One Magic Christmas *** (1985, Mary Steenburgen, Gary Basaraba, Harry Dean Stanton, Arthur Hill) – Classic Movie Review 13,928

Saint Nicholas assigns the angel Gideon (Harry Dean Stanton) to restore the Christmas spirit of troubled mother Ginnie Grainger (Mary Steenburgen), in the 1985 Christmas fantasy film One Magic Christmas.

Director Phillip Borsos’s 1985 Canada / US holiday fantasy film One Magic Christmas is written by Thomas Meehan, and stars Mary Steenburgen, Gary Basaraba, Harry Dean Stanton, and Arthur Hill.

One Magic Christmas is entertaining, superior festive fare in a contemporary retelling of It’s a Wonderful Life that is surprisingly sugar-free for a Walt Disney Pictures production, though it is a co-production with Telefilm Canada, which might account for it. Orion Pictures dropped out as producer and Disney came on board with two-thirds of the budget ($5 million) while Telefilm Canada’s Broadcast Fund paid the rest.

A disillusioned family are guided towards remembering the real meaning of Christmas by a decidedly second-rate angel named Gideon (Harry Dean Stanton), with Jan Rubeš as Saint Nicholas / Santa Claus, so all the bases are covered. Santa sends Gideon to help troubled, Scrooge-thinking mother Ginnie Grainger (Mary Steenburgen), the parent of Cal (Robbie Magwood) and Abbie (Elisabeth Harnois), to care again and restore her Christmas spirit. Ginnie works as a grocery store cashier but her husband Jack (Gary Basaraba) has been out of work for six months, and they must quit their company house by New Year.

It is all a bit too self-conscious, perhaps, but enriched with comic moments that may amuse most members of the family. It is an exceptionally nice, sweet film, beautifully crafted by Phillip Borsos, and smartly shot by English cinematographer Frank Tidy. And there is polished acting from the classy ensemble. How often do you get a chance to see Harry Dean Stanton in a kids’ feature? Canadian acting stalwart Arthur Hill plays Jack’s grandfather Caleb, in one of his last roles.

Cast: Mary Steenburgen, Gary Basaraba, Harry Dean Stanton, Arthur Hill, Elisabeth Harnois, Robbie Magwood, Michelle Meyrink, Elias Koteas, Wayne Robson, Jan Rubeš, Sarah Polley, Graham Jarvis.

It was shot in Meaford, Ontario, and Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada.

Phillip Borsos wrote a one-page story idea back in 1976 and later co-wrote a first draft with Barry Healey, then Thomas Meehan worked on the story and screenplay.

The film was released in Canadian and US cinemas on November 22, 1985. It took $13 million at the box office, against its $7.5 million budget, so it has a happy ending.

Ah, the magic of the movies! The shopping mall scene was filmed in February 1985, and 50 shopkeepers replaced their Valentine’s Day decorations with Christmas ones. Residents on a street in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough decorated their homes with Christmas lights.

But there was an unseasonable thaw and five tons of snow had to be brought in by trucks. Then a blizzard blew in, and the crew had to remove the excess snow, followed by sleet, rain, fog, mud and wind up to 50 miles an hour.

The Toronto post office supplied 20,000 actual letters to Santa Claus for the scene at Santa’s workshop.

Phillip Borsos (May 5, 1953 – February 2, 1995) 

Australian-born Canadian film director Phillip Borsos died of leukaemia on 2 February 1995 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, aged 41. He made his feature debut The Grey Fox in 1982, at the age of 27. 

He made only five films: The Grey Fox (1982), The Mean Season (1985), One Magic Christmas (1985), Bethune: The Making of a Hero (1990), Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995).

© Derek Winnert 2026 – Classic Movie Review 13,928

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