The Christmas Tree

Sure, it's sentimental. Sure, it's schmaltzy. But isn't Christmas, when you get that warm glow from thinking about the holiday season--in a Norman Rockwell kind of setting--just as schmaltzy too? I read the beautifully illustrated book and thought it would make a wonderful present for my sister who lives in Maine. After this made-for-TV film came out, I contacted her to find out how she liked the film--which I thought was wonderful. She just found it empty, not saying much, a disappointment.

But I think it was a very slender story to begin with and Sally Field has directed it with an eye for warm details and, yes, sentiment. And JULIE HARRIS gives the kind of performance she's famous for--simple, earnest, truthful. The tree had become something so close to her that she was reluctant to see it torn down to serve as New York City's famous tree at Rockefeller Center.

Unfortunately, the story details escape me now, having seen it only once the night it made its debut in '96 and expecting that it would become a rerun the way IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE did. No way. All of the performances were fine and although many would find it a bit hokey to make such a fuss over a tree that ends up in Rockefeller Center, it was done in a way that had a magic sort of appeal. Beautifully photographed with lush vistas of New England landscapes, it had a certain charm that tried to capture the warmth of the book.

Summing up: By all means worth seeing, if you can. I have no idea why it has simply disappeared from sight.

This is just one of those movies that words can't explain. All I have to say is that this has to be one of the best Xmas movies I have seen for a long time. The music is great the location is lovely. Watching the movie you can see a lot of Sally field comming out of the main actor. Watch this movie with a loved one next Christmas.

Saw this on TV. A simple and beautifully told story of an young girl searching for love and her father. Like most children she has her "security blanket" which in her case happens to be a tree...... That beautiful tree is her confidant,her confort,her everything. So you can image her reaction when she is asked to give up this constant source of joy to be cut down and become the Christmas tree in the Rockefeller center. The story unfolds with such emotions by letting us know the life of the sister who adopted the Tree. Right until the end her roller coaster of emotions keeps us fixed and transfixed to the chair. Loved it and loved Julie Harris controlled acting.The sententially story of Cristmas without the usual HO HO HO. Recommended. Millie

Some movies just stick with you. You continue thinking of them, being reminded of them, for years to come.

'The Christmas Tree,' directed by Sally Field, starring Julie Harris, is one of those movies.

Why it has not been re-shown on TV since its 1996 debut, I do not understand. Why is it not available for sale or rent anywhere, I do not know.

Tree is about a young girl who is an orphan, living in a convent. Her special friend is a tree, to whom she takes all her joys and sorrows. During the course of the movie, her early history is revealed, as well as a glorious future for Tree.

Some might call it sentimental, but isn't that a lot of what Christmas is about? I haven't looked at a tree quite the same way since.

When "The Christmas Tree" was on, the phone rang. It was my mother. I had picked up the phone without really thinking. All I said was that the best Christmas movie ever was on and I could not talk right then and hung up the phone, not answering again, until the show ended. I have a big flowering crab that grows in front of my house that gives me so much pleasure during every season and I sometimes think of it as "Tree". I agree with others, why do they not replay this movie on TV? Release it, let us buy it. I would so love the opportunity to see it again. I have bought the book and it is nice, but Sally Field really brought the story to life.