First up is Christmas Eve, a 1986 made-for-TV movie. Yes, this "really don't like post-1960's movies" gal is recommending a film from 1986. That's because it stars two classic movie greats...Loretta Young and Trevor Howard. And I must say this...Loretta Young aged beautifully and gracefully. She was 74 years old in Christmas Eve..and looking beautiful and elegant.
Briefly, the story is as follows: Amanda Kingsley (Loretta Young) is a wealthy, somewhat eccentric widow, who lives in a posh New York apartment with her butler, Maitland (Trevor Howard, who was 73 years old in this film). Amanda has a 50-ish son, Andrew (Arthur Hill), and three adult grandchildren. Because Arthur is a cold-hearted, money-and-power-hungry, controlling man, he has long been alienated from his children. Due to their dislike of him, they have all moved away. Though they love their grandmother, they haven't seen her in years because they don't want to come in contact with their dad.
This particular year, however, as Amanda's health begins to decline, she hopes to unite the family in her apartment on Christmas Eve. At the same time, though, Andrew, tired of his mother's generous giving to the less fortunate, intends to have her declared mentally incompetent.
Will Amanda's fondest wish come true? Will she be able to track down her grandchildren? Will she be able to convince them to come home for Christmas? Will Andrew be successful in having Amanda declared incompetent? How it all plays out is the focus of this touching movie.
I found this clip on YouTube...just see how totally gorgeous Loretta Young was at 74 years of age!!
I remember watching this movie when it aired on TV back in 1986. I was 25 years old, newly married, and absolutely NOT into classic movies. (At that point in my life, I was completely about all things modern!) However, I was extremely close to my grandparents and had even lived with them for a few years before getting married. And they, of course, having been born in the 1910s, were very much into classic movies. (From the recesses of my mind I can recall that Ray Milland was my grandmother's top guy...wouldn't she love to know that Milland makes my top dozen list!). Anyhow, my grandmother was beyond excited about the TV movie...it would be the first film appearance of Loretta Young in years. Though I didn't know the names Loretta Young and Trevor Howard from Adam, because I loved my grandmother, I was willing to watch the movie with her, and I remember really enjoying it and being touched by it.
Fast forward to the mid 2000's. I had gotten into classic movies and was looking for Christmas movies. After watching (and totally loving!) The Bishop's Wife, Loretta Young was on my mind, and from the stores of my long-term memory, Christmas Eve came forth. Though I hadn't thought about this movie in all those years, I remembered that Loretta Young was in a made-for-TV Christmas movie in 1986. I did a search and found that the film was out on VHS...and my local library had a copy. So, for four years (2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009), our family enjoyed this tender and touching film as part of our holiday viewing. Sadly, though, this film is not out on DVD and since our VHS player bit the dust in December, 2009, we were not able to enjoy this beautiful movie last year. (Additionally, our library has purged their VHS collection, so even if our player worked, the movie is no longer in their inventory.)
For those that have a working VHS player, I highly recommend trying to track down this movie. It is really beautiful...and those that love classic movies will enjoy seeing two wonderful stars in their twilight years. In preparing this post, I have discovered that Lost Holiday Classics (HERE) has this film available on DVD, but I don't know if that is a reputable site or what the quality of the DVD is. Even so, though, I love this movie, so I think I'm going to take a chance on purchasing through them...because Christmas movie viewing just isn't the same without it.
By the way, I see used VHS copies available through Amazon. And of the 12 reviews posted there, 11 of them call this a 5-star film; the other review calls it a 4-star. Very definitely, a must-see holiday movie!!
ADDENDUM: Since this post, I have purchased through this company, and I am completely satisfied with their service and quality. (I purchased the Robert Ryan film, Inferno, so read that review HERE, which contains a link to the company's non-holiday movies.)
SECOND ADDENDUM: Because I am completely comfortable with the quality and reliability of Rare Classic DVD's, I have ordered several films from them...including Christmas Eve. This beloved film is now, once again, a regular part of my family's holiday viewing.
Happy viewing!!