During the Depression, a family struggles to get by, expecting another Christmas without presents until their father brings home a dollar for them to spend on gifts.
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Title: Christmas for a Dollar (2013)
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Cast
| Credited cast: | |||
| Brian Krause | ... | William Kamp | |
| Nancy Stafford | ... | Mrs. Rathbone | |
| Danielle C. Ryan | ... | Verna Kamp (as Danielle Chuchran) | |
| Heather Beers | ... | Miss Mayfield | |
| James Gaisford | ... | Warren Kamp | |
| Jacob Buster | ... | Norman Kamp | |
| Ruby Jones | ... | Ruthie Kamp | |
 |
Ethan Hunt | ... | Russel Kamp |
| Melanie Stone | ... | Helen | |
|
|
Liam Buie | ... | Karl |
|
|
Grace Hallows | ... | Mae |
| Skyler M. Day | ... | Esther | |
| Bruce Newbold | ... | Mr. Mueller | |
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
|
|
Dalek Atkinson | ... | Henry |
|
|
Ron Brough | ... | Minister |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
America is in the midst of the Depression, and the Kamp family is struggling to get by, especially after Mrs. Kamp's untimely death. Now little Ruthie, with her mother gone and her father overwhelmed by doctor bills resulting from her brother s polio, expects another Christmas without presents or festivities. But when her father brings home one dollar in change and lets the children use it to buy special gifts for each other, the Kamps come to find that money isn't what fills Christmas with joy, love, and miracles. Written by Covenant Communications
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
15 December 2013 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Christmas for a Dollar See more »Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Color:
Color
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Mrs. Rathbone: It's just, you remind me of myself, when I was your age.
Mrs. Rathbone: Oh, that's awful.
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Norman Kamp (Jacob Buster) & the town bully, Lenny (Christopher Buster) are real life siblings. See more »Goofs
Ordinary young girls did not wear jeans or any kind of pants during the Great Depression. Looks like no effort at all was made to make this period piece look like a period piece. See more »Quotes
Ruthie Kamp: What's so funny?Mrs. Rathbone: It's just, you remind me of myself, when I was your age.
Mrs. Rathbone: Oh, that's awful.
See more »
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Although done on a low budget with a mostly unknown cast Christmas On A Dollar set in the Depression years has a Walton kind of appeal to it. It also has a bit of O Henry's Gift Of The Magi in the story.
The plot concerns the Kamp family in rural America of the Thirties. There's Brian Krause and his six children trying to cope with both hard times and the recent loss of Mom. Oldest daughter Danielle Chuchran is playing the role Mom for the others. A situation that can be cruel. I know from my own family my grandmother lost her mother at a much younger and she got to raise her two younger brothers, one of whom died as a child. It scarred her for life and she was one mean and bitter woman by the time I came on the scene.
But mostly this concerns Jacob Buster one of the younger kids who has polio and of course with no health insurance and that's what's really crippling the family finances as well. Anti-Vaxxers ought to take a real good look at this film and what that can do. I also remember from my childhood the lineup at my school for the polio vaccine in the 50s.
Buster has a lot of day dreams about being a cowboy hero fueled by a horse that neighbor Nancy Stafford owns. But riding is difficult when you are in a leg brace.
This film was done under Christian auspices and believers will go away hearts aglow with this family's faith and the love and support they have for each other. I looked at this film and see how could these things happen in a modern age. Ironically this film is set during the 30s a most reforming age.
Now we Americans are in the hands of people who want no safety net either economic or medically for people just like the Kamps. That fact truly makes me weep.
Watch Christmas On A Dollar and see how it effects you.