The Night They Saved Christmas
Encyclopedia
The Night They Saved Christmas is a 1984
RHI Entertainment
Christmas film, executive produced by Robert Halmi, Senior and Junior; and originally developed for ABC. The film is about an oil company dynamiting in the North Pole
in search of an oil field, unaware that they are endangering Santa Claus
. The movie stars Jaclyn Smith
and Art Carney
.
). The exploration project in the North Pole is recommended and managed by Michael Baldwin (Paul Le Mat
).
The movie opens with a dynamite blast that, disappointingly to the company, produces no oil. Baldwin is then picked up from work by his wife Claudia (Jaclyn Smith
). On the way home, Claudia tells Michael that she wants to move the kids back to Los Angeles where they can live in a more civilized environment. Michael argues that he cannot just walk away from the exploration since it was his idea. Upon arriving home, Michael and Claudia must deal with their three children arguing with each other about the existence of Santa Claus. To make matters worse for Michael, Murdock, portrayed as the stereotyped insensitive corporate boss, threatens to terminate his employment if the exploration does not produce results.
The next day, Michael returns to his office, where he is met by Santa Claus’s chief elf Ed (Paul Williams
). Ed informs Baldwin that they are dynamiting too close to North Pole City, the home of Santa Claus and his elves. Assuming that Ed was just hired to pull off a practical joke, Baldwin bursts into uncontrollable laughter. The next day, Ed arrives at the Baldwins’ house planning to take Michael and his family to North Pole City to prove that Santa Claus is for real. Michael cannot go since he has a meeting at work, but Claudia and the kids agree to go along.
Ed then takes them to North Pole City in a large wooden sleigh. They meet Santa (Art Carney
) and Mrs. Claus
(June Lockhart
). Santa shows them his secrets, including a device that slows time down so he can make all his deliveries in one night (which is also helped by the different time zone
s in the world) and anti-radar devices that protect North Pole City from being sighted. Santa then shows Claudia how North Pole City has sustained damage because of the dynamiting at “Site A” and how the city is right next to “Site B,” where the company also planned to dynamite. He warns them that one blast at Site B would mean the end of Santa Claus. He then says that the main oil field is actually at Site A and that they will find it if they keep dynamiting there.
Upon returning home, Claudia tells Michael and Murdock what Santa said about where the oil is. Murdock believes that Claudia and the kids were given a hallucinogenic drug by Gaylord, the corrupt head of a rival oil company, to keep them dynamiting in the wrong place. Murdock orders that Site B be dynamited on Christmas Eve so they can get to the oil before Gaylord does.
The kids eavesdrop on this meeting and decide to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night and take a snowmobile to warn Santa. The youngest Child, C. B., is left behind to tell the parents where the older two went. When C. B. tells Claudia, the latter takes off in an airplane to look for them. She sights snowmobile tracks and follows them into an ice fog. Santa, with his sleigh and reindeer, goes into the fog to rescue them and takes them back to North Pole City. The ice fog keeps Claudia and the kids trapped inside North Pole City, so they must remain there until the fog lifts.
Meanwhile, Michael requests that Murdock postpone the dynamiting until Claudia and the kids are found. Murdock denies the request. On Christmas Eve, as the dynamite crew is out at Site B counting down to the time to dynamite, C.B. receives a call at home from a crew member informing him that a gigantic oil field has been discovered on Site A. C.B. rushes out of the house to catch up with his father, who just left for work, and give him the news. He then convinces his father that the dynamiting at Site B should be canceled since the oil has been found. Michael rushes to his office and radios the man in the hut near Site B to “terminate the countdown.” The man then leaves the hut, jumps on a snowmobile and rides out to the site, arriving just in time to stop the dynamiting.
That night, Santa drops Claudia and the children off at home while making his deliveries and the family is reunited. Murdock then arrives at the door to confront Michael on his refusing to dynamite at Site B. Michael informs him that oil had been found at Site A. Just then, the reindeer bells are heard and the Baldwins take Murdock out to the porch to see the sleigh flying across the sky. A stunned but happy Murdock offers Baldwin a promotion. Baldwin declines, saying that he is going to make Claudia happy by moving them back to Los Angeles. So ends the film.
1984 in film
-Events:* The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name.* Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS, releases its first film....
RHI Entertainment
RHI Entertainment
RHI Entertainment , formerly known as Hallmark Entertainment, is an American producer of television movies and miniseries, founded in 1979 by Robert Halmi Jr. and Robert Halmi Sr. as Robert Halmi Incorporated....
Christmas film, executive produced by Robert Halmi, Senior and Junior; and originally developed for ABC. The film is about an oil company dynamiting in the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
in search of an oil field, unaware that they are endangering Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
. The movie stars Jaclyn Smith
Jaclyn Smith
Jacquelyn Ellen "Jaclyn" Smith is an American actress and businesswoman. She is best-known for the role of Kelly Garrett in the television series Charlie's Angels, and was the only original female lead to remain with the series for its complete run...
and Art Carney
Art Carney
Arthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners....
