The House Without a Christmas Tree

I first watched "A House Without A Christmas Tree" as a 15 year old when it originally aired in 1972. Years later, around the holidays I thought about this TV movie and wondered if it would ever be aired again. I had not seen it in over 35 years! I was happily surprised when I saw it on a late night broadcast. Jason Robards played the role beautifully, and Lisa Lucas plays his impetuous daughter. What ever happen to her? I have not recognized her in any other role. Anyway, this is a hidden gem of a movie. It moves at a steady pace, and has many moments that reminds me of my childhood in a small town.

I first became acquainted with this special not through its television airing but through a novelization of story checked out of my school library when I was in the sixth grade. I loved the story and wished to see the tv special, but it seemed to be one of those holiday specials that aired infrequently(if at all)since its 1972 premiere. I finally caught it about 25 years after its first airing(and about fifteen year since I read the book)one Saturday morning during the Christmas season. The story of a precocious ten-year old girl's struggle to persuade her aloof father to give her a Christmas tree and their mutual growth towards understanding each other is quality entertainment that is seldom seen nowdays. Deserves to be a classic.

As the writer of the original autobiographical material for "The House Without a Christmas Tree," I wanted to thank others for their kind remarks. The writer of the teleplay based on my book was the late Eleanor Perry who won an Emmy for her script. The show also won a Peabody Award. I'm told that it will soon be available on DVD. The book is still in print as a paperback at Scholastic Press. Lisa Lucas, (Addie) continued acting through her teenage years, doing guest appearances on TV and appearing in several features. She then studied at the Cordon Bleu in France and opened a French restaurant in New York City.

I first saw this on television when I was in elementary school back in the '70s. I actually found it on VHS video years ago and enjoy watching it regularly. It's an unusual role for Jason Robards, but he's excellent in it. And the actress who plays Addie is certainly homely by today's standards, but very authentic in the role and for the times, which are the 1940's in the Midwest. In fact all the actors and actresses are refreshingly real. If this movie were re-made today (which I hope it never is) it would undoubtedly be filled with "beautiful people." I think that is part of the appeal of this movie. It speaks to another time - not just the '40's, but to the 70's when it wasn't necessary to be Barbie doll perfect to be on television or in the movies. Times have changed, but this movie is a classic.

CBS was known, in the old days, for it's quality adaptations of literature, be it classic or contemporary. As a child of the 60's and 70's, I remember all of these with great warmth, but none more than "The House Without a Christmas Tree" (except possibly for "J.T.", the story of the little boy and his cat). This is a simply told story, but it shines with an inner light. Lisa Lucas plays Addie, a 10 year old girl who lives with her widowed father and his mother in Clear River, Nebraska during the late 40's. Her father is still terribly torn apart over the death of his wife, so torn apart that he can't stand to celebrate Christmas and remember how happy he was when she was alive. To this end, he won't allow a Christmas tree in the house. Addie is determined that she will have a tree this year, and tries every minute she can to weedle him into getting one.

There are true emotions in this film; Addie is hurt by her father's seeming indifference to her, and doesn't understand why he won't buy a tree. He can't bring himself to explain, so these two headstrong people continually clash. Addie's grandmother softens what she can, but her son won't listen to her. He is sometimes cruel to his daughter, to hide his own wounded feelings. He and Addie come to a truce of sorts at the end, but it's not a neatly wrapped up conclusion, and it feels just like a real father-daughter relationship. Jason Robards is devastating as the father. His eyes are so expressive; the pain bleeds out of them, and just as conversely the love he truly does feel for Addie also shows in them. Mildred Natwick is just fine as the grandmother. She is the warm, comfy composite of every grandmother who ever lived, but she also adds a bite to the character that is refreshing. The Nebraska setting does just as much to enhance the story.

This was broadcast in 1972 on CBS, and not shown again till Disney picked it up in the very early 80's, along with the other two movies taken from Gail Rock's wonderful reminiscences of growing up in rural Nebraska, "The Thanksgiving Treasure" and "Addie and the King of Hearts". This film is available on VHS tape, and is highly recommended for the whole family. My own children always adored it.