The House Without a Christmas Tree (1972) (TV)

Director:

Paul Bogart

Writers:

Eleanor Perry
Gail Rock (book)

Release Date:

3 December 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young girl named Addie, living in Nebraska in 1946, wants nothing more for the holidays than a Christmas tree, but her widowed father is bitter and refuses due to events from the family's past. |

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Holiday | Tree | Family Relationships | Father Daughter Relationship

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Jason Robards	...	Jamie Mills
Mildred Natwick	...	Grandma Mills
Lisa Lucas	...	Addie Mills
Kathryn Walker	...	Miss Thompson
Alexa Kenin	...	Carla Mae
Murray Westgate	...	Mr. Brady, the druggist
Maya Kenin	...	Mrs. Cott (as Maya Kenin Ryan)
Brady McNamara	...	Billy Wild (as Brady MacNamara)
Gail Dunsome	...	Gloria Cott
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Patricia Hamilton	...	Narrator (uncredited)

Directed by
Paul Bogart

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Eleanor Perry
Gail Rock		book

Produced by
Alan Shayne	....	producer

Original Music by
Arthur B. Rubinstein		(as Arthur Rubinstein)

Film Editing by
Ed.J. Brennan		(video tape) (as Ed J. Brennan)

Art Direction by
Ben Edwards

Costume Design by
Jane Greenwood

Production Management
John Delmage	....	unit manager (as John A. Delmage)

Art Department
David Jaquest	....	property master

Sound Department
John Grimsditch	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Barney Stewart	....	lighting director

Casting Department
Karen Hazzard	....	casting

Other crew
Joan Chilcott	....	production assistant
Maurie Jackson	....	technical director
Don MacAdam	....	video
Norman Sunshine	....	collages
Gerry Wilkinson	....	floor manager

Production Companies

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1992-1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Domestic Television (1998-2005) (USA) (all media)
• Paramount Home Video (1998-2007) (USA) (VHS)
• CBS Paramount Domestic Television (2005-) (USA) (all media)
• Paramount Home Video (2007-) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

75 min (excluding commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: There is a painted backdrop of the school visible through Addie's kitchen door in at least one scene. However, the outdoor location shooting shows that the school was located in quite another direction from her house; there's no way it could have been seen through her kitchen door in that shot.

Quotes:

Jamie Mills:[James comes home from work and finds the tree] Where in hell did that come from!
Addie Mills:I won it!
Jamie Mills:...Think I take charity, do you? Dragging stuff down the street, making people think we take castoffs, like some bums!
Grandma Mills:James, that tree's not hurting anything.
Jamie Mills:I do *not* take charity!
Addie Mills:It wasn't charity, Dad. It was the prize in a contest at school.
Jamie Mills:If I want a tree, I can damn well buy it myself!
Grandma Mills:She's the one who wants it, not you.
Jamie Mills:She has to learn that she can't have everything she wants, not in this life. *I* don't have everything *I* want. When I was ten, do you think I dreamed of working a crane fifty weeks a year? I'd like to go somewhere, and sit in the sun, and forget both of you!
[Addie bolts out of the room, visibly stung]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Thanksgiving Treasure (1973) (TV)

Superb rendition of a classic story

CBS was known, in the old days, for it's quality adaptations of literature, be it classic or contemporary. As a child of the 60's and 70's, I remember all of these with great warmth, but none more than "The House Without a Christmas Tree" (except possibly for "J.T.", the story of the little boy and his cat). This is a simply told story, but it shines with an inner light. Lisa Lucas plays Addie, a 10 year old girl who lives with her widowed father and his mother in Clear River, Nebraska during the late 40's. Her father is still terribly torn apart over the death of his wife, so torn apart that he can't stand to celebrate Christmas and remember how happy he was when she was alive. To this end, he won't allow a Christmas tree in the house. Addie is determined that she will have a tree this year, and tries every minute she can to weedle him into getting one.

There are true emotions in this film; Addie is hurt by her father's seeming indifference to her, and doesn't understand why he won't buy a tree. He can't bring himself to explain, so these two headstrong people continually clash. Addie's grandmother softens what she can, but her son won't listen to her. He is sometimes cruel to his daughter, to hide his own wounded feelings. He and Addie come to a truce of sorts at the end, but it's not a neatly wrapped up conclusion, and it feels just like a real father-daughter relationship. Jason Robards is devastating as the father. His eyes are so expressive; the pain bleeds out of them, and just as conversely the love he truly does feel for Addie also shows in them. Mildred Natwick is just fine as the grandmother. She is the warm, comfy composite of every grandmother who ever lived, but she also adds a bite to the character that is refreshing. The Nebraska setting does just as much to enhance the story.

This was broadcast in 1972 on CBS, and not shown again till Disney picked it up in the very early 80's, along with the other two movies taken from Gail Rock's wonderful reminiscences of growing up in rural Nebraska, "The Thanksgiving Treasure" and "Addie and the King of Hearts". This film is available on VHS tape, and is highly recommended for the whole family. My own children always adored it.