I cannot hear the song O Christmas Tree without thinking about a TV Christmas movie my mom and I saw in the 1970s. It was called The House Without A Christmas Tree and although I forgot the storyline, the actors and the name, the overall mood of the film has stayed with me for 35 years.
Starring Jason Robards, Mildred Natwick, and Lisa Lucas, the movie is set in rural Nebraska in the 1940s. It’s about a widower (Robards) and his refusal to have display a Christmas Tree and the impact this has on his 10-year-old daughter Addie (Lucas).
I’ve searched for The House Without A Christmas Tree for years. I just now discovered that the movie came out on VHS in 1996. It’s available on DVD from Amazon for around $13. It’s also been uploaded it in eight parts to YouTube.
Favorite Christmas Movies
Some of our favorite Christmas movies are Little Women, Christmas With The Kranks, and all the Rankin and Bass productions. Our very favorite, however, (at least speaking for those in the house over age 13) is The Family Stone. Surprisingly, this film has not really made it into the annual Christmas favorites category. I have no idea why because it makes us laugh and cry every time we see it.
Anyway, if you’re looking for something new to watch this Christmas, I highly recommend checking out The House Without A Christmas Tree. As one reviewer explains,
“It’s not sentimental and the payoff is low-key, muted and realistic; the antithesis of Miracle on 34th Street and It’s A Wonderful Life.”
I think the same can also be said for The Family Stone.
What is your favorite Christmas movie? Have you ever seen House Without A Christmas Tree?
A young girl named Addie, living in Nebraska in 1946, wants nothing more for the holidays than a Christmas tree, but her widowed father is bitter and refuses due to events from the family's past.
My favorite Christmas movie would have to be the Scrooge one, like Yogi!!!!. I also love that movie where the little boy is told he cannot get a BB gun for Christmas because “it will shoot out your eye.”–and then he gets the BB gun on Christmas morning under the tree. And the parents and the kid are so unsaintly and endearing. What IS the name of that movie?
Yes, Elf is with Will Ferrell, so funny to watch my son imitate him. Here is a little tribute:
http://www.territorymom.com/2011/11/yes-sweetie-ed-asner-is-real-santa.html
@YOGI I like those, too!
@TERRITORY MOM – I love Prancer! Is Elf the one with Will WhatsHisName? Where he squirts syrup on spagetti and makes me throw up a little. haha!
@JUNKDRAWER67 – Gremlins – I totally forgot that had a Christmas aspect. I need to rewatch that. I’m thinking Phoebe Cates was in that maybe. That’s a great list. I like Home for the Holidays, too. “If I met you on the street and you gave me your phone number I’d throw it away.” Ugh.
I have the VHS of this because I wanted to make sure my kids could see it one day. I need to get the DVD. You know my favorite is the Walton’s Homecoming. Sometimes I watch it in July. I do love Prancer, Sam Elliott never gets old. My kids do love their Elf. If you think Elf is funny watching your kids watch Elf is even funnier. Have a great day.
Just watched The Family Stone this morning. Awesome movie. Never gets old. Of course not nearly as ubiquitous as, say, Elf or A Christmas Story or It’s A Wonderful Life, but still a must see holiday film, as many times as possible.
I place Family Stone in same category with Home for the Holidays, and not just because they both have Clare Danes in them. They just seem to go together. I never let the holidays pass without seeing both.
But all time favorite is still It’s A Wonderful Life. I doubt that will ever change.
Scrooged is good too. And my daughter and I both love Gremlins, which I know a lot of people don’t think of as a Christmas movie but it is, in both setting and themes. Check it out if you don’t believe me.
We still love White Christmas and Christmas Story. I personally love Scrooged.