Il Natale che quasi non fu

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.

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.

This obscure Italian musical fantasy was actually made in the then-prevalent style: elaborately-mounted, garishly-colored and broadly comic in tone (bringing to mind both THE GREAT RACE {1965}, with Rossano Brazzi's Phineas T. Prune looking quite a bit like Jack Lemmon's Professor Fate from that film and CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG {1968}, which also involved a child-hating villain) – in fact, it comes complete with an animated title sequence! Incidentally, the anti-Christmas feeling inherent within the film would turn up again the same year in Chuck Jones' animated rendition of Dr. Seuss' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE Christmas (by the way, I will be checking out the 2000 live-action version as part of my ongoing Christmas binge)! Writer/director/star Brazzi – who, curiously enough, died on Christmas Eve 1994 – had already proved his vocal mettle (in heavily-accented English) with the popular musical SOUTH PACIFIC (1958). For the record, this was his first of only 3 directorial efforts – the others being no less intriguing, and admirably versatile, namely the caper CRIMINAL AFFAIR (1968) and the giallo PSYCHOUT FOR MURDER (1969; which I have opted to acquire in its original cut, since a 'harder' version was commissioned for the overseas market that reportedly saw the involvement of cult figure Renato Polselli!).

Anyway, while the film under review emerges as no unsung gem, it was a harmless and surprisingly engaging addition to the Yuletide movie lore, its plot also recalling the seasonal perennials MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947; in view of the fact that the real Santa Claus seeks employment in a department store to fill just that role!) and the much-filmed "A Christmas Carol" (given Prune's eventual softening). The songs (music by future Jess Franco{!} regular Bruno Nicolai and lyrics by one Paul Tripp, who also co-stars as the lawyer – Brazzi's own neighbor! – helping Santa thwart the villain's plans to disrupt the eagerly-awaited festivities) are hardly classics, but the title tune in particular is quite pleasant. Being an international production (here presented dubbed in English albeit still sporting the original Italian credits), Father Christmas is played by an unknown Italian actor (Alberto Rabagliati) – who, amusingly, gets the shivers in having to deal with children, since he usually encounters them while they are asleep (similarly, he and Tripp get carried away trying out the toys in the store, which merely elicits a head-shaking reaction from prospective customers)! His spouse, then, is played by Brazzi's own second wife (Lydia) and the wiry elderly clerk at Santa's workshop is the ever-reliable character actor Mischa Auer in one of his last films. Typically, a number of midgets are behind the bearded fat man in the red suit or, more precisely, the toys he distributes door-to-door all around the world every Christmas Eve.

With respect to Prune's beef with the Christmas period, it transpires that he has purchased the entire North Pole so that, knowing Santa will not be able to pay the lease, he can evict the latter (which Brazzi takes great pleasure in, turning up every day like clockwork expressly to upset the old man's meal!) and, therefore, no toys will be manufactured and delivered from then on! In fact, Santa takes up the extra employment in order to meet his new landlord's demands (which the latter nips in the bud by purchasing the establishment too and firing St. Nick and his attorney on the spot!). Incidentally, one quibble I have with films purporting to present the Real McCoy: if Santa is supposed to be the be-all-and-end-all of Christmas gifts (in that he has to bring them personally to kids, with his herd of reindeer and all), where do the plentiful toys in sundry department stores across the globe come from?! As expected, Brazzi's scheme (aided in his nefarious exploits by cadaverous butler John Karlsen) is ultimately foiled, with children everywhere willingly giving their pocket money to save Santa from his predicament. Prune, on the other hand, is revealed to have believed in Father Christmas himself once upon a time…but his letter asking for a sail-boat had gotten misplaced, and this was the reason he grew up detesting all things connected to the proverbial 'jolly' season!

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 ****