''A Smoky Mountain Christmas'' is a 1986 American made-for-television

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction ...

starring

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...

and

Lee Majors Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary; April 23, 1939) is an American actor. Majors portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley in the American television Western series ''The Big Valley'' (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin in the American televisio ...

, directed by

Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE (born October 30, 1945), is an American actor, comedian, author, executive producer, and director. After rising to fame as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the American television series '' Happy Days'', Winkler has ...

. It was originally broadcast on ABC on December 14, 1986.

Plot

Country music superstar Lorna Davis (Dolly Parton) is overwhelmed and disillusioned by her career and loneliness. She plans a trip to a friend's cabin in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee– North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ri ...

to escape from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and recuperate during the Christmas season. Upon arriving there, Lorna finds it has become the impromptu home of seven orphans who are hiding from the orphanage in town. They actually discover her sleeping in one of the beds (an allusion to the Seven Dwarfs finding

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

), to which the youngest proclaims: "I know who she is. She's the Angel." Because they both have secrets to keep - the children don't want to be found by the orphanage and Lorna doesn't want to be found by anyone from L.A. - they agree to keep each other's presence at the cabin a secret. She then quickly builds strong friendships with them, although it takes a while to win over cautious Jake, the eldest. Little does she know, Lorna has been followed there by Harry (Dan Hedaya), a sleazy and enterprising paparazzo who is determined to reveal her hidden location. In addition to him, she faces

Jezebel Jezebel (;"Jezebel"
(US) and ) was the daughte ...

(Anita Morris), a mountain "witch woman" who is determined to kill her for attracting the eye of her lover, John Jensen (Bo Hopkins), the sheriff of the nearby town. She is saved from Jezebel's first attempt on her life by Mountain Dan (Lee Majors), a wandering

mountain man A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...

who is wise to the ways of "mountain folk." After Harry reveals Lorna's identity to John, she is arrested and the children are taken back to the orphanage. Jezebel, disguised as an old woman, delivers a poisoned pie to Lorna in prison, but is tricked into eating it herself and falls into an endless sleep. Lorna is freed by Jake, Dan, and Harry and they formulate a plan to free the children from the orphanage. Dressed as

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

and a helper elf, Dan and Lorna are able to get into the orphanage and free them, only to be stopped by John while trying to escape. They are taken before extremely uninterested Judge Harold Benton (John Ritter) who eventually dismisses all charges against Lorna and Dan and grants custody of the children to her.

Selected cast

as Lorna Davis *

as Dan "Mountain Dan" *

Dan Hedaya Daniel G. Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American actor. He established himself as a supporting actor, often playing sleazy villains or wisecracking supporting characters. He has had supporting roles in films such as '' True Confessions'' (198 ...

as Harry *

Anita Morris Anita Rose Morris (March 14, 1943 – March 2, 1994) was an American actress, singer and dancer. She began her career performing in Broadway musicals, including ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', ''Seesaw'' and ''Nine'', for which she received a Tony Awa ...

as Jezebel *

Bo Hopkins William Mauldin "Bo" Hopkins (February 2, 1938 – May 28, 2022) Issucover/ref> was an American actor. He was known for playing supporting roles in a number of major studio films between 1969 and 1979, and appeared in many television shows and ...

as Sheriff John Jensen *

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor. Ritter was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ...

as Judge Harold Benton *

Rance Howard Rance Howard (born Harold Engle Beckenholdt; November 17, 1928 – November 25, 2017) was an American actor who starred in film and on television. He was the father of actor and filmmaker Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard, and grandfather of actr ...

as Dr. Jennings * René Auberjonois as Ned * Jean Speegle as Old Lady Jezebel * Chad Sheets as Jake *

Danny Cooksey Daniel Ray Allen Cooksey Jr. (born November 2, 1975) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his roles in television shows, such as ''Diff'rent Strokes'' (during the final three seasons), '' The Cavanaughs'', '' Xiaolin Showdown' ...

as Jasper * Ashley Bank as Mary *

Gennie James Sara Genevieve James (born December 27, 1976), billed professionally as Gennie James, is an American former child actress. James is a native of Navasota, Texas. She acted in several television movies and series between 1984 and 1988 and had the ...

as Cindy * Daryl Bartley as Freddie * Marc D. Robinson as "String Bean" * Micah Rowe as Buster * Jeanne Hepple as Matty * Linda Hoy as Hatty *

Douglas Seale Douglas Seale (28 October 1913 – 13 June 1999) was an English film and stage actor. Early life Born in London, Seale was educated at Rutlish School in Wimbledon and trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Career He ...

as Vernon * Claude Earl Jones as The Bartender * Chris Nash as Deputy Frank * David Ackroyd as Video Director *

Carl Franklin Carl Franklin (born April 11, 1949) is an American filmmaker. Franklin is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley, and continued his education at the AFI Conservatory, where he graduated with an M.F.A. degree in directing in 1986. Early ...

as Lieutenant Danvers *

Marc Flanagan Marc Francis Flanagan (born June 13, 1948) is an American television producer and writer. He was co-creator of the American television sitcom '' Phenom'' with Sam Simon and Dick Blasucci. Career Flanagan started his career in New York. In ...

as Cop * Debra Christofferson as Nurse * Clint Parton as Clint * Bryan Seaver as Bryan

Songs

The movie features seven songs. They were all written by Parton except "(I'd Like to Spend) Christmas with Santa" which was written by her uncle Bill Owens. A soundtrack album for the movie was never released. In 2022, Parton included "A Smoky Mountain Christmas", "(I'd Like to Spend) Christmas with Santa", and "Wrapped Up in You" on the Ultimate Deluxe Edition of her album ''

A Holly Dolly Christmas ''A Holly Dolly Christmas'' is the forty-seventh solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was released on October 2, 2020, by Parton's Butterfly Records in partnership with 12-Tone Music Group. The album was produced by Ken ...

''. #"Country Memories" #"Mountain Magic" #"Look on the Bright Side" #"(I'd Like to Spend) Christmas with Santa" #"Pretty Is as Pretty Does" #"A Smoky Mountain Christmas" #"Wrapped Up in You"

Home media

The film was released on VHS on October 8, 1992.

References

External links