An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving

The warm family relationships that abound in this production makes the movie an appealing one.

Taking place after the civil war, it chronicles the life of a widow with 3 children who are poverty stricken. The eldest daughter, a writer with a great imagination, concocts a story that ultimately draws their wealthy grandmother to their New Hampshire home.

Jackie Bisset plays the stern grandmother. She is entirely too young for the part. Nevertheless, she gives a gem of a performance as a wealthy matron who married a much older widower than she and had a daughter with him to secure herself financially.

The daughter ran away years before with a stable boy who has now died. Both mother and daughter must confront past events in front of the children.

The story is filled with scarlet fever epidemics abounding.

The film also deals with a getting kind grandmother who will go to any length to get her children and grandchildren out of the poverty cycle.

It is a nicely done film with a triumph of the family spirit in this season of giving.

It wasn't great but it was good. I'm not as harsh as the reviewer who gave it three stars, and I didn't give it 10 stars either. I gave it 7 stars, which is in between. What did I like about it? The story was believable. Scarlet fever, and other diseases that we have medicines for today, was a killer. It was set on a farm in New Hampshire just after the Civil War. Tilly, the oldest of three children, is a writer who concocts an incredible story to get her wealthy grandmother to come up. Then, as now, people were worried about losing their homes in foreclosure. Ellis Bassett was killed in the war and Mrs. Bassett has to pay rent to Mr. Hopkins, whose son. Gad, wants to marry Tilly, but her mother opposes it. Where does she go? What does she do? Watch the movie and find out,

BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION & THAT IS WHAT IS GOING ON HERE FOR THIS FILM! NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 300 Christmas MOVIES. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM FARE

This is not a "Christmas Movie" but it takes places at Thanksgiving and that starts off the "Christmas Season"

Inspired by a short story, Isabella Caldwell is a high-society woman in late-1800's New York. When Isabella's estranged daughter Mary becomes ill and is too proud to ask her mother for assistance, Mary's daughter, Tilly, takes it upon herself to contact her grandmother and plead for help. Isabella's arrival causes an upheaval in many lives, but may also lead to reconciliation within the family.

The film is very enjoyable. You also learn there is more than one side to every story. There is a reason why "People Do What They Do At The Time That They Did It". It also shows that no matter what choices we make there always consequences for whatever decision we have to make. What is nice about this film it does everything between the lines. It does assume the audience for this film is not a stupid one.

I love this movie and have tried to see it each year around Thanksgiving if I can manage to catch it. Tatiana Maslany is great in a role she completed well before Orphan Black made her famous. I'm only sorry she didn't perform in the follow up "An Old Fashioned Christmas" as the young woman who took her place in that movie is nowhere near as good.

While I gather from other reviews that this story is far removed from the Louisa May Alcott story on which it is loosely based, I still felt it maintains an affinity with Alcott's writing and that Tillie is a believable Alcott heroine. The love story with Gad and the familial rapprochement that is the focus of the storyline are all quite charming and make one feel the hope of the holidays. Best of all, they actually filmed it somewhere with snow and cold weather, versus the horrible Hollywood tendency to blow some fake snow over green bushes and pretend it's winter. Definitely worth a watching.

I actually found this film in our local public library. As I'm starved for anything new to watch I thought hey why not and borrowed this movie. When you see the cover it makes you think it might be a cheesy film. But I didn't think it was at all. The actors whom I personally have never heard of before (but will be looking for in the future!) astonished me at how well they acted. They had me believing the story almost instantly. Though it's no Masterpiece Theater, it's well acted, the music is good, and the characters had you rooting for them the whole time. I suggest that you look for this film. If you liked 'Little Women' I'm pretty sure you will like this one.