It Happened One Christmas is a 1977 made-for-television movie starring
Marlo ThomasMargaret Julia “Marlo” Thomas is an American actress, who first achieved fame on the TV series That Girl in the 1960s.-Early life:...
and
Wayne RogersWilliam Wayne McMillan Rogers III is an American film and television actor, best known for playing the role of 'Trapper John' McIntyre in the U.S. television series, M*A*S*H. He succeeded Elliott Gould, who had played the character in the Robert Altman movie MASH, and was himself succeeded by...
.
The film, a gender-reversal remake of the classic
It's a Wonderful LifeIt's a Wonderful Life is an American drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and loosely based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
, centers on Mary Bailey Hatch, a young woman who dreams of seeing the world but is forced by circumstances to remain in her small hometown as head of the family's Building & Loan business.
It Happened One Christmas is a 1977 made-for-television movie starring
Marlo ThomasMargaret Julia “Marlo” Thomas is an American actress, who first achieved fame on the TV series That Girl in the 1960s.-Early life:...
and
Wayne RogersWilliam Wayne McMillan Rogers III is an American film and television actor, best known for playing the role of 'Trapper John' McIntyre in the U.S. television series, M*A*S*H. He succeeded Elliott Gould, who had played the character in the Robert Altman movie MASH, and was himself succeeded by...
.
The film, a gender-reversal remake of the classic
It's a Wonderful LifeIt's a Wonderful Life is an American drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and loosely based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
, centers on Mary Bailey Hatch, a young woman who dreams of seeing the world but is forced by circumstances to remain in her small hometown as head of the family's Building & Loan business. In a moment of financial crisis, a severely depressed Mary contemplates
suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
but is rescued by her guardian angel, Clara Oddbody, who shows her the positive effect she's had on everyone she's met throughout her life.
Lionel ChetwyndLionel Chetwynd is a Canadian-American screenwriter, motion picture and television film director and producer.-Life and career:...
's teleplay, directed by Donald Wrye, varies little from the original screenplay, even using most of the original dialogue. The supporting cast includes
Orson WellesGeorge Orson Welles was an American film director, writer, actor and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television, and radio. Welles was also an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety spectacles in the war years...
,
Cloris LeachmanCloris Leachman is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other female performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the 1971 film The Last Picture Show...
,
Doris RobertsDoris May Roberts is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond.-Early life:...
,
Christopher GuestChristopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest , better known as Christopher Guest, is an American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor and comedian. He is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed and starred in several "mockumentary" films that feature a...
,
C. Thomas HowellChristopher Thomas Howell , usually credited as C. Thomas Howell, is an American actor. He is best known for having starred in the films The Outsiders and The Hitcher, as well as Soul Man, Red Dawn, Gettysburg, and Gods and Generals.- Early life :Christopher Thomas Howell, nicknamed either "Tommy"...
, and
Barney MartinBarney Martin was an American actor.-Early life:Born in Queens, New York City, Martin served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II and then was an NYPD officer for twenty years...
.
Leachman received an
Emmy AwardThe Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards , Grammy Awards and Tony Awards .They are presented in various...
nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special.
Thomas served as executive producer for the project. The remake was broadcast at a time when the original film rarely was aired on television, and many viewers were unfamiliar with its source. Once the
James StewartJames Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart was an American film and stage actor, best known for his self-effacing persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
-
Donna ReedDonna Reed was an American film and television actress.-Early life:Reed was born Donna Belle Mullenger on a farm near Denison, Iowa, the daughter of Hazel Jane and William Richard Mullenger. The eldest of five children, she was raised as a Methodist...
version returned to the airwaves on an annual basis, the remake slipped into obscurity.
The film had its premiere on Sunday, December 11, 1977, and was one of the very rare instances when the
ABC Sunday Night Movie showcased a made-for-television film rather than one that had been shown in theatres. It was successful enough to be re-broadcast in 1978, but by that time, the original
It's A Wonderful Life had begun its "resurgence" on television, and eventually displaced
It Happened One Christmas.
It Happened One Christmas is rarely shown today, and has not, as of 2009, been issued on DVD.