Mr. Krueger's Christmas

I must have watched way too much TV growing up, because today I associate nearly every special event of my childhood with one program or another. On Christmas Eves when I was a wee lad, my family would return home from the seven o'clock service, my mother would begin cooking desserts for the next day's festivities, and we would turn on WPIX New York to watch the "Yule Log," a two-hour loop of a burning log accompanied by yuletide music. (Sounds kind of strange, I know, but it was a holiday tradition for many New Yorkers.)

After the yearly Yule Log broadcast ceased at 11:30 or so, WPIX would air this gem of a Christmas special. By this time of the evening, I would be drowsy, but filled with anticipation for the morning. Watching "Mr. Krueger's Christmas" meant that the holiday, around which the entire kid year revolved (to quote Jean Shepard), had finally arrived.

Jimmy Stewart is wonderful in this understated and poignant show. It's impossible to describe without using the word "heartwarming." It has been years since WPIX broadcast the Yule Log or this special (though the Yule Log is now available for downloading on their website [!]), so when I watch my old videotaped copy it really takes me back. Folks who are looking for a copy of this show should know that even though it has not been widely released on video, it is available for purchase through the Jimmy Stewart museum (www.jimmy.org).

I watch this every year after I decorate my tree. It is a little tradition. It is one of the warmest moments of the Holidays for me. Jimmy Stewart was never more "real". The video is available from the "Mormons". I had recorded it off the TV and one of my former students who was a Mormon gave me a fresh copy one Christmas. Get it. It is touching and will help you to remember what Christmas is all about.

This is such a wonderful, feel good movie! Jimmy did a brilliant job in it. I could watch it everyday until I die and I would still cry at certain parts. There are two scenes in the movie that were completely unscripted: the reaction of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to Jimmy was real, and Jimmy's lines in the cave were his own emotions. This is such a good movie and radiates the love of Christ.

I just watched the 25th anniversary edition DVD of Mr. Krueger's Christmas. A previous reviewer was right--this Jimmy Stewart classic is the definition of "heartwarming" and on the digitally remastered DVD, Stewart's touching performance comes across better than ever. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has also re-recorded its music for the new release, so this DVD sounds great, too. The disc also includes seven Christmas carols performed by the Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square in the beautifully decorated LDS Conference Center, as well as two short films. If you have a hard time finding this DVD, try asking a Mormon friend or neighbor how you can get a copy--they'll probably give you one for Christmas!

Unlike so many stars James Stewart was careful and choosy with the material he did when he became a senior citizen. No slasher flicks, no self caricatures capitalizing on his image for Mr. Stewart. This film that Stewart did for the Church of Latter Day Saints is a perfect example of his good taste.

Jimmy Stewart is Willie Krueger, senior citizen and widower, who works as an apartment building janitor and lives alone except for his cat named George. With his wife dead and children scattered if any, Christmas is a lonely time for the elderly and particular this elderly. But he's a man content with the life he's led, it was a good if obscure one.

He still would like some human company though and in his imaginings he finds himself directing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in their Christmas holiday show and then in the presence of the baby Jesus in a nativity scene. Viewers will find that a most moving scene as he thanks the Babe for his life and the faith that he had to sustain him.

Stewart's performance reminded me very much of Tyrone Power in The Long Gray Line. In that one Power aged almost fifty years and the scenes in that basement apartment reminded a lot of Power as an old man after the death of Maureen O'Hara. Of course Stewart did not need any aging makeup at this point in his career. I really believe that the folks at the LDS church who produced Mr. Krueger's Christmas were influenced by that John Ford classic.

Mr. Krueger's Christmas has become a minor holiday classic in the tradition of that most famous of Jimmy Stewart films, It's A Wonderful Life. It's a simple and profound story and a great tribute to that most beloved of American players.