Truman Capote's a Christmas Memory

Customer Reviews:

Amazon has details wrong
This is the Original 1966 Version with GERALDINE PAGE, DONNIE MELVIN. Narrated by TRUMAN CAPOTE and directed by Frank Perry.. We are the sole licensed publisher for this film. We sell it wholesale to Amazon. I don't know why they allow people other than the publisher to modify the product details - It gets very confusing when someone adds wrong information!!! See our studo notes above
--2005-12-04

5 stars for the film, 1 star for the missing color.
"Whether baking a cake, prattling like two wise children or raiding a
pecan orchard, young Donnie Melvin and the remarkable Miss Page are
unforgettable. The authentic Southern setting looks so real that it
hurts, at least to one who raided a pecan orchard or two in his own
time. The color photography of the entire picture is muted and excellent."
-- from Howard Thompson's review of A Christmas Memory (in its
theatrical release) from the November 7th, 1969, New York Times.

It's a rare pleasure to watch this dramatization of a piece of great
American literature, and it has become a ritual in my home to watch
this movie with friends and family each year. Donnie Melvin and
Geraldine Page work so well together, they truly bring the story to life.
Hard to imagine, but the original short story was written while author
Truman Capote was vacationing in Hong Kong.

A Christmas Memory was filmed in direct collaboration with Mr. Capote,
and it won many awards, including a Peabody and three Emmys, after it
first aired on ABC Television's Stage67 series.

One problem: This VHS cassette is in black and white and thus offers a
diminished experience from what was created in the 1966 color original.
The story still shines through, but this small masterpiece deserves
better. A color copy of A Christmas Memory of equivalent quality to the
above can be found online elsewhere.

If you wish to someday see a restored version of this movie on DVD,
won't you please logon to The Criterion Collection site and submit a
title suggestion on their Ask Jon Mulvaney page? Maybe with enough
interest expressed to Criterion for a restoration, this dream of many
will one day come true.

--2005-10-28

I remember it like it was yesterday
I saw "A Christmas Memory" when it originally aired in the late sixties, and it made such an impression on me that it has remained, in my mind, one of the best Christmas movies ever. Between then and now it lived on only in my mind since VHS and now DVD technology are still relatively recent. But I always told everyone about this film when we shared our "best of..." lists, and made a point of searching out the original story after seeing the film. The short story itself is one of my favorites.
My point in writing this is to emphasize that the original was in black and white. I remember, and am sure after all these years, because my grandpa was the first and only person on our block at that time with a color tv, and he died that year, leaving us in possession of that tv. The movie, in B&W, made a real impression on me, since my expectations at 8 years old was to see glorious technicolor on every show. When, years later, I tried to find it on VHS, I was told by someone at Hallmark Hall of Fame that it had been colorized and was occasionally broadcast, it depressed me. Early colorization was horrible. Anyway, I figured I would have to settle for my memories and the book, but am glad to see a marvelous movie offered as it was created. As for the book, the new edition with illustrations by Beth Peck, is a treat that should be on everybody's Christmas bookshelf.
--2005-10-27

A Special Way to Start the Holiday Season
This is such a wonderful story, and a quiet tale about love and giving. I can not recommend it enough. It is a low budget, black & white film produced by the then fledgling network ABC, but this does not detract from the wonderful performance by, especially Geraldine Page, as well as the rest of the troupe of actors. In fact, I think the whole thing could have been done on a blank stage without distraction because of the depth of the Truman's story, his presentation of the little things of that period in his life and of the gifted performers. Let me also recommend A Christmas Memory, One Christmas, & The Thanksgiving Visitor (Modern Library), also available here. Both the book (which is a family tradition to read out loud as a group, each of us reading a page or two to the rest) and this film start our holidays, which in a loving way, sets the tone for the season.
--2005-10-18

Vendor responds to concerns
When I checked the tape I was very disappointed in the quality of the VHS tape. However the seller was cooperative and refunded my money upon return to them.
--2005-09-21

- ABC TV