Santa Claus The Movie was produced by Illya and Alexander Salkind who had less than orthodox business methods such as making one long movie and then splitting them in two while only paying cast & crew for one when it came to making Two Musketeer film adaptations in the 70s starring Oliver Reed.
But their biggest success came when they went on to bring Superman to the big screen in a massive hit film, two lesser sequels and 1984’s flop Supergirl starring Helen Slater; but it’s the first adventure from the Man Of Steel which in turn sparked the comic book movie boom that is still around to this day.
Santa Claus The Movie directed by Jeannot Szwarc helmer of Jaws 2, Somewhere In Time and previously mentioned Supergirl from a script by David & Leslie Newman is Batman Begins of Santa Claus movies (David Huddleston) of how he and his wife almost die in a snow storm only for the elves to train him for his forever job of delivering kids toys on Christmas Eve.
One of the elves Patch (Dudley Moore) tries to streamline the big man’s workload by building a machine to make toys but it’s less than successful so he leaves to go to New York to work for B’Z Toys run by John Llithgow’s sleazy businessman making candy canes that make people fly when eaten.
In another plot line, we follow the friendship between a young rich girl(Carrie Kei Heim) and a homeless street urchin Joe (Christopher Fitzpatrick) who happens to be BZ’s niece who then kidnaps the boy so Santa must saddle up to rescue his elve Patch and his new young friend from the evil toymaker.
Is Santa Claus The Movie a good film? No, it’s not….. Is it memorable? Yeah if you are from a certain generation it’s the movie that always seems to be on ITV on Christmas Day morning after the thrill of ripping open your gifts has gone and the living room is covered in wrapping paper.
The cast makes this cheesy film watchable…. David Huddleston in the lead role is great as is Judy Cornwall as his wife Anya he has the gravitas and endearing quality that a Santa Claus should have while she is the doting spouse.
When it comes to the American supporting cast, John Lithgow is a pantomime villain that chomps on cigars and struts around in pinstriped suits like a Dick Tracy bad guy; it’s not a subtle performance, Burgess Meredith as The Ancient Elf is acting through a long thick beard.
The cast also includes classic British actors Melvyn Hayes, Don Estelle and The Young Ones Christopher Ryan as a glorified extra with no lines alongside Dudley Moore’s character Patch as the loveable elf.
While it may be a movie set in America it’s very much a British-made production in terms of the cast, crew members and special effects expert that brought Santa Claus The Movie together. It’s a style of filmmaking from the 70s & 80s that I have an appreciation for that runs to this day.
In the role of director Jeannot Szwarc brings the film together efficiently with not much style. Just imagine if John Carpenter who was offered the chance to helm the movie had done this film it might have been something special but he & the producers couldn’t come to terms over the final cut and composing the film score with the music finally being composed by Henry Mancini of Pink Panther fame.
My viewing of Santa Claus The Movie for this review was an interesting experience because of the different levels that I saw within it this time around. While it can be seen as a dopey kids’ movie about Santa I also see a cynical product placement using film that makes a subtle statement about the movie producers who could be seen by Hollywood as BZ’s and the fact that John Lithgow’s character pitches Christmas 2… is this a nod to Superman 2?
The film re-released by Studio Canal arrives on 4K, Blu Ray & DVD from the 13th Of November and is back in cinemas on the 24th of November. It has been restored with the home video release containing a mix of old supplemental materials and a brand new interview with Mrs Claus herself Judy Cornwall who talks about the film’s production in a too-short featurette.
The disc also includes deleted scenes, raw footage of the shooting of a press conference and an excellent archive documentary about the production.
Santa Claus The Movie arrives on 4K,Blu Ray & DVD from the 13th Of November & in cinemas 24th of November 2023
The Film Collective Scotland 
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