Movie Review: The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t (1966)

The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t seems like an innocent enough children’s film, but it has some baffling choices that make it interesting.

The story involves Santa (Alberto Rabagliati) being in deep debt to a Scrooge-type character in Phineas T. Prune (played by the director and Vincent Price lookalike, Rossano Brazzi).

That seems simple enough. But to pay off his debt, Santa seeks out the help of a lawyer, Sam Whipple (Paul Tripp). This is where it gets kind of weird. Santa seeks out his help because apparently decades ago, Whipple wrote in his letter to Santa Claus that he was willing to help him if he ever ran into trouble.

Whipple helps him get a job at a department store where he becomes the first department store Santa (the movie sort of has like a Victorian or maybe early 20th century setting). And this is where it gets weirder. Santa has never seen a child awake, so he’s sort of nervous, but also happy about this opportunity. Meanwhile, Whipple is basically a child, and I can’t help but think for the sake of the movie, the character should have been.

Santa being helped out by a kid makes a lot more sense than him being helped out by an adult who wanted to help him when he was a kid. Whipple is filled with so much childlike excitement and innocent that it almost seems like the role was written for a child.

But it gets weirder. Phineas T. Prune doesn’t so much hate Christmas as he hates children. He hates children so much so that he apparently has convinced himself that he never was a child. And Santa, Mrs. Santa (not Mrs. Claus for some reason), and Whipple basically end up saving the day by reminding him that he was a child.

It’s a strange movie. While I wouldn’t call it a musical, there are a few times the characters burst into very uninspired songs.

Rating: 3/10