Played the first half of the Little House on the Prairie Christmas DVD, one of my favorite holiday stories, "Christmas at Plum Creek." Call it "Little House meets O. Henry." To my complete surprise, not having seen the unedited version since it ran on NBC 29 years ago (!!!!), the "professional copy" I had on VHS from Goodtimes was edited! Two entire scenes following the Ingalls' family visit to the general store in the beginning were missing; my tape cuts in on the action back at the little house where Carrie asks what Christmas is. There also is a missing scene where Laura asks Pa how he knew how to make a fish trap. Some "professional copy"!
I haven't had the chance to play the second selection on the DVD. The first takes place during the Ingalls' first Christmas in Walnut Grove. I was a bit taken aback when they showed the family with a Christmas tree, when family trees did not become common in this country until several years later unless you were of German descent. The real Laura Ingalls saw her first Christmas tree as a teenager at a Sunday School gathering. But the story is so sweet that I can overlook the fact; Little House the TV series only barely touched the real Ingalls' family life anyway. The second story, "A Christmas They Never Forgot," takes place after Laura and Almanzo Wilder are married and the entire family is snowed in at the Ingalls' little house. They take turns telling stories about memorable holidays. Aside from the "Mr. Edwards meets Santa Claus" sequence that they took from the series' pilot movie, my favorite sequence was Hester Sue's story of her father donning a Santa suit borrowed from his master to prove that "Santa Claus isn't just for white children." Unfortunately the sequence about Caroline resenting her stepfather until he gives her a pretty gift irritated me no end. Caroline and her family were actually struggling when Frederick Holbrook married her mother and while they were unsure of him, they knew he was a good man. A pioneer child would have never been allowed to sass any adult the way Caroline did in the story.
Of course I waited for James to play A Christmas Story. We both love the story of Ralph Parker and his quest to receive a Red Ryder BB-gun for the holidays. This story reminded me so much of my childhood the first time I saw it that it made me homesick: like Ralphie I grew up in a solid working class neighborhood, attended a junior high school that is the spitting image of Ralph's grade school, and occasionally had wonderfully snowy Christmases. The fact that Ralphie's childhood and my own were about 25 years apart mattered not one whit: he listed to radio programs, I watched TV; he wanted a rifle, I just wanted more books; his dad fought with a furnace, mine with a snowblower; he stood up to recite in school and I did not...all the textures of warm home, schoolmates, bullies, teachers, department stores at Christmas, holiday preparations, and daydreams are exactly the same.
The DVD comes with an amusing commentary track with Peter Billingsly and director Bob Clark talking about how they did various sequences--that is the real Higbees in downtown Cleveland and real downtown Cleveland streets with authentic decorations, for instance--and how shots cut from studio sets to exteriors in a totally different place. A short documentary features Peter Billingsly--who has grown up from what my sister-in-law refers to as "that ugly fat kid" (???? I never thought he was ugly) into a very nice looking fellow, still with those stunning blue eyes--and the actors who played Flick, Schwartz, and Scut Farkus talking about the movie, and there's also a hilarous bit about the leg lamp--do you know you can buy a leg lamp? I saw them at Media Play. And the film is letterboxed, finally!
Monday I sat down and watched The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, so that I could toss the receipt from Amazon.com. No commentary on this, more's the pity, since it's my favorite Christmas story. There are bits about the filming in Earl Hamner's book Good-Night John-Boy, but not anywhere near as many stories as I wanted. What's Mary Ellen saying under Jim-Bob and Elizabeth talking in the loft, for example? She's saying something more than "natter natter grommish grommish." Why did they pick Fibber McGee and Molly as the radio program the Waltons were listening to, as this was done for CBS television and the McGees were on NBC? I suspect availability as the main reason, but it would be interesting to know.
(Interestingly enough, I've discovered the Waltons must have a time-traveling radio. The Homecoming takes place in 1932. Fibber McGee and Molly didn't premiere until 1935. Doesn't bother me; I just think it's amusing.)
The movie does come with a little interesting bit: the CBS "bumper" that came with the movie when it was originally broadcast: clips from the movie with the announcer presenting the title, the two stars Patricia Neal and Richard Thomas, and the tag "the story of a family and a Christmas Eve that changed their life forever." Cool to see it again.
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