Most of the world associates the actor Jimmy Stewart and Christmas with the marvelous Frank Capra film, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” And that is a classic tale, with everyman George Bailey learning, at his most depressed hour, how much a town needs him.
But there is another Jimmy Stewart Christmas movie, “Mr. Krueger’s Christmas,” made by the Mormon Church in 1980. (Watch the film here) It used to be a fixture on TV stations across the nation during the holidays. It is not an advertisement for the Mormon Church. Rather, it’s a story of an elderly widower’s optimism and faith that carries him through life, particularly during times such as Christmas, when loneliness can be heightened.
Stewart, who gives a great performance, plays Willie Krueger, an elderly widower who lives alone with a cat in the basement of an apartment house where he serves as janitor. We don’t know anything about Mr. Krueger’s past, other than he is a widower and alone this Christmas Eve. Mr. Krueger is a bit of a Walter Mitty character. He likes to daydream. His daydreams are mostly childlike. He listens to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on an LP and imagines conducting it. He peers through a glass shop window at a fancy suit and imagines himself wearing it at a fancy function. I’m sure most of us have similar daydreams.
Just as Mr. Krueger is settling in for a lonely Christmas night, he hears carolers outside. Pleasantly surprised, he shouts from the basement for them to join him for a cup of hot chocolate. The carolers, who appear well off, are leery of Mr. Krueger, not in a mean way as much as a condescending “this is an odd, old guy” way. Mr. Krueger excitedly prepares for their visit but they merely stand at his door, sing a song and leave. All except for a little girl, Clarissa, who wanders into the small home and leaves her mittens. This paves the way for a second encounter between Mr. Krueger and the carolers.
I won’t give away the ending except to say that before the reunion there is a deeply moving daydream where Mr. Krueger, looking at a baby Jesus nativity piece, imagines he is at the birth of Christ. He kneels before the baby Jesus and thanks his Savior for always loving him, no matter if he deserved it or not. He thanks Jesus for being with him when his wife died and for reminding him to be compassionate to a lonely, cantankerous neighbor.
This is a powerful scene that establishes Christ’s love – and its power to raise our spirits no matter what – as the main theme of Mr. Krueger’s Christmas. In fact, it makes the final scene with the carolers seem almost an afterthought. Mr. Krueger, we learn, can maintain his optimism, his childlike charity and love, no matter what life throws at him.
Again, there is no proselytizing for the Mormon Church in this film. That broadens its appeal and certainly helped more people see it. It’s very popular on the Internet Movie Database, with an 8.0 rating out of a 10 high score.
The 26-minute film has mostly disappeared from television. Some people say it is hard to find, but a quick search will find many affordable copies, mostly on Ebay. In 2005, it was re-released on DVD with a remastered musical score and sent to Ensign magazine subscribers. My copy of it comes with three other LDS-filmed shorts, including the moving four-minute short, “The Nativity,” that recounts Christ’s birth.
If you haven’t seen this film in more than a few years, hunt it down. It’s worth another viewing. In a press conference when the film was released, Stewart, succinct and to the point, summed up why he did the film:
“I liked the script. I liked the message. I thought it was time we needed something like this.”
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This review from long ago (10-plus years) did not even survive in Google Wayback. Glad we had a copy of the Standard Works page to transcribe and bring back Cal Grondahl's wonderful cartoon. (In the early Standard Works days, the cartoons were black and white.) Happy 40th anniversary for this iconic film. I last recall Mr. Krueger's Christmas being promoted at least 15 years ago. We were handed DVDs at church during a Christmas service. But today, I'm sure a healthy number of people watch the film during December.
--- Doug Gibson
--- Originally published at StandardBlogs
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