The Angel of Pennsylvania Avenue

During the Great Depression, an unemployed Detroit man is arrested for a crime he didn't commit, prompting his three children to travel 1,000 miles to the White House in search of help from President Herbert Hoover in order to have their father home for Christmas.

The Angel of Pennsylvania Avenue is an American 1996 television film directed by Robert Ellis Miller. It was nominated for two Young Artist Awards in 1997.[1] The film was completed days before actor Robert Urich had surgery for cancer.

The film is told from the point of view from the oldest child. We see the events through her eyes and can't help but to route for her even though she is putting her siblings in danger.

I will watch it again if given the chance!

1st watched 12/24/2009 – 4 out of 10 (Dir-Robert Ellis Miller): Emotional Christmas fluff that doesn't really get specific enough to explain how the real story happened in this factual-based incident of a man who is wrongly put in jail trying to get a job for his family to make Christmas happen for them. The three kids in the family then run away from home on a trek to Washington D.C. to enlist the then President of the United States, Herbert Hoover. This trek provides some side stories like their positive encounters with a hobo and a puppeteer, which makes the story kind of like a Disney "animals on the run" movie and doesn't quite fit here. At the ending, there isn't any details given as to how the President helped the family and this is another downpoint to the movie, in my opinion. The movie does eventually bring tears, but it takes too long to get to this. The movie isn't supposed to have been an original TV movie(according to IMDb) but it has the obvious fade-outs that make it look this way – so I'm not sure their information is accurate. All in all, this is a simple movie(that could have been more complex) with a happy Christmas-like story but blandly played and without a lot of substance.

I enjoy watching this sweet movie. The story is family friendly, with close family ties during a difficult time. The children are just adorable. The people they meet during their adventure are wonderful and add to the interesting journey. This is a unique and very uplifting Christmas story. The closeness of the people in this film make it a very favorite of mine. This movie is set back when America was a very different time. This is my most favorite Christmas time movie. This would make a great holiday tradition, sitting around the t.v. watching it with family members. It can also be an easy way to educate children today of the way things were in America back then.

It was so cool that 3 sibs run away from home to rescue their father. 3 sibs were just like us, and it was so fun to watch. I loved the young Kansas man very much.

This is a true story with quite a few twists on reality but well done & fun to watch. Bernice Feagan was my mother & we had no idea that a story had been written about her adventure until we saw it on cable.She passed away in 1998 and never did figure out how it was made without her knowledge.In reality, she contacted President Hoover at age 13 to have my grandfather pardoned from prison for car theft and she and one of her younger brothers & sisters ( Ray & Irene ) went with her to Washington on a Greyhound bus supplied by the company owner probono. She did meet with Hoover & her & her siblings appeared in many major newspapers in big photographs, likely a publicity stunt as no one was happy with Hoover in 1932 in the throws of depression. He pardoned my grandpa ( Charles Feagan , not Angus) & shortly thereafter mom's mom died from appendicitis. My mother became the new mother of 5 little siblings & lived a very hard life as my grandpa was disabled with Parkinson's disease. the true story of my mom's life was very interesting and I am writing about it now. Hopefully a movie can be made about her real life. She was very tough but loving. John