Silent Night

Die-hard "Unsolved Mysteries" fans will remember the wonderful story told by a man named Fritz about a Christmas eve in the German woods when he and his mother were visited by American soldiers seeking to get out of the cold. It was a lovely story if you just stopped there, but German soldiers soon arrived and wanted to get out of the cold as well! The mother insisted that everyone lay down their weapons and have a Christmas dinner, and they did so. One of the soldiers was wounded, and the soldiers on the other side helped him. They all spent the night with no incident, realizing that on whatever side you were on, you were still a human being.

Well, if this didn't have all the makings of a movie, what does? The story, of course, has been vastly expanded to include some conflict and some insight into the personalities involved. In real life, there wasn't intense communication since there were language barriers.

This is a Christmas story that embodies the true meaning of the season in every sense of the word, all the more poignant because it's true. The performances are all wonderful. In real life, Fritz, who emigrated to America and became a baker, was looking to connect with the GIs he had met. The show found one of the old soldiers in a nursing home, and as he and Fritz reminisced, it was obvious that to both of them, the incident happened yesterday.

This movie is highly recommended. It's about a remarkable woman who understood the term "peace on earth."

Prior to watching this movie I thought I would pop in a dvd Christmas movie but I didn't. I am glad that I watched this production. With exception of Linda Hamilton I didn't know any of the actors involved. Everyone provided excellent portrayals of their characters. Linda Hamilton was very convincing as German mother Elisabeth Vincken. Actually I was reminded of my Aunt Freida by Linda's practicality and sensibility. The fact that the characters made the best of what they have in a time that was anything but best and supplies of things we take for granted now, limited. The concept of putting aside the war for a night of peace is something fantastic. Pulling together, the characters show the common thread that is in all of us - memories of times when battles were something unknown and sharing was something that just happened. I say Bravo to all involved in this production for being part of providing a perspective of Christmas too often overlooked. It is my understanding that this movie is based on a true story. If this is so I say God Bless to such a woman who created a night of a miracle. I sure wish there were more movies like this that relied on the special effect in the story and not the visual effects.

I found this movie while flipping through the channels early one morning in December/2005. I had missed the first 10 minutes and just had to buy the DVD. Although it plays loosely with the facts, something the film industry has a hard time adhering to, it nevertheless is an wonderful movie made for TV for the Hallmark Channel.

It is based on the short story "Truce in the Forrest" and "The Night God Came for Dinner" by Fritz Vicken. Unlike the movie, communication was done between Fritz's mother Elisabeth, who spoke some French and one of the American soldiers who also spoke a little French. Only one of the Germans spoke some English.

Both the movie and real life incident showed that these people could put their differences aside and found they were much alike in many ways. Unlike the conflict between the Germans and Russians, there wasn't that level of hatred unless they were dealing with the SS. I've found many stories where soldiers put their differences aside to help each other out, from a German officer stopping an American jeep at a checkpoint that was carrying a wounded GI, then directing them to the American lines, to the pilot of an ME-109 who came upon a crippled B-17 and rather than shooting it out of the sky, escorted it to the English Channel and made sure it was going to make it safely back before peeling away. Ironically, the pilots of those 2 warplanes found each other in the later years and became close friends. That's what this movie does it to show the human side of our "enemy" and leaves you hoping they made it out of the war OK but it does leave you wondering what ever happened to them.

Fritz Vicken was able to locate Sgt. Ralph Blank in a Maryland nursing home after years of searching for the soldiers, thanks to "Unsolved Mysteries". Sadly, Fritz Vicken died the year this movie was released. What is ironic is that Fritz immigrated to this country after the war, like so many German soldiers and civilians. Our former enemies were now productive Americans. Fritz owned a bakery in Honolulu for many years.

I've added this movie to my Christmas holiday collection.

I think most love a true story and this one to me is one of the best. I loved this movie the first time I saw it but each time since, I fall in love with it a bit more. Set in a time in our history where death and war (World War II) were on every mind, this sweet story shows how love and friendship can happen even between strangers who are bitter enemies forming a friendship that can and actually does wind up lasting a lifetime. It opens as a battle rages on showing the horrors of war while a mother and her son try to find a safe haven in the family cabin. Little did they know on that special Christmas Eve so long ago that something was going to happen that would change their lives forever. Enemies met in that small space and an understanding grudgingly developed between people even surprising them at the end and bonding them for life. Hopefully all will make a point of going back in time and experiencing this amazing true story. You won't be disappointed.

And this movie proves that old adage. Silent Night is a simple story with a small cast in one setting (and one that will translate well into a stage play, if it didn't originate as one to begin with). It is not an unfamiliar story for those who read military history, but the human aspect of civilians in the midst, and especially one courageous woman who set the terms of a truce for just one evening, is a fresh twist. As with all "based on a true story" movies, one wonders how true the facts are to the original events. If liberties were taken with the facts of this event, the result was a charming and tightly told story that questions the value of duty and honour versus the value of life and friendship. Its a good war story, and a good Christmas story, and although the plot is set up from the start, so that the viewer knows all will end well, there is a tension throughout that keeps the viewer interested.