The Christmas Tree * (1969, William Holden, Virna Lisi, Bourvil, Brook Fuller) – Classic Movie Review 13,303

‘Joyful. Tearful. Real. It’s All About Love and Life. And Isn’t That What It’s All About?’ The tearful 1969 French Italian drama film The Christmas Tree stars William Holden, Virna Lisi, Bourvil and Brook Fuller.

‘Do NOT See This Picture Alone! See it with someone, with someone special… someone you love. Joyful. Tearful. Real. It’s All About Love and Life. And Isn’t That What It’s All About?’

Writer/ director Terence Young’s tearful 1969 French Italian drama film The Christmas Tree stars William Holden, Virna Lisi, Bourvil, and Brook Fuller.

William Holden went straight from the gore of The Wild Bunch to the goo of this contrived, turgid and rather chilling weepie international movie, based on Michel Bataille’s novel L’Arbre de Noël, about a French millionaire widower man named Laurent Ségur (Holden) whose 10-year-old son Pascal (Brook Fuller) is dying of leukaemia after radiation poisoning following a nearby plane crash that discharges its nuclear weaponry. Pascal will not live more than six months, so Laurent takes Pascal along with Catherine on a series of final adventures.

Holden does what he can, and so do the excellent Virna Lisi as his beautiful girlfriend Catherine Graziani and Bourvil as his long-time buddy Verdun, and there are one or two decent, well-written scenes, but this boring, depressing movie is terminally sickly.

The music by Georges Auric and the cinematography by Henri Alekan are incidental pleasures. But the film is a ghastly heart-tugger, and an endurance test at 110 minutes.

The cast are William Holden as Laurent Ségur, Bourvil as Verdun, Virna Lisi as Catherine Graziani, Brook Fuller as Pascal Ségur, Madeleine Damien as Marinette, Mario Feliciani as doctor, Friedrich von Ledebur as Vernet, Georges Douking as L’animalier, Michel Thomass as L’ami corse, Jean-Pierre Castaldi as Le motard de la gendermerie, Yves Barsacq as Charlie le breton, France Daunic as La monitrice, Paul Bonifas, and Maria Schneider.

The film opened on 25 September 1969 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It was released in Italy on October 10, 1969 and in France on October 15, 1969. the box office gross in the US and Canada was $1,303,251.

It was released in France as L’Arbre de Noël and in Italy as L’Albero di Natale.

It was Maria Schneider’s (uncredited) film debut.

The son is named Marcel instead of Pascal in the Italian-dubbed version.

In the European version, the European actors speak their own languages and Holden’s English dialogue is dubbed. For the international version, the European cast spoke phonetic English before being dubbed in English by voice actors.

The Christmas Tree is directed by Terence Young, runs 110 minutes, is made by Les Films Corona and Jupiter Generale Cinematografica, is released by Valoria Films and Continental, is written by Terence Young, is shot in Eastmancolor by Henri Alekan, is produced by Robert Dorfmann and Walter Reade, and is scored by Georges Auric.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,303

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