Calash Corporation, GGG, Santa Claus Ltd.
Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, David Huddleston, Burgess Meredith, Judy Cornwell, Jeffrey Kramer, Christian Fitzpatrick, Carrie Kei Heim, John Barrard
Originally advertised as Santa Claus: The Movie, this film is in two parts. The beginning, taking place way back in the past shows how Santa Claus became who is he. How an ordinary man was given immortality and chosen for the task. At that point, Ancient Elf (Burgess Meredith) explains how it all works. In the second part, one of Santa’s elves, Patch (Dudley Moore) sets out on his own and falls in with B.Z. (John Lithgow) who is a toy manufacturer with a plan to turn the toy business into a monopoly, take over Christmas, and kick Santa out once and for all. It’s up for Patch and Santa to thwart his plans and save Christmas.
I know there are many people who really love this movie, but I didn’t get it in 1985, and watching it again now, I still don’t get it. There are some big names in the film, and the budget was about 50 Million which it didn’t come close to making back. They even got Henry Mancini to do the soundtrack. But the film has a spaghetti western feel to it (even though it was filmed at the Albert Broccoli 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios). It jumps around and soundtrack is really ticky-tacky sounding. This movie just never clicked with me, and I really hated it. Perhaps I suspected too much from it at the time, but watching it again all these years later has just reinforced my original dislike for this film. It is a big disappointment.
** Santa Claus (1985),
