The Man in the Santa Claus Suit
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''The Man in the Santa Claus Suit'' is a 1979 American
made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
starring
Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...
(in his final television film role),
Gary Burghoff Gary Rich Burghoff (born May 24, 1943) is an American actor who is known for originating the role of Charlie Brown in the 1967 Off-Broadway musical ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'', and the character Corporal Walter Eugene "Radar" O'Reilly in ...
,
John Byner John Byner (born John Biener; June 28, 1938) is an American actor, comedian and impressionist who has had a lengthy television and film career. His voice work includes the cartoon series ''The Ant and the Aardvark'', in which the title characte ...
,
Bert Convy Bernard Whalen "Bert" Convy (July 23, 1933 – July 15, 1991) was an American actor, singer, game show host and panelist known for hosting '' Tattletales'', ''Super Password'' and ''Win, Lose or Draw''. Early life Convy was born in St. Loui ...
, and
Majel Barrett Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (; born Majel Leigh Hudec;
, ''
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
on December 21, 1979.


Plot

The mysterious owner of a New York City costume store (Astaire) rents Santa suits to three different men. He later shows up in various roles (chauffeur, policeman, jeweler, hot dog vendor, taxi driver, floor walker and choral director) to help the men change their lives. Bob Willis (Burghoff) is a math teacher who is madly in love with a young fashion model and prominent figure in the disco scene, Polly Primer (Tara Buckman). Polly, however, is dating wealthy and handsome Rod Sanborn (Greenan). He hopes to impress her by showing up in a Santa suit, but withdraws when he learns of Rod's marriage proposal to her. Polly is not sure to marry Rod and hints to Bob that she longs for being swept away by another guy, but Bob is too shy to act on it. Realizing he would lose her forever to Rod, he interrupts her at a fashion show and tells her he loves her. Polly then reveals having fallen in love with him ever since he first spoke about math, and she accepts his marriage proposal. Stan Summerville was once a promising chef, but is now a homeless crook who found a firearm used in a bank robbery by Babyskin (Barth) and Bruno Betinger (Feinberg). Stan rents a Santa Claus in order to hide from them, and while his friend Eddie (Vitte) distracts the criminals, he breaks into a wealthy residence to rob the people who live there. Residents are Dora (Fabray) and Dickie Dayton (Gould), a once poor couple who became millionaires after striking oil. They love performing and disapprove of their bratty grandchildren Melissa (Lytton) and Lance (Petersen), remembering the days that they did hard labor to earn money. Because of once being poor, they sympathize with Stan - despite him holding them at gunpoint - and they decide to nurse him back to health after their butler Chandler (Wells) hits Stan unconscious. While Stan restores his faith in humankind due to the hospitality of the Daytons, Babyskin and Bruno track him to the mansion. Ultimately, Melissa and Lance save the day by attacking the criminals, and the police reward Stan with $25,000 for capturing the wanted criminals. Gil Travis (Convy) is a busy political aide who works for a Senator, and rents a Santa suit to surprise his estranged son Terry (Gower) on Christmas Eve in between his tight working schedule. His wife Linda (Bundy) separated from him because he was never home, and Terry is equally as estranged to him. Both Gil and Linda long for the days when Gil was a struggling writer whose novel only sold fourteen copies; though their happiness was defined by love instead of money. During Christmas, he shows Linda that he has learned to put family first, by ignoring his work to tuck his son into bed. In the end, the costume shop owner reveals himself to be Santa Claus as he flies into the night aboard his sleigh.


