Mrs. Santa Claus (1996)

Neglected by her husband during the pre-Christmas rush, Mrs. Claus takes the reindeer and sleigh out for a drive, only to end up stranded in the multicultural neighborhood of Manhattan's ... See full summary »

Director:

Terry Hughes

Writer:

Mark Saltzman

Stars:

Angela Lansbury, Michael Jeter, Terrence Mann

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Neglected by her husband during the pre-Christmas rush, Mrs. Claus takes the reindeer and sleigh out for a drive, only to end up stranded in the multicultural neighborhood of Manhattan's Lower East Side of the early 1900s.

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Plot Keywords:

original music | female protagonist | children | manhattan new york city | husband wife relationship | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 December 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Mãe Natal

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hallmark Entertainment,Corymore Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (as Dolby SurroundTM)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Establishing the 1910-1912 era was a major decision for the costuming, because Terry Hughes had also suggested the 1919-1920's to establish the period musical. The '20's meant the Flapper period in costuming. Bob Mackie determined the "teens" was a better period "skirt look" than the '20's shorter hem line which would effect Angela's appearance, hair and wardrobe. Bob Mackie's Christmas green and red costume color palette dramatically determined the set's color range. Production Designer Hub Braden was confronted with the Universal Studios New York back-lot exteriors' color condition. The previous film company using the NY Street had painted all the exteriors in fresh coats of "city slicker contemporary" whites, grays, bright paint colors. New York City research for 1910 established "a look for" the NY City streets' building facades awash with a coal dust dirty patina. Specific building facades-exteriors chosen were repainted with variations of warm values either in muted rose or mistletoe green shades, alternating with beige and the color of "reindeer tan" shades. Iron fire-escapes added to the exterior buildings for cast members to be elevated above the street level for the production value in the musical street choreographed marches and dancing patterns. Establishing a conglomeration of Irish, Italian and Jewish neighborhood celebrating the holiday spirit, strings of bare bulbs were strung across the streets. With period Street Lamps, to justify a source light for all the night filming. 1910 dictated horse drawn wagons, carts, carriages instead of vintage motorized vehicles. The December snow required more selected areas for set dressing effects, which included watered down streets from melting snow... allowing planes of water pools reflecting for camera angles. Rehearsing the group marchers for the women's suffrage liberation issues were scheduled for morning activities, with summer morning temperatures near mid-90 to 100 degrees. Progressive filming of the street sequences required much patience for both cast, crowd and dance extras, animals, crew, and production personnel. Scheduling the day and night street filming became a critical lighting factor because of temperature, the sun and shadow path angles reflected for the point of view shooting direction for the multiple - main camera, for second and third camera positions.

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Goofs

Mrs. Santa Claus says, "Oh, team, we've done it - 1910 is a record year." The U.S. was comprised of just 46 states in 1910. But in the suffrage parade, people are carrying an unfurled American flag that has 48 stars. New Mexico joined the Union in January 1912 and Arizona joined in February of that year.

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Quotes

Man in Santa Suit: [as boy drops money in a donation bucket] Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas. Thank you, young man.
Mrs. Santa Claus: [taps him on the shoulder] It's a very worthy cause dear but, uh, the boots are not quite right.

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

Time For A Vote
Music and Lyric by Jerry Herman
Performed by Grace Keagy, Linda Kerns, Angela Lansbury, Debra Wiseman, and company

User Reviews

Delightful Musical Production!

This is about the finest made-for-TV Musical I have seen Angela Lansbury in! I can easily visualize this on the stage. I think in the past her talent has suffered from small production budgets but thankfully, that's not the case with this show. Everything is top drawer. This doesn't have the complexity of a drama but that's not the point. This show succeeds nicely at what it sets out to be: a fun, holiday romp. Kudos to her step-son, David Shaw as the Executive Producer.