In 1897, the New York Sun newspaper ran a short article in its editorial section that has become famous. The heading read, "Is There a Santa Claus?" It was in response to a short letter written by eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon of New York City. The article printed the letter and then, with rhetorical questions and prose, answered it. "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," penned Sun editorial writer Francis Church.
This is a TV movie about that event. The essential details are true, and the main characters are real. But the story in this film is mostly fictional. Yet it works to make a fuller and more meaningful plot; and, therefore, a better Christmas movie.
The film was shot in British Columbia, Canada. The scenes and settings seem to be authentic for 1890s New York or any North American city at the time. The cast has some big name actors and others - all of whom give very good performances. Katharine Isabelle is superb as Virginia O'Hanlon. Tamsin Kelsey is especially good as Evie O'Hanlon, wife of James. She plays an Irish immigrant woman who keeps a bright outlook for her small brood, in spite of the hard times.
The portrayal of hard times for immigrants adds some meat and meaning to the story. Richard Thomas plays Virginia's father, James. He and his friend, Donelli, spend cold days looking for work after being fired as dockworkers. The story gives a light portrayal of the ethnic tensions of the time. During the immigration of many Irish, Anglo-Protestants resented their competition for jobs. And, neighbors in tenement apartments help one another, by sharing food. A Jewish landlady widow, Mrs. Goldstein (played by Lillian Carlson) cooks too much brisket for just herself, so she begs the O'Hanlon's to take it off her hands.
Charles Bronson is very good in his role as Francis Church. But the character he plays was not the real Francis Church. Here, Church has been drinking heavily since losing his wife and daughter a year earlier. The film doesn't say, but it's implied it was a disease or epidemic. That's another nice touch in showing that aspect of history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The real Frank Church was in his 50s and had covered the Civil War more than 30 years earlier.
It's true that Church didn't want to write the editorial, and didn't want his name associated with it. Only many years later was his authorship of the article made known. Even then, one wonders, because Church was supposedly an atheist. Yet he wrote in that editorial, "No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever." That's hardly something an atheist would write, and it's not very likely that he would have had to write that.
Edward Asner plays another real person well -- Edward P. Mitchell, the managing editor. Other reporters and people on the Sun staff are fictional. Yet Colleen Winton plays Andrea Borland very well, and Shawn Macdonald plays the copy boy, Teddy, very well.
The biggest fictional aspect was Virginia's family and where they lived. They weren't likely to be living in tenement housing as in the film. Virginia's dad, James, was a doctor. At the time, he was a coroner's assistant in Manhattan.
In the movie, the editorial in response to Virginia appeared in the sun around Christmas Eve. But the actual date it was printed was Sept. 21 - three months before Christmas. In later years, Virginia explained that around her birthday in July as a child she would begin to wonder what she would be getting for Christmas. So, she wrote her letter in July. And, the Sun editors didn't do anything with it for several weeks. And no one knows why they didn't wait until Christmas to publish it.
Even then, the article wasn't considered anything special at the time. But readers remembered and asked about it in subsequent years. So, more than 10 years after its first publication, the Sun again printed the article just before Christmas.
The story about the famous letter and Sun newspaper editorial is an endearing one. And the filmmaker's embellishment of the story helps make "Yes Virginia" a wonderful Christmas movie and look at history.
Here are a couple favorite lines from this film.
Andrea Borland, "Did you like my story on the Vanderbilt ball?" Edward Mitchell, "I printed it, didn't I?" Andrea Borland, "Well, half of it." Edward Mitchell: "That was the half I liked."
Mrs. Goldstein, "As my dear dead Saul used to say, 'It isn't a silver lining what makes the coat. It's the person wearing it.'"
