet he wrote in that editorial, "No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever." That's hardly something an atheist would write, and it's not very likely that he would have had to write that.

Edward Asner plays another real person well -- Edward P. Mitchell, the managing editor. Other reporters and people on the Sun staff are fictional. Yet Colleen Winton plays Andrea Borland very well, and Shawn Macdonald plays the copy boy, Teddy, very well.

The biggest fictional aspect was Virginia's family and where they lived. They weren't likely to be living in tenement housing as in the film. Virginia's dad, James, was a doctor. At the time, he was a coroner's assistant in Manhattan.

In the movie, the editorial in response to Virginia appeared in the sun around Christmas Eve. But the actual date it was printed was Sept. 21 - three months before Christmas. In later years, Virginia explained that around her birthday in July as a child she would begin to wonder what she would be getting for Christmas. So, she wrote her letter in July. And, the Sun editors didn't do anything with it for several weeks. And no one knows why they didn't wait until Christmas to publish it.

Even then, the article wasn't considered anything special at the time. But readers remembered and asked about it in subsequent years. So, more than 10 years after its first publication, the Sun again printed the article just before Christmas.

The story about the famous letter and Sun newspaper editorial is an endearing one. And the filmmaker's embellishment of the story helps make "Yes Virginia" a wonderful Christmas movie and look at history.

Here are a couple favorite lines from this film.

Andrea Borland, "Did you like my story on the Vanderbilt ball?" Edward Mitchell, "I printed it, didn't I?" Andrea Borland, "Well, half of it." Edward Mitchell: "That was the half I liked."

Mrs. Goldstein, "As my dear dead Saul used to say, 'It isn't a silver lining what makes the coat. It's the person wearing it.'"

This was the best Christmas movie ever made,at least in my opinion. Great actors and great acting. Made the whole story seem quite real. They could not have chosen a better actor than Charles Bronson for the part of the reporter who writes the fateful editorial that will live forever in time and in our hearts.

While this is a made for TV film with some of the production weaknesses that are typical of films made for television, nonetheless this is a classic Christmas movie in a class with "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th St.", primarily for it's ability to make the viewer cry with joy, even with repeated viewings.

Like the movies above, not all the characters are happy due to the difficult circumstances of their lives. The primary characters are struggling with despair. Like "It's a Wonderful Life", the lead characters are brought back from the brink through belief in something larger than themselves: The spirit of Christmas and the Hope that it brings to all of us.

I wish it would be released commercially at some point so that it could gain a larger audience. Contains great performances by Richard Thomas and Charles Bronson. Lou Asner is at his typical crusty best as the soft-hearted news boss.