.
Plot
The oil company is headed by Sumner Murdock (Mason AdamsMason Adams
Mason Adams was an American character actor and voice-over artist.-Early life:Adams was born in Brooklyn, New York. He earned an MA degree from the University of Michigan in Theatre Arts and Speech and also attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, studying theater arts...
). The exploration project in the North Pole is recommended and managed by Michael Baldwin (Paul Le Mat
Paul Le Mat
Paul Le Mat is an American actor who first came to prominence in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which won him the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor.-Life:...
).
The movie opens with a dynamite blast that, disappointingly to the company, produces no oil. Baldwin is then picked up from work by his wife Claudia (Jaclyn Smith
Jaclyn Smith
Jacquelyn Ellen "Jaclyn" Smith is an American actress and businesswoman. She is best-known for the role of Kelly Garrett in the television series Charlie's Angels, and was the only original female lead to remain with the series for its complete run...
). On the way home, Claudia tells Michael that she wants to move the kids back to Los Angeles where they can live in a more civilized environment. Michael argues that he cannot just walk away from the exploration since it was his idea. Upon arriving home, Michael and Claudia must deal with their three children arguing with each other about the existence of Santa Claus. To make matters worse for Michael, Murdock, portrayed as the stereotyped insensitive corporate boss, threatens to terminate his employment if the exploration does not produce results.
The next day, Michael returns to his office, where he is met by Santa Claus’s chief elf Ed (Paul Williams
Paul Williams (songwriter)
Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. is an Academy Award-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World",...
). Ed informs Baldwin that they are dynamiting too close to North Pole City, the home of Santa Claus and his elves. Assuming that Ed was just hired to pull off a practical joke, Baldwin bursts into uncontrollable laughter. The next day, Ed arrives at the Baldwins’ house planning to take Michael and his family to North Pole City to prove that Santa Claus is for real. Michael cannot go since he has a meeting at work, but Claudia and the kids agree to go along.
Ed then takes them to North Pole City in a large wooden sleigh. They meet Santa (Art Carney
Art Carney
Arthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners....
) and Mrs. Claus
Mrs. Claus
Mrs. Claus is the wife of Santa Claus, the Christmas gift-bringer in North American Christmas tradition.While Santa Claus himself emerged from the 1820s from a number of traditions of European folklore, Mrs...
(June Lockhart
June Lockhart
June Lockhart is an American actress, primarily in 1950s and 1960s television, but with memorable performances on stage and in film too. She is remembered as the mother in two TV series, Lassie and Lost in Space. She also portrayed Dr...
). Santa shows them his secrets, including a device that slows time down so he can make all his deliveries in one night (which is also helped by the different time zone
Time zone
A time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
s in the world) and anti-radar devices that protect North Pole City from being sighted. Santa then shows Claudia how North Pole City has sustained damage because of the dynamiting at “Site A” and how the city is right next to “Site B,” where the company also planned to dynamite. He warns them that one blast at Site B would mean the end of Santa Claus. He then says that the main oil field is actually at Site A and that they will find it if they keep dynamiting there.
Upon returning home, Claudia tells Michael and Murdock what Santa said about where the oil is. Murdock believes that Claudia and the kids were given a hallucinogenic drug by Gaylord, the corrupt head of a rival oil company, to keep them dynamiting in the wrong place. Murdock orders that Site B be dynamited on Christmas Eve so they can get to the oil before Gaylord does.
The kids eavesdrop on this meeting and decide to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night and take a snowmobile to warn Santa. The youngest Child, C. B., is left behind to tell the parents where the older two went. When C. B. tells Claudia, the latter takes off in an airplane to look for them. She sights snowmobile tracks and follows them into an ice fog. Santa, with his sleigh and reindeer, goes into the fog to rescue them and takes them back to North Pole City. The ice fog keeps Claudia and the kids trapped inside North Pole City, so they must remain there until the fog lifts.
Meanwhile, Michael requests that Murdock postpone the dynamiting until Claudia and the kids are found. Murdock denies the request. On Christmas Eve, as the dynamite crew is out at Site B counting down to the time to dynamite, C.B. receives a call at home from a crew member informing him that a gigantic oil field has been discovered on Site A. C.B. rushes out of the house to catch up with his father, who just left for work, and give him the news. He then convinces his father that the dynamiting at Site B should be canceled since the oil has been found. Michael rushes to his office and radios the man in the hut near Site B to “terminate the countdown.” The man then leaves the hut, jumps on a snowmobile and rides out to the site, arriving just in time to stop the dynamiting.
That night, Santa drops Claudia and the children off at home while making his deliveries and the family is reunited. Murdock then arrives at the door to confront Michael on his refusing to dynamite at Site B. Michael informs him that oil had been found at Site A. Just then, the reindeer bells are heard and the Baldwins take Murdock out to the porch to see the sleigh flying across the sky. A stunned but happy Murdock offers Baldwin a promotion. Baldwin declines, saying that he is going to make Claudia happy by moving them back to Los Angeles. So ends the film.