Scene Mat TCAW #3
Santa Claus (Albert Rablagiati), Mr. Whipple (Paul Tripp) and Mrs. Santa (Lydia Brazzi), get
ready to begin their Christmas Eve journey to all the chimneys in this scene from Childhood
Productions Eastman Color classic "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't."

Paul Tripp -- Biography
(Co-star and writer of the originl story, screenplay
and lyrics for "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't")

Paul Tripp, a multi-talented man famous for his celebrated contributions to children's television entertainment, is cur­rently starring in a feature-length musical fantasy, "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't," the Childhood Productions release produced by Barry B. Yellen and which marks the directorial debut of Rossano Brazzi.

A leading role as a dear and inventive friend of Santa Claus, however, does not complete Tripp's array of creative energies devoted to the delightful motion picture filmed in Eastman Color. He also wrote the original story, the screenplay and the lyrics for its many lilting songs, the latter for which his long-time collaborator Ray Carter wrote the music.

Tripp's career began as an actor in New York and soon began to include directing. His first di­rectorial assignment on Broadway, in fact, was indicative of his fu­ture, for the play featured a cast of twenty-five children and a single adult.

His focus on entertainment for children had begun even before, however, when he conceived the highly popular record album, "Tubby the Tuba." To date, the album has been tanslated and per­formed in every part of the world where a symphony orchestra exists, has sold over six million copies, and has been performed on records by many leading recording artists.

PIONEERED CHILDREN'S TELEVISION PROGRAMMING In 1949, Tripp combined his theatrical experience with his suc­cess in the children's musical field to become a pioneer in television programming for children. The first show he created and starred in was "Mr. I. Magination." The weekly, musical fantasy series was hailed an immediate success and today is considered a classic, having won, among others, a Peabody Award, an Emmy and a Look Magazine Award.

His next TV program, again as producer-star-writer, was "On The Carousel," an educational-enter­tainment program for children, which was honored with three Ohio State University Awards.

PURSUED DRAMATIC ROLES After devoting ten years to those rewarding programs, Tripp felt he needed a change and re­turned to his original love, acting. He moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in dramatic roles on every major television show, in­cluding "Ben Casey," "Twilight Zone," "Perry Mason" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

Once again, however, his desire to contribute to the entertainment of children became overpowering and he returned to New York, where he created the current and acclaimed 'Birthday House" for NBC-TV. As star of the daily, one-hour show, he has guided the program into its fourth year and its popularity continues to ascend. He also recorded a "Birthday House" album, which sold 150,000 copies in its initial six months on the market.

AUTHOR AND COLUMNIST Tripp is married to actress Ruth Enders, who has appeared with him on all of the aforementioned television successes, and with whom he has a daughter, Suzanne, and a son, David. He rounds out his tireless creative activities with the writing of children's books and a weekly newspaper column.

"The Christmas That Almost Wasn't" also stars Brazzi, Lydia Brazzi, appearing in a movie for the first time with her husband, Rossano, Alberto Rabagliati, Mischa Auer and Sonny Fox. It is the first feature-length production to be made under the auspices of Childhood Productions, a leading distributor of family films.

Scene Mat TCAW #2
Paul Tripp, children's TV per-
sonality, creator and co-star of
Childhood Productions East-
man Color classic "The Christ-
mas That Almost Wasn't."

Paul Tripp's Many
Talents Enhance
"The Christmas That
Almost Wasn't"

The original story, screenplay and song lyrics for "The Christ­mas That Almost Wasn't," a de­lightful, musical-fantasy feature opening ........ at the ......... Theatre, are all the work of Paul Tripp, long one of television's most creative personalities.

MULTIPLE TALENTS OF PAUL TRIPP Tripp, who also stars in a major role in the Childhood Productions release produced by Barry B. Yel­len, holds an enviable reputation as a multiple-talented producer, director, writer, lyricist and per­former for award-winning TV pro­grams for children. His acclaimed innovations include "Mr. I. Magination," "On The Carousel" and the current success "Birthday House."

DESTINED AS YULETIDE CLASSIC His story of Santa Claus in a battle against eviction from his North Pole home and headquarters, which features a lilting array of songs with music by Tripp's long­time collaborator, Ray Carter, is in the enchanting tradition of classic yuletide tales, such as "A Christmas Carol," "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer," 'The Night Before Christmas" and "Miracle on 34th Street."

Tripp portrays Sam Whipple, Santa's warm and devoted friend in the motion picture which is pre­sented in Eastman Color. His an­tagonist is an ill-tempered, miserly zillionaire who hates children and the spirit of Christmas giving, Phineas T. Prune, played by in­ternational star, Rossano Brazzi, in a stunning switch from his pre­vious, romantic characterizations.

"The Christmas That Almost Wasn't," also marking Brazzi's di­rectorial debut, also stars Lydia Brazzi, together for the first time in films with her husband Rossano, Alberto Rabagliati, Mischa Auer and Sonny Fox. The bouncing background score is by Bruno Nicolai.

Scene Mat TCAW #15
Santa Claus (Albert Rabagliati) preparing to tell the children
that there will be no toys this Christmas because Mr. Prune has
evicted him from the North Pole in this scene from Childhood
Productions Eastman Color classic, "The Christmas That Almost
Wasn't."

"The Christmas That Almost
Wasn't" stars Rossano Brazzi
in New Role

Rossano Brazzi, the romantic star of over a hundred feature films, makes his directorial debut in "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't," a Childhood Productions release opening ......... at the ........ Theatre, and has cast himself in an entirely new kind of role from his past, matinee-idol portrayals.

The handsome Italian, adored by women throughout the world since his acclaimed appearance in "Sum­mertime" and "Three Coins In The Fountain," creates, for the first time in his career, a comic-char­acter portrait.

PORTRAYS ILL-TEMPERED ZILLIONAIRE He stars in the musical fantasy, filmed in English in Rome, as an ill-tempered, miserly zillionaire, Phineas T. Prune. Although he reforms in the end, Prune makes an almost successful attempt to evict Santa Claus from his North Pole home and toy workshop. Be­fore he is foiled and enlightened by the yuletide spirit of goodwill, the villain insists that he never was a child and that he hates both children and their beloved Santa.

CREATED BY PAUL TRIPP The original story and screen­play, in the enchanting tradition of great yuletide tales, were writ­ten by the famed creator of childrens' TV entertainment, Paul Tripp, the writer-director-perform­er of "Mr. I. Magination," "On The Carousel" and the current "Birthday House."

Director Brazzi's cast and actor Brazzi's co-stars in "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't" include his wife, Lydia Brazzi, in her film debut, Tripp, Alberto Rabagliati, Mischa Auer and Sonny Fox. Pre­sented in Eastman Color with songs by Ray Carter and back­ground score by Bruno Nicolai, the feature attraction was pro­duced by Barry B. Yellen.

Rossano and Lydia Brazzi ap­pear in films together for the first time and Director Brazzi has no­thing but praise for the perform­ance of his wife Lydia. "She's settling down to a long film career" claims Rossano Brazzi.

Scene Mat TCAW #11
Mr. Whipple (Paul Tripp) tries to convince mean Mr. Prune
(Rossano Brazzi) to let Santa Claus stay at the North Pole till
after Christmas in a scene from Childhood Productions Eastman
Color classic "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't."