One user comment contains an error that should be rectified. The character of Steve, played by George Murphy, is not the child's (Flavia's) father. His original relationship to the family is unclear, but he's a potential uncle, and the point is that he is a big favorite of this little girl's. Flavia's father appears early in the film, very briefly. He appears to be a music teacher. Steve is unmarried, and one of the major themes in the movie concerns whether he and Susan (the unbelievably pretty Angela Landsbury) can build up a life together after he has been released from prison.
Maybe my tolerance for smaltz is higher, I don't find the film to be that cheezy or obvious. It's hard for children to know the difference between fact and fiction, how fiction is often truer in spirit than facts, and how stories help get us through rotten times. (If you notice, Flavia's mother uses stories mostly to console the child).
Christmas stories are supposed to be schamltzy, aren't they?
Maybe my tolerance for smaltz is higher, I don't find the film to be that cheezy or obvious. It's hard for children to know the difference between fact and fiction, how fiction is often truer in spirit than facts, and how stories help get us through rotten times. (If you notice, Flavia's mother uses stories mostly to console the child).
Christmas stories are supposed to be schamltzy, aren't they?