The Quest Begins

Last year, Philadelphia radio DJ Helen Leicht of WXPN posted a message on the station's Bulletin Boards, looking for a copy of The Christmas Tree. This was actually the first time I became aware that it was not available on video. These days, it seems like everything is.

Unfortunately, she had no luck getting a copy of the film. So, the other day, she posted again about the movie, and thus, inspired this site.

My purpose here is to make more people aware of this film, and hopefully, motivate its distributor to take it out of the vault and release it for broadcast and on DVD. I'm going to add links about it, its cast & creative team, the book which inspired it, and, just maybe, what people can do to get this film back in the public eye each year.

And away we go!

Free The Tree

I am a big fan of Christmas. Not the endless commercialism of this time of year, but much more the spirit, the reason for the season, if you will. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus, and being together with family and friends. That's what's most important to me by far.

And, it is also the message behind a lot of the great movies over the years, including (so I've heard) one little gem, which I've never seen (but hope to someday) called The Christmas Tree. It's the story of a gardener (played by Andrew McCarthy) who finds the perfect tree to use for the Rockefeller Center Christmas display, except that the nun (Julie Harris) who nurtured it her entire life is having trouble letting it go.

The made-for-TV movie, the directorial debut of Sally Field, was seen only once, on 22 December 1996, on ABC. Since then, it was only available for a short time on VHS; it has never been on DVD. It has not been part of the usual group of holiday-related films or specials that make the rounds on the broadcast and cable channels. It has never shown up at 3 a.m. on TBS after the upteenth airing of Road House.

Despite this lack of exposure, it has had great word-of-mouth on the Web. A lot of people have been looking for it, including a Philly radio DJ named Helen Leicht. More about that tomorrow.