It Happened One Christmas (1977) (TV)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Donald Wrye

Writers:

Philip Van Doren Stern (story) and
Frank Capra (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 December 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy

Plot:

This reworking of the 1947 classic "It's A Wonderful Life" has a woman whose life is coming apart despairingly wish that she had never been born...

Plot Keywords:

Angel | Remake Of Cult Classic | Remake | Christmas | Color Remake Of Black And White Film

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys.

Cast

Marlo Thomas	...	Mary Bailey Hatch
Orson Welles	...	Henry F. Potter
Wayne Rogers	...	George Hatch
Cloris Leachman	...	Clara Oddbody
Barney Martin	...	Uncle Willie
Karen Carlson	...	Violet
Dick O'Neill	...	Mr. Gower
Doris Roberts	...	Ma Bailey
Cliff Norton	...	Martini
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dan Barrows	...	Toll Keeper
James Brodhead	...	Bank Examiner
Ceil Cabot	...	Cousin Tillie
Gino Conforti	...	Sassini
Richard Dysart	...	Peter Bailey
Robert Emhardt	...	Judge
Med Flory	...	Nick
Rita George	...	Helen Bailey
Christopher Guest	...	Harry Bailey
Archie Hahn	...	Ernie Baker
C. Thomas Howell
Jim Lovelett	...	Sam Wainwright
Linda Lee Lyons	...	Zuzu Hatch
Bryan O'Byrne	...	Doctor
Morgan Upton	...	Officer Bert Andrews
Lynn Woodlock	...	Mary, age 12

Runtime:

USA:109 min (excluding commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills High School - 241 Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Daisy Productions

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (#4.21)" (1991)

Weird enough to merit showing and DVD release

I saw "It Happened One Christmas" in about 1978, I think on Christmas Eve, while sitting alone waiting for my wife to get off work and join me for the holiday. I hadn't seen Marlo Thomas since the original airing of "That Girl" in the '60s. It was wierdly fun to see her on something, and I had never seen nor heard of Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life." Later when I did see "It's a Wonderful Life," I immediately connected the story to that of "It Happened One Christmas," and thought it was scandalous how the original had been ripped off, and how geeky it was by comparison to the classic it had been "appropriated" from.

Today I wish I could find the knock-off on DVD. Now that I've seen Capra's original so many times, it would be fun to see the Marlo Thomas version again, if for no other reason than to bring back the nostalgic feeling of that evening that I first saw it. I remember that I was very touched by the story that night, geekiness of the treatment notwithstanding (or perhaps partly because of it!), and that it contributed to setting me up emotionally for a very special Christmas holiday with my spouse.