Mrs. Santa Claus (1996) (TV)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Terry Hughes

Writer:

Mark Saltzman (written by)

Release Date:

8 December 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Musical

Plot:

Neglected by her husband during the pre-Christmas rush, Mrs. Santa Claus takes the reindeer and sleigh out for a drive...

Plot Keywords:

Santa Claus | Christmas | Strike | New York City | Women's Suffrage

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 5 nominations

Cast

Angela Lansbury	...	Mrs. Santa Claus
Michael Jeter	...	Arvo
Terrence Mann	...	Augustus P. Tavish
Lynsey Bartilson	...	Nora Kilkenny
Bryan Murray	...	Officer Doyle
David Norona	...	Marcello Damaroco (as David Noroña)
Debra Wiseman	...	Sadie Lowenstein
Charles Durning	...	Santa Claus
Rosalind Harris	...	Mrs. Lowenstein
Grace Keagy	...	Mrs. Brandenheim
Linda Kerns	...	Mrs. Shaughnessy
Chachi Pittman	...	Izzy (as Chachi Pittmann)
Sabrina Bryan	...	Fritzie
Bret Easterling	...	Emilio
Mitchah Williams	...	Henry

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Hayvenhurst Studios - 7017 Hayvenhurst Avenue, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Corymore Productions

Quotes:

Marcello Damaroco: The police's man ball is tonight, and I was wondering if... you were going to be there.
Sadie Lowenstein: I'm more fonder of marching than I am of parties.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Angela Lansbury: A Balancing Act" (1998)

SPECTACULAR

This is a quality musical movie, with another ten star score from the great Jerry Herman, my favorite composer. Most others have said many of the things I wanted to say here, so I'll just say don't miss it. Someone questioned why politics were added. In Lansbury's biography, she states that she turned down the role at first because it was too "fluffy" and when they added the human rights thing she was more interested.

Composer Jerry Herman was very ill with HIV at the time this was being filmed. She also did this as a favor to him. He really wanted her to do the TV movie of MAME, saying that she was still able to pull it off, but she felt she was too old for the role, and so to do something for her friend, she did this musical, and I am glad she did this (although MAME would have been awesome, and finally a good movie).

The score, orchestrations are 10 out of 10, the only problem I had was with a few of the special effects, I felt they could have been a notch better.

Lansbury and Durning are excellent. This is a great 2 hour experience of the kind of movie that is so rare, and it works because of all of the broadway talent involved, that's who should be making musicals. Director Rob Marshall (Chicago) did the choreography and that's superb.

Great movie, great cast, great music! The DVD also has a great but short "making of." on it, the DVD is definitely in my collection! I wish some of Herman's other shows were good movies, Hello Dolly being the only good one, my opinion of course. There's The Grand Tour, Dear World, La Cage Aux Folles, Milk and Honey and Mack and Mabel, great musicals without being filmed.