Product Details

• Actors: Geraldine Page, Donnie Melvin
• Directors: Frank Perry
• Format: NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: ABC TV
• VHS Release Date: November 1, 2002
• Run Time: 51 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000CGDQQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,687 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars for the film, 1 star for the missing color., October 27, 2005

By 

Jim Quist (Richland Center, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Truman Capote's a Christmas Memory [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Whether baking a cake, prattling like two wise children or raiding a
pecan orchard, young Donnie Melvin and the remarkable Miss Page are
unforgettable. The authentic Southern setting looks so real that it
hurts, at least to one who raided a pecan orchard or two in his own
time. The color photography of the entire picture is muted and excellent."
-- from Howard Thompson's review of A Christmas Memory (in its
theatrical release) from the November 7th, 1969, New York Times.

It's a rare pleasure to watch this dramatization of a piece of great
American literature, and it has become a ritual in my home to watch
this movie with friends and family each year. Donnie Melvin and
Geraldine Page work so well together, they truly bring the story to life.
Hard to imagine, but the original short story was written while author
Truman Capote was vacationing in Hong Kong.

A Christmas Memory was filmed in direct collaboration with Mr. Capote,
and it won many awards, including a Peabody and three Emmys, after it
first aired on ABC Television's Stage67 series.

One problem: This VHS cassette is in black and white and thus offers a
diminished experience from what was created in the 1966 color original.
The story still shines through, but this small masterpiece deserves
better. A color copy of A Christmas Memory of equivalent quality to the
above can be found online elsewhere.

If you wish to someday see a restored version of this movie on DVD,
won't you please logon to The Criterion Collection site and submit a
title suggestion on their Ask Jon Mulvaney page? Maybe with enough
interest expressed to Criterion for a restoration, this dream of many
will one day come true.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I have a color copy!, September 18, 2007

By 

Buddy's Master "history buff" (Mays Landing, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory - ABC Stage 67 (DVD)

I read the licensee comment. I was one who purchased a BW copy - terrible copy - from someone on e-bay. I had a color copy on VHS that I had copied from the FAMILY CHANNEL about 10 years ago. As I watched it I removed the advertisements. I have just recently made a copy on DVD. My copy is better than any copy I have seen and I don't understand why the licensee or ABC or who ever owns the rights can't get a color copy from the FAMILY CHANNEL ( which is no longer the FAMILY CHANNEL - Is it TBS now?) or some PBS channel which also use to show the film around Christmas time!Maybe ABC could restore it to its original form. My copy is excellent compared to others I have seen but certainly not a restored copy type version.

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor Quality Print, December 11, 2003

By 

Jeff McGinnis (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Truman Capote's a Christmas Memory [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"A Christmas Memory" (ABC 1966) and the companion piece "The Thanksgiving Visitor" (ABC 1967) were films by Frank and Eleanor Perry. Geraldine Page won an Emmy for each production. The films were shot in Alabama in color and have rarely been seen since the original broadcasts.
This version is a very poor quality black and white kinescope . It does not include any special material such as Stage 67 title sequence or commercials, extras which sometime distinguish a kinescope. Excellent color prints were shown on the A&E cable network in 1993. See also "Truman Capote's Trilogy" (1969) for a slightly edited version of "A Christmas Memory" and the companion book by the Perrys (1969).