Cast

*
Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...
in nine roles (costume shop owner, chauffeur, policeman, jeweler, hot dog vendor, taxi driver, floor walker, choral director and Santa Claus) *
Gary Burghoff Gary Rich Burghoff (born May 24, 1943) is an American actor who is known for originating the role of Charlie Brown in the 1967 Off-Broadway musical ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'', and the character Corporal Walter Eugene "Radar" O'Reilly in ...
as Bob Willis *
John Byner John Byner (born John Biener; June 28, 1938) is an American actor, comedian and impressionist who has had a lengthy television and film career. His voice work includes the cartoon series ''The Ant and the Aardvark'', in which the title characte ...
as Stan Summerville *
Bert Convy Bernard Whalen "Bert" Convy (July 23, 1933 – July 15, 1991) was an American actor, singer, game show host and panelist known for hosting '' Tattletales'', ''Super Password'' and ''Win, Lose or Draw''. Early life Convy was born in St. Loui ...
as Gil Travis * Tara Buckman as Polly Primer *
Brooke Bundy Brooke Bundy is an American film and television actress. Early years As a teenager, Bundy was a model in New York before she went to Hollywood on vacation and remained there to become an actress. While in New York, she attended the Profession ...
as Linda Travis *
Eddie Barth Eddie Barth (September 29, 1931 – May 28, 2010; born Edward Michael Bartholetti) was an American actor. Barth earned the nickname Mr. Gravel for his raspy vocals in his voiceover work. Biography Early life Barth was born Edward Michael Barthol ...
as Babyskin *
Ron Feinberg Ronald Aaron Feinberg (October 10, 1932 – January 29, 2005) was an American character and voice actor who appeared in films and on television. Career At 6' 7", the towering Feinberg played the character Fellini, opposite Don Johnson, in the ...
as Bruno Betinger *
Nanette Fabray Nanette Fabray (born Ruby Bernadette Nanette Theresa Fabares; October 27, 1920 – February 22, 2018) was an American actress, singer, and dancer. She began her career performing in vaudeville as a child and became a musical-theatre actress dur ...
as Dora Dayton *
Harold Gould Harold Vernon Goldstein (December 10, 1923 – September 11, 2010), better known as Harold Gould, was an American character actor. He appeared as Martin Morgenstern on the sitcom ''Rhoda'' (1974–78) and Miles Webber on the sitcom ''The Golden ...
as Dickie Dayton *
Ray Vitte Raymond Vitte (1949–1983) was an American actor who starred mostly in comedy and drama films in the 1970s and early 1980s. He made numerous guest appearances on television shows and was a cast member of the show ''Doc'' in 1976. Vitte, who ha ...
as Eddie * Debbie Lytton as Melissa *
Patrick Petersen Patrick Petersen (born August 9, 1966) is an American actor best known for his role as Michael Fairgate in the television drama ''Knots Landing''. He played the role from episode one on December 27, 1979, to May 16, 1991, reprising the part for ' ...
as Lance *
Danny Wells Jack Westelman (April 7, 1941 – November 28, 2013), known as Danny Wells, was a Canadian actor. He was best known for his role as Charlie, the bartender on ''The Jeffersons'', as well as his role as Luigi in the live-action/animated series '' ...
as Chandler * Carlo Imperato as Dom *
Andre Gower Jon Andre Gower (born April 27, 1973) is an American television and film actor. Life and career Born in Los Angeles, California, Gower began his career at the age of five years as a child actor. His first substantial role was as Brookes Prenti ...
as Terry Travis * David Greenan as Rod Sanborn *
Majel Barrett Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (; born Majel Leigh Hudec;
, ''
Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...
.


Show Tunes

The Daytons sing a variety of show tunes including: *"
Mississippi Mud "Mississippi Mud" is a 1927 song written by Harry Barris, first sung by Bing Crosby as a member of Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys. Background The Rhythm Boys originally recorded the song on June 20, 1927 in New York for Victor as a medley with ...
" *"
The Sidewalks of New York "The Sidewalks of New York" is a popular song about life in New York City during the 1890s. It was composed in 1894 by vaudeville actor and singer Charles B. Lawlor (June 2, 1852 – May 31, 1925) with lyrics by James W. Blake (September 23, ...
" *"I Love My Baby, My Baby Loves Me"


Reception


Release

''The Man in the Santa Claus Suit'' aired on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
on December 23, 1979. The film was released on August 1, 1989 on VHS.


See also

* List of Christmas films *
Santa Claus in film Motion pictures featuring Santa Claus constitute their own subgenre of the Christmas film genre. Early films of Santa revolve around similar simple plots of Santa's Christmas Eve visit to children. In 1897, in a short film called ''Santa Cla ...


References


Citations


Sources

* * * *


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man In The Santa Claus Suit, The 1979 television films 1979 films 1970s Christmas drama films 1970s Christmas films 1970s fantasy drama films American fantasy drama films American Christmas films Christmas television films Films set in New York City Santa Claus in film Santa Claus in television NBC network original films Films directed by Corey Allen 1970s English-language films 1970s American films