DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

ronmichaels A perfect Christmas film. Touching and warm. To viewers who are 75 and 80 years old, this film is very real. They would have been 10 or 11 years old at the time this film was made. To many, the film seems to focus on the main characters and tribulations that were not all that uncommon in those days shortly after the end of World War II. Jobs were scarce. Housing was scarce. The soldiers were being separated (honorably discharged) from military service and they were flooding the country looking for jobs and places to live. The 50's were right around the corner but the boom of those years hadn't started. What the film portrays was very real. The young 10 or 11 year old boy was the only "man" in the family. It was not uncommon for a single mother (who lost her husband in the war) to call her young son "the only man." His childhood evaporated quickly. He had to grow up and assume his new role as an adult and head of his household. This character in the movie has an incredible number of lines to deliver for someone that young. But the "understory" can't be told by anyone else. Not only is he lonely, he's also a kid. But since he was about five his Christmas gifts were socks, oranges, new shoes, a shirt, and a small jacket that couldn't keep him warm outside in the blowing snow because it had to be cheap. A single mother with an apartment and a young son to care for has it tough. Yet, to him, the jacket was a fur coat because his mom bought it for him when she couldn't even afford bread. How she could do that for him was an astonishing event. He was touched so deeply it was hard to eat. The train meant much more than any toy could mean to anyone else. He had never seen anything so grand. Watch the interaction between the characters from this boy's perspective. Perhaps you'll see yet another film. In fact, watch the film twice. You won't be disappointed.

vincentlynch-moonoi I like this film. It's not one of the truly great Christmas favorites, but it just feels good...and perhaps a little more "real" than some Christmas flicks.You might describe the film as a romantic triangle + 1. Two men, a woman, and the woman's little boy. Will Janet Leigh stick with the safe, but rather mundane Wendell Corey, or throw away stability for the less stable but more human Robert Mitchum. And will the little boy (Gordon Gebert) accept her choice? Robert Mitchum may have been most memorable in his power-roles, but he could also be effective with a basic love story...as I found him to be here. Janet Leigh is just about perfect for this script as the mother. Wendell Corey is satisfactory...which pretty much followed his character. Gordon Gebert is fantastic as the son. It was nice to see Henry O'Neill, Harry Morgan, Esther Dale, and Griff Barnett here in supporting roles.No, this is not one of the most memorable holiday films, but it's very pleasing. I don't know that I don't like it about equally to "Miracle On 34th Street".

utgard14 Delightful Christmas romantic comedy about a widowed single mother (Janet Leigh) who gets a toy store clerk (Robert Mitchum) fired and thus begins their bumpy road to romance. It's a very special movie, underrated in many ways. The performances are all earnest and authentic. The script is smart, funny, and heartwarming without being cloying. Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh are both great and have a wonderful, believable chemistry together. Child actor Gordon Gebert is adorable. His performance feels very real, though I suspect some of that is accidental. What I mean is sometimes the actor seems to stumble over lines in such a way it doesn't seem like acting. Instead of being a flaw, however, it actually works. His infectious enthusiasm in the role certainly helps. So the question remains how much is intentional on his part and how much is just serendipity. Either way, the end result is an enjoyable performance that feels legit compared to most overly-precocious child actors. Wendell Corey is really good in a well-written role. The 'also-ran' guy in romantic comedies is usually pretty clichéd. This one is a genuinely nice, dependable guy who, like so many nice guys, just can't compete with handsome dreamers like Mitchum. It's a terrific film with a lot going for it. It never talks down to you or plays with your emotions in a cheap way. It's just a very genuine, mature romance story about characters who feel like real people not movie 'types.'

Ed Uyeshima The backstory behind the casting of this modest 1949 holiday chestnut is far more intriguing than the romantic roundelay that occurs on screen. At the time, Howard Hughes was the head of RKO Studios and insisted on casting Robert Mitchum in an atypical role as a light romantic lead in response to a tabloid scandal brewing after the actor was sent to prison for marijuana possession. Meanwhile, Hughes was also determined to make Janet Leigh his latest sexual conquest by borrowing her from MGM for this starring role only to be rebuffed later when she eventually fell for Tony Curtis. Nonetheless, both stars beat the odds of their contrived circumstances and display a definite chemistry in this post-WWII Christmas tale. Leigh plays Connie Ennis, a young war widow with a six-year-old son named Timmy. She makes a living as an undercover comparison shopper, and as part of her job, has to buy an $80 model train from a competitive department store. Mitchum plays Steve Mason, the toy salesman who suspects something is afoul in the expedient way she buys the train with no questions asked.When she brings it home, Timmy is excited about the prospect of getting a train set for Christmas but quickly becomes disappointed when he realizes it's not his present. Meanwhile, standing in the wings is Carl Davis, a steady-minded lawyer who has been smitten with Connie for years and keeps pressing her to marry him. She hems and haws because there are no real sparks between them, but she is tempted by the financial security he can bring to her and Timmy's lives. When Connie returns the expensive model train the next day, Steve gets fired for not turning her in as a comparison shopper. Feeling guilty, she agrees to have lunch with him in the park. Needless to say, sparks start to occur when he shares his dream of going to California to become a boat builder (shades of "The Shawshank Redemption"), but they lose each other trying to catch a crowded bus. He tracks her down at home celebrating Christmas with Carl and her in-laws. Connie is forced to choose between the two men, and there isn't much suspense on what the outcome will be. The interesting Oedipal twist to the story, however, is how Connie views Timmy as a living tribute to her dead husband and how his specter competes with her suitors.Even though it seems like Mitchum is slumming relative to the classic noir films he was making at the time, his laconic manner and brazen honesty are exactly what this trifle of a movie needs to give it a recognizable pulse. There is a certain joy in watching him grow attracted to Connie knowing that the malevolence of "The Night of the Hunter" and "Cape Fear" was ahead of him. Long before she found herself terrorized in a shower in "Psycho", Leigh is plucky enough as she exudes her girl-next-door image while displaying a most prominent rack. Wendell Corey is saddled with the wet-rag role of Carl, but at least he manages to maintain his dignity against the overwhelming impact of Mitchum's charisma. As Timmy, Gordon Gebert is that rare child actor who comes across like a real kid without looking overly affected, and he provides the movie's most touching scenes, especially the one where he attempts to return the train to the store. Harry Morgan, who just died at age 96, has a few funny moments as a sardonic night-court judge. The print on the 2008 DVD doesn't show signs of restoration, and there are no extras.