Any news of a DVD release for "A Christmas Memory" (1967) starring Geraldine Page? (1 Viewer)

[Charles Ellis]

With the holiday season coming up, I am once reminded that one of the greatest Christmas programs in television history has yet to be on DVD. Frank Perry's production of the classic Truman Capote story is something I have enjoyed seeing over the years, and why the original isn't on disc and the recent remake with Patty Duke is is something I don't understand. Is it a rights issue with the estates of Capote and Perry, or is it simply a remastering issue? Someone must know the answer!

 

[Charles Ellis]

Here it is, two years later and still no DVD release? What gives?

 

[Ethan Riley]

I don't know why they never put it on dvd; I don't know why a lot of tv specials and made-for-tv-movies have never seen releases. We've done lots of wish-list threads for these films, yet the industry seems very reluctant to release any of them. That's a shame! And it's a Christmas movie too--Christmas-themed specials and movies are the most likely to be released on dvd...yet, they've skipped over this one, sadly.

 

[Charles Ellis]

Well, here it is three years later, and still no news!!!

 

[Charles Ellis]

Eleven years and still no legit DVD/Blu-ray release! Why???? This remains my holiday Holy Grail. But in the meantime, there's YouTube. See for yourself why I am forever entranced by this film:

 

[JamesSmith]

Well I hope you get your Holy Grail, Mr. Ellis. And maybe The Great Santa Switch will someday come out for me.

James

 

[Matt Hough]

I bought a VHS tape of the show many years ago that was in black and white. SOme years after that, A&E broadcast the special in color and I videotaped it, so I had both a B&W and color rendering of it. But neither was of high enough quality to look anything other than wretched on today's modern equipment. I would love to see a quality release on home video.

 

[Filmgazer]

This is probably my favorite Christmas TV special, too. I sure wish someone would release it on a high-quality DVD, as the current DVDs on Amazon are said to be of very poor quality. It's a memorable, Emmy- winning program with a wonderful performance by Geraldine Page, nostalgic narration by Truman Capote, and fine direction by Frank Perry.

 

[Neil Brock]

I bought a VHS tape of the show many years ago that was in black and white. SOme years after that, A&E broadcast the special in color and I videotaped it, so I had both a B&W and color rendering of it. But neither was of high enough quality to look anything other than wretched on today's modern equipment. I would love to see a quality release on home video.

Thank you for reinforcing the reason why I don't have any use for today's wretched modern equipment. I wish to enjoy the tens of thousands of hours in my collection which will never see the light of day on DVD, rather than have to watch them on devices which render them looking abysmally.

 

[rdimucci]

"A Christmas Memory" had another reincarnation after its television airing. The theatrical feature TRILOGY is an interesting film that had its roots in television. The film was comprised of three filmed short stories written by Truman Capote: "Miriam" (originally published in Mademoiselle, June 1945), "Among the Paths to Eden" (Esquire, July 1960) and "A Christmas Memory" (Mademoiselle, December 1956).

For this theatrical release, "Miriam" was newly filmed, but the films of the others were taken from their prior television airings. "A Christmas Memory" was originally telecast on December 21, 1966 on the series ABC Stage 67, and "Among the Paths to Eden" was telecast on December 17, 1967 as an ABC special. Maureen Stapleton won an Emmy for her performance in “Among the Paths to Eden.” “A Christmas Memory” received an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Dramatic Program, and won a Peabody Award for Best Entertainment Program of the year.

When "A Christmas Memory" was about to start production, Geraldine Page's commitment to appear in a Broadway play threatened to conflict with the shooting schedule. But the play was a flop and ran for only ten performances, closing only three days before shooting commenced in Snowdoun, Alabama. The other two segments were filmed in New York City.

Each of the segments was originally filmed to run about 52 minutes, so that they could be shown in a one hour television slot (with commercials). For the feature film, “A Christmas Memory” was slightly edited, and both "Among the Paths to Eden" and "Miriam" were each trimmed to approximately 30 minutes for a total theatrical running time of 110 minutes.

Along with Richard Lester’s PETULIA, TRILOGY was the only other American film chosen for exhibition at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival. TRILOGY was scheduled to be exhibited during the final week of the Festival, but a student revolution in France resulted in an abrupt end to the Festival, and TRILOGY was never actually screened.

When Allied Artists opened TRILOGY in New York on 6 November 1969, Howard Thompson of the New York Times remarked that “the tonic effect” of the film “is marvelous.” “Without a single hitch of transition, the television footage flows beautifully and vibrantly across the large screen, which deepens the theme of human loneliness linking the contrasting stories.” Thompson lauded the “flawless cast, down to the smallest bit player,” and remarked that “The color photography of the entire picture is muted and excellent.” His conclusion was “The cold fact is that TRILOGY is all talk and little action. But it quietly says and conveys more about the human heart and spirit than most of today's free-wheeling blastaways on the screen. Delicately, it towers.”

But Molly Haskell of the Village Voice was less enthusiastic about the film. She began by noting that “The recent television films of Rossellini, Welles, Bergman and Godard all stand on their own in theatrical showings and in the filmographies of their directors.” But the stories in TRILOGY, Haskell felt, “do not transcend the medium, and their grafting into a single film is more commercial expedient than artistic necessity.” And she contradicted Thompson’s opinion on the transitions: “The title and Perry’s use of slow dissolve transitions suggest an interrelationship between the stories which is misleading.”

One account claims that the full-length “Miriam” segment of TRILOGY later aired on television in April, 1970, but I can't confirm that. TRILOGY was issued on a videocassette in 2001 but has never been on DVD.

It's possible that the later incorporation of "A Christmas Memory" into this feature film has something to do with why it is not separately available on video.