I remember one December when I was in my mid-twenties and living in Los Angeles, I was perusing the television listings for the week and was astounded by what I saw. In a panic, I dialed my brother's number in the Bay Area, terrified that I would not be able to get ahold of him in time. But he was home.

"OH MY GOD!!" I screamed into the phone.

"What? What is it?"

"IT'S ON TONIGHT!!"

And, through that mystic bond some siblings inexplicably have, he knew what I was talking about. He knew.

"It's on? Tonight?" Sounds of frantic scrambling for the TV Guide. "OH MY GOD IT'S ON!"

And thus was the first of a resurgance in our interest in what was our favorite holiday movie, back when we were snotnosed kids gawping at HBO: The Christmas That Almost Wasn't. Even as kids we could never quite explain our fascination with this film. Perhaps it is the over-the-top characters, perhaps it is the forced plot...or perhaps it is simply the fact that you can never quite tell whether the film takes itself seriously or thinks its the stupidest thing ever to be made. We didn't know then, and we don't know now.

Over the past decade or so, my brother and I have become thoroughly engrossed with this movie on a level we never were as children. After I moved back to the Bay Area we managed to track down an old used rental VHS, and I made a CD soundtrack from it while he worked on our own DVD. I found a couple copies of the original LP soundtrack and (eventually) transferred it to to my computer and made mp3 files. The official DVD came out and my brother, using the transcript he'd made from the VHS (he'd been planning to make his DVD subtitled) wrote out a detailed script. We currently have an original pressbook on its way*, and I really ought to pick up a poster for our living room one of these days...**

WE LOVE THIS MOVIE. We have our favorite scenes, and favorite lines that make us giggle every time. It is the greatest holiday film EVER, no matter how bad it is or how many other people can't stand it. Say what you like about the story or the portrayal of Santa - we'll love it until the day we die.

For years I swore I'd make a fansite, and here it is at last. Since posting my review on IMDB in 2002, I have heard from a handful of people who just contacted me to let me know that my brother and I are not alone, that they love this movie too. There are a lot of folks out there for whom The Christmas That Almost Wasn't holds a special place...it occupies our hearts, and to perhaps to an extent our minds, all year round. This website is for us.

Cynthia "Sparky" Read
December 2006

* Which we've since received, of course

** Which I have procured but we've never put it up, some day maybe...

Out


This page owned and maintained by C. "Sparky" Read.