Santa Claus (1959)

User Rating:

1.8/10   

Director:

René Cardona

Writers:

Adolfo Torres Portillo (story) and
René Cardona (story) ...

Release Date:

October 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

An Enchanting World of Make-Believe!

Plot:

With the aid of Merlin, Santa Claus must defeat the evil machinations of the devil Pitch to ruin Xmas.

Plot Keywords:

Santa Claus | Devil | Mexico | Children | Christmas

Awards:

1 win

Cast

José Elías Moreno	...	Santa Claus
Cesáreo Quezadas 'Pulgarcito'	...	Pedro
José Luis Aguirre 'Trotsky'	...	El Diablo (as José Luis Aguirre 'Trosky')
Armando Arriola	...	El mago Merlín (as Armando Arriola 'Arriolita')
Lupita Quezadas	...	La niña pobre (as Lupita)
Antonio Díaz Conde hijo	...	El Niño Rico (Billy)
Nora Veryán	...	Madre de Lupita
Polo Ortín		(as Leopoldo Ortín Jr.)
Manuel Calvo		(as Manolo Calvo)
José Carlos Méndez	...	Niño (as niño J. Carlos Méndez)
Jesús Brook	...	Niño (as niño Jesús Brook)
Queta Lavat		(as Enriqueta Lavat)
Ángel Di Stefani	...	Vulcano - The Blacksmith (as Ángel D'Stefani)
Guillermo Bravo Sosa		(as Gmo. Bravo Sosa)
Graciela Lara

Runtime:

USA:94 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity)

Filming Locations:

Estudios Churubusco Azteca, Mexico City, México D.F., Mexico

Company:

Cinematográfica Calderón S.A.

Trivia:

This film did not receive a general release in the United States. The U.S. distributor, K. Gordon Murray, booked the film as a special children's matinée attraction in which the film would only be shown once or twice.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the scene where Pitch goes down the chimney, the chimney that Pitch goes down moves.

Quotes:

Santa Claus: Oh! Darn that Devil Pitch! Why, if I were on Earth right now, I'd put him in his place! But even he knows I can only return to Earth one night a year.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Devil Doll (#9.18)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Danza del Infierno

Santo vs. a wicked but ineffectual demon

Every once and again, a producer takes a simple, appealing little idea and runs amok with it. The middle-1970s were largely the official stumbling block for "childrens movies" designed to offer gentle, non-hip entertainment. Now, even Disney-produced films can have touches of low humor and things that parents of the 1950s would take exception to.

However, in 1959, there was still time for an unsophisticated storyline. The best years of Rankin-Bass lay ahead, and -- down in Mexico -- work was being completed on a slightly outre' Christmas film.

SANTA CLAUS emerges in the 1990s as a "party film," simply on the merits of some of the more bizarre elements, which include the fabled Jolly Old Elf spying on unaware children with a sophisticated, wiggly telescope eye, a minor demon tormenting Santa with a toy missile launcher, and far more elfin magic than is good for you.

In his castle (literally) in the clouds, Santa and a gaggle of "typical" children (a Mexican boy, a somewhat Germanic girl and an all-American cowboy Norte Americano) are busily getting the good on the unwary children of the world. In spite of a minor flaw with his mobile spy eye, Santo deftly homes in on a little girl who has no means to get that doll she's been wanting.

You realize, of course, that she'll get it...

In the meantime, down in suburban Heck, the devil sends wicked, somewhat able Pitch to Earth to stonewall Santa's Christmas dealings. Pitch is essentially warned that he'd better not screw this job up. At this point, I think we all see where all this is heading.

Santo arrives on Earth in a vaguely sci-fi sleigh. He bedevils a couple of nasty boys who heckle the waif, and we see her tormented with guilt as Pitch tries to engineer her stealing of a doll.

Of course, she instinctively does the right thing, which leaves Pitch at loose ends. Having been a wee bit short of the task of corrupting a 5 year-old child, he turns on Santa. There follow a few extremely humiliating scenes of the demon trying to do something significant.

Santa wins, Pitch loses.

How do you analyze a film like this? It plays exclusively on a "feel good" emotional level, with no sophistication in plot or execution. For the very young, it will probably play well (a public domain video version was market in the U.S. some years ago). For the older viewers, I'd suggest the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, which mercilessly homes in on each and every bizarre or particularly weak point.