The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

I thought of this movie just today but couldn't remember the name of it. I called my mom, who was a teacher at the time I saw the movie at school, and ask her if she remembered the movie so I could search for it online. She didn't help a bit. So, I called my brother to see if he remembered it and he had no clue. So I ended up just browsing threw all online Christmas movies to find it. Now I'm 23 years old and I watched that movie when I was in 3rd grade! I remember all of it! My teacher, where we watched the movie and everything! I have bought the movie and my Husband and I are taking it this year to our family get-together for our whole family to watch. A definitely Must See!!!

I never knew this old movie existed until it was recently remade. It sounded like a cute idea, but the new movie is by some guy who makes kinda Jesus-y movies so I went for this old TV movie instead, which contains the only non-MASH performance I've ever seen from Loretta Swit (who's quite good).

It's very cute. It's kind of weird to see what passed for "bad kids" back then, since nowadays ... well, we all know how insane things have gotten. So its nostalgic to see kids being bad in the old-school way.

It's a very sweet movie that's generally pretty funny and has some insight. I'd recommend it if you're looking for something to watch at Christmas.

I never thought any tv movie could do justice to the classic novel on which this Christmas special is based. But this flick succeeds brilliantly. All the classic lines & situations from the book are here, along with some added surprises. (The ham, and the surprise visitor at the pageant!) The Herdmans are exactly how I pictured them, and their "house" is completely realistic as well- love the factories in the background! The supporting characters (especially Charlie, Alice Wendelken, and (I think his name is) Hobie Carmichael), are all perfectly cast. And the message of the book is perfectly preserved-- there's a pretty amazing moment with the young actress who plays Imogene Herdman, when she's looking at a picture of Mary & Jesus and starts to cry. For anyone who hasn't read the book (which is a masterpiece & one of the most hilarious books I've ever read), I at least recommend you getting a hold of this movie. It will help you remember the "true" meaning of Christmas.

This movie should be shown on TV every year. It tells the true meaning of Christmas. It was funny in parts and touching in others. I only saw it on TV once or twice. I found a copy at the library and watched it with my daughter and her friend (age 10).They both loved it.

I thought the characters acted very realistically. The children were neither too cute and sweet nor too smart mouthed. In fact none of the children were smart mouthed or talked back. The characters consisted of people we all know. The dresses that the girls wore were very pretty and cute. It was nice to see girls wearing dresses instead of old jeans to church.

I can't say much more without giving too much away. This is a great movie and suitable for all ages. If you can't find it in the video store try your local library.

Such a wonderful story it's a shame that it isn't being aired anymore. Why not? I was a teacher's assistant in an elementary library for several years and I know many teachers keep this story alive, I don't know why the networks haven't.