The Christmas Gift

Living just down the Hwy from Georgetown, Co...I remember this movie well and thought it was great! The story seems like something John would do even in real life, but there is something that I will always remember most about the movie. For those of you who don't live in Denver...every Christmas, the city of Denver, Co puts up a fabulous display of lights and decorations at the Civic Center in downtown Denver. Well...as it so happened, during the filming of this movie, a Nativity scene was needed. So...it was borrowed from the Civic Center display...with permission, by the way! Someone had forgotten to advice the powers that be, and it was reported stolen! A frantic search began with law enforcement for a few days. Finally, someone spoke up and remembered loaning it to the film crew in Georgetown! It was returned and put back where it belonged! As it turns out...it wasn't featured all that much in the movie...you can barely see it during the Christmas show with the children. It did create quit a disturbance though...

George (John Denver) is an architect who works for a very successful developer. A widower, he has a darling daughter, Alex (Gennie Jemes) and both of them are still grieving for their wife and mother, respectfully. So, perhaps a change of scenery would do them both good. Therefore, when George's boss wants him to travel to the small, mountainside village of Georgetown, Colorado, they both go. Its the big boss' idea to buy a foreclosed ranch and begin to develop a ski resort. Yet, when George gets to the place, meets the town folk, and studies the area, the widower realizes the venue would be spoiled by development. He tries to tell his boss this but, the man is more determined than ever to make "his" resort a go. With the help of a lovely postal mistress, Susan (Jane Kaczmarek), can they find away to keep the lovely town as it is? Christmas is the time for miracles, no? This lovely film from the eighties is still a winner for the season. Denver does a nice job and James is just a doll as the daughter. All other cast members, script, and fine direction are very well conceived. Especially fine is the scenery, which is magnificent and was shot in the actual village of Georgetown. No one really gets tired of Xmas films, no matter what time of year, so give you and your family a big gift and find it today.

It was good to see John Denver again though he passed several years ago. I found this film to be very heartwarming and a great film to sit by the fire on a cold winters night recollecting what Christmas is all about. The scenes of Georgetown, Colorado were magnificent and make one want to move there immediately. As I sit here in my own mountain seen in So California I loved the story and the plot. I hope all who see this somewhat older film enjoy it as much as my mother and I did. Merry Christmas! A great film for all the family too see. Enoy and tell others about it. Thanks for the memories. We need to have more films like this come out of Hollywood.

I just finished watching the movie tonight and I truly loved it. John Denver didn't play a pastor, but it was the reverend of the little town who decided to leave the floor for John Denver to speak. It's a really great movie with a wonderful Christmas message. It was also fun to watch.

I have watched this movie several times on the Hallmark Channel and enjoy it each time I watch it. It is just a heartwarming movie about a time gone by in this age of me, me, me. John Denver is fabulous, as are all the cast of characters, and I do mean "Characters". Georgetown CO is a place I would love to live...where family matters, friends matter, and neighbors look out for and care for each other. And they do this without thought of what it might benefit them. It is truly a movie to be watched as a family. In this day and age of what our children may see or hear in a movie, this one is a safe bet. Hats off to the Hallmark Channel for continuing to broadcast this fine movie!