Wonderland Burlesque's
Let's All Go To The Movies
Truly Gifted, Part II
Last week, it was all about the big screen. This week? The little screen get's it due.
Today, we look at made-for-television movies that contain that magical word - 'gift'.
Now, the graphics may not measure up to the standards of major motion pictures, but, on occasion, the stars do indeed turn out.
So, let's turn on the boob tube and take a look at these frequently holiday-themed classics.
The Gift Of The Magi
(1958)
(A musical adaptation of the O. Henry story about a poor newlywed couple who sell their cherished possessions (her hair, his watch) in an attempt to give the other a Christmas gift (combs for her hair, a bob for his watch). Starring Gordon McCrae and Sally Anne Howes with music and lyrics by Richard Adler.)
(Adler, with Jerry Ross, wrote the scores for the Broadway musicals The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees. Their partnership ended when Ross was diagnosed with leukemia and died. That was also the end of Adler's Broadway career. He wrote the score for this television production for one very special reason... at the time, Sally Ann Howes was his wife.)
(Howes is best known for the role of Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 musical film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In 1963, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for her performance in Brigadoon.)
(They even released the soundtrack as an album.)
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The Girl Who Came Gift-Wrapped
(1974)
(A small-town beauty queen goes to the city in search of a husband. As a joke, she is hired as a birthday present for a magazine publisher. Hilarity, misunderstandings and romance quickly follow.)
(Stars Karen Valentine, Richard Long, Tom Bosley of Happy Days fame and a then fairly unknown Farrah Fawcett.)
(The critics weren't kind and the show failed to find an audience. "Should have been returned to sender", wrote the Los Angeles Times. Ratings were described as "subpar.")
(Karen Valentine was briefly a TV 'It' girl, adored for her girl-next-door flair. She starred in the ABC comedy/drama series Room 222 from 1969 to 1974, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1970, and received a Golden Globe Award nomination in 1971. She also appeared as the female lead in a pair of Disney comedies in the late 70's.)
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The Greatest Gift
(1974)
(In the 1940's, an impoverished country preacher struggling to support his family meets with opposition from a group of self-righteous church deacons and a violent, bullying small town sheriff.)
(Starring Glenn Ford and Julie Harris, this served as the pilot for NBC's Waltons-like The Family Holvak.)
(Glenn Ford had a long and lengthy career on the big screen, appearing opposite such stars as Rita Hayworth in Gilda, Bette Davis in A Stolen Life, and Gloria Graham in The Big Heat. He and Hayworth appeared together in five films.)
(Lance Kerwin was a teen heart throb for a time. Primarily a television actor, his serious acting roles often dealt with anguished characters facing difficult challenges, such as in The Loneliest Runner, The Boy Who Drank Too Much, and Children of Divorce.)
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The Gift of Love
1978
(Set in in 1890's New York, a wealthy girl falls in love with a penniless immigrant.)
(O. Henry wrote the story that just keeps giving... this retelling of The Gift Of The Magi stars Marie Osmond, Timothy Bottoms, James Woods and the lovely June Lockhart and aired on aired on ABC on December 5, 1978.)
(Timothy Bottoms made a name for himself as an actor, starring in 1971's Johnny's Got A Gun and The Last Picture Show, and 1973's The Paper Chase. Later in life, because of his close resemblance to and his ability to imitate his voice, Bottoms was cast as George W. Bush in three very different productions.)
(June Lockhart enjoyed time on both the big and little screen, but it's television programs like Lassie and Lost In Space that made her a household name.)
(Marie Osmond has long been a tabloid writer's dream. She married three times, twice to the same man. She briefly dated Erik Estrada and Andy Gibb before settling down. She has three biological children and five adopted children - one of whom committed suicide by jumping off a building in 2010. In March 2020 she stated that she will leave her fortune to charity upon her death stating that it would be a disservice to her children to leave the money to them noting that they need to make their own money!
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The Gift Of The Magi
(1978)
(Another O. Henry musical adaptation, this one starring Debby Boone and John Rubenstein with Peter Graves, Jim Backus, Alan Young and JoAnne Worley rounding out the cast. It aired on NBC on December 21, 1978, during the same holiday season as Marie Osmond's version of the familiar story.)
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The Gift
1979
(Set in 1950's era Brooklyn, this CBS holiday drama, based on a novel by Pete Hamill, tells the story of a sailor on leave who returns home for the holidays in order to reconcile his relationship with his emotionally-distant, one-legged, alcoholic father and his mother, who lives in total denial. Starring Glenn Ford, Family's Gary Frank, Julie Harris and Kevin Bacon.)
(I had such a crush on blond, curly-haired Gary Frank, who played the pessimistic Willie on the weekly television drama Family. Even at that young age, I was pretty sure that a sleepover at my house would turn his frown upside down.)
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The Gift Of Life
(1982)
(Starring Susan Dey, whom I also had a huge crush on. I thought she was absolutely beautiful and a very good actress. Also starring Paul Le Mat and the always reliable Cassie Yates.)
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The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story
(1983)
(With the holidays fast approaching, a woman struggles with a life in turmoil. She not only loses her mother and the family business, she also feels estranged from her children. It's only when faced with an even bigger challenge that she, in accordance with the season, delves deep within to find true joy and meaning in her life.)
(Star power is in big supply for this holiday offering. Starring Lee Remick, Polly Holliday and Angela Lansbury, this CBS drama originally aired on December 20, 1983. It was so popular, it became an annual event, airing the next five holiday seasons.)
(Star power was also plentiful behind the scenes - it was written by The Walton's creator Earl Hammer, Jr. and directed by Delbert Mann who won an Academy Award for Best Director for the 1955 film Marty.)
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The Christmas Gift
(1986)
(This CBS holiday drama stars John Denver, Malcom In The Middle's Jan Kaczmarek, Murphy Brown's Pat Corey and the amazing Mary Wickes.)
(This served as Denver's first acting role since 1977's Oh, God!. He took the role... "because it was the perfect opportunity to ease back into acting; it is a light, warm tale of human relationships. I waited for something that I felt really good about and turned down a lot of scripts over the years. I've been very picky about acting projects and, in retrospect, I made a big mistake a few years ago when I turned down the Zack Mayo role - played by Richard Gere - in An Officer and a Gentleman. It was mostly due to my naivete; I couldn't envision the final product from the initial script.")
(Can you imagine John Denver as the lead in An Officer And A Gentleman?)
(Sadly, no Muppets appear in this production.)
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Roots: The Gift
(1988)
(It is Christmas 1775 in the American South and a free black man is helping slaves escape via an underground network. When he is captured, it puts the lives of many of those fleeing in danger.)
(Happy Holidays?)
(Third installment of the Roots mini series. LeVar Burton and Louis Gossett Jr. reprise their respective roles of Kunta Kinte and Fiddler in a cast that also includes Michael Learned, Kate Mulgrew and Shaun Cassidy.)
(I remember when the original Roots premiered and TV Guide featured a picture of LeVar Burton wearing next to nothing. That picture got me so hot and bothered, it was spank bank material for years.)
(Yes, I was a messed up little kid.)
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And that's all for now.
Tune in next week...
Same time, same channel!
A Christmas Together - John Denver and Kermit The Frog
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