Silver Bells

"Silver Bells" was billed as the 225th presentation in the Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-television film series. Sadly, this effort was not among the strongest of their offerings.

The likable cast included Anne Heche and Tate Donovan, whose characters were a widow and widower, and who inevitably became the central romantic couple. Unfortunately, the plot focused on a teenager runaway problem, as opposed to joys of the holidays, which should have been the film's central preoccupation.

As played by Donovan, the young runaway's father was a hard-working Christmas-tree dealer and decent man, and it made no sense that the boy would take to the streets of New York City following an argument with his father. The runaway story bogged down the film as a lugubrious, mechanical plot device.

The film should have celebrated the holidays with more joy in the lives of the characters. The most heart-warming scenes were the ice-skating sequence and the singing of the children in the church choir. The son Danny (Michael Mitchell) was an aspiring photographer. The film should have been about the photos, the great New York scenery, and the young man's love of photography, not the maudlin, melodramatic, and ultimately unconvincing story of a runaway.