source: The Christmas Star

Moviecut—The Christmas Star

The Christmas Star

A very touching story, sometimes a little hoaky, about how the spirit of Christmas can touch even the crustiest old convict(Ed Asner) through the innocence of one litle kid(Barret Oliver) and his neighborhood friends. I was first drawn to it because of the child acting of Barret Oliver, who appeared in D.A.R.Y.L., The Neverending Story, and several other great movies. Luckily I taped it, because I don't think it is available anywhere, but stellar performances by Oliver, Asner and Fred Gwynn enhance this Christmas tale.

ed asner gives a great performance as Horace mcnickle in a Disney family film gifting the full spirit of the festive season mcknickle who escapes prison he was a counterfeiter he looks very like st nick the search is on for him by the police and the one detective who looking for him cant catch a break and want to be home for Xmas but with so many Santa's to find one is tough ordeal for police mcknickel lost something from his last caper but decides to take advantage of two kids who accidentally find him sleeping rough but as he realizes as it dawns on him about his past his past catches up with in the form of 3 ghost of Xmas past so in order to help the kids he pays hi dues gives them something to cheer so rather than keep running he tries to change and promise to be more cheerful this is a great family movie at 1hr30mins its not to bad

The Christmas Star is a 1986 Festive Drama starring Ed Ashner as a con artist named Horace who dresses up as Santa Clause in order to escape prison. From there he befriends a boy and his sister who believe that Horace is really St Nick. But will Horace have a change of heart and not go back to prison or hand himself to the cops with the stolen goods(money). This isn't the first time Ed Ashner played Santa as he played Santa in Elf(2003) with Will Ferrell. Movie also stars Rene Auberjois

What I love the most about Christmas its that their his lots of old movie like this one on TV. It just finished an hour now and I wanted to write about it before I think of something else. This is a lovely film and it confirmed what I knew since a long time,That Barret Oliver was the greatest child actor their was during the 80's,He his so natural.Even now compare him to Haley Joel Osmend and you can see that Barret was even better. Anyway, the film his simple but it work,after the credit roll you feel happy and full of hope for mankind. It's a shame that they dont do Christmas movie like this anymore.

What a wonderful little film! I've just seen this on the Family network, and I only wish I'd had the foresight to throw a tape in the VCR, because this film is sadly out of print. I sell rare videos, and if this one ever comes into my paws, I'll be keeping it! Just a wonderful film you'd like your children and grandchildren to see. Ed Asner steps inside and out of his Mary Tyler Moore character,and turns it inside out to create a gruff, loveable Santa. The child actors are suberb, and heartbreakingly beautiful. The bad guy gets 'Scrooged' in the end, in time to brighten everyone's life, and even the dog that get's offed returns in a new and brighter form. This film will make any viewer feel a little better, no matter how jaundiced, and in my cynical case, bring a tear to your eye. Lovely rarity, if you have the chance to see this film, turn off the phone and seep yourself in wonderful acting, a fun story, and a return to the Christmases of Yore!

It's a shame that this movie isn't available on DVD (or VHS, for that matter). Thankfully, I did tape it on VHS (commercials & all) when it last aired. Truly a wonderful film, it made remember some of those "warm & fuzzy" feelings that I used to have about Christmas when I was a child. A Disney © production, maybe someday it will be available for purchase...

Unrepentant convict Horace McNickle (Edward Asner) escapes from prison by stealing the Santa Claus costume during the Salvation Army party. Vicious landlord Mr. Sumner (Rene Auberjonois) intends to evict everyone during the holiday season. Money is tight for the Jameson family and they're one of those being evicted. Young boy Billy Jameson finds Horace sleeping in the basement and believes him to be the real Santa Claus. Police detective Waters (Fred Gwynne) suspects that Horace is after his missing stolen loot. This is essentially a Christmas Carol with two Scrooges. It's uber-cute when the kids come down to the basement to sit on Santa's lap. This may work better if McNickle gets visited by the three ghosts of Christmas throughout the movie. Instead, it takes a surreal turn in the last act to do its own version of Christmas ghost. The encounter between McNickle and Sumner also needs to be expanded and revised. This is an interesting murkier take on the many Christmas movies.