The Man in the Santa Claus Suit (1979)

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(255 ratings)

Made for TV, The Man in the Santa Claus Suit jumped the gun a bit by premiering December 23, 1979. The title "character" is threefold: John Byner, Gary Burghoff and Bert Convy all don Santa suits for various reasons. Byner is a fugitive tramp, Burghoff a lonely schoolteacher, and Convy a divorced… More Made for TV, The Man in the Santa Claus Suit jumped the gun a bit by premiering December 23, 1979. The title "character" is threefold: John Byner, Gary Burghoff and Bert Convy all don Santa suits for various reasons. Byner is a fugitive tramp, Burghoff a lonely schoolteacher, and Convy a divorced father estranged from his young son. Unifying their three stories is top-billed Fred Astaire, who pops up in eight different roles (or seven different roles, if you don't count his "surprise identity") and sings the title song. The moral, as ever, is that Christmas is what you make of it: if you're merry, then you'll have a merry Christmas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: Corey Allen
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Television, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Dec 23, 1979 Wide
On DVD: Jan 8, 1989

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Lafe F

One of my favorite made-for-TV Christmas movies from the late 70's. A trio of tales celebrating "The Man in the Santa Claus Suit", with a framing plot of Fred Astaire renting out a Santa Claus suit to three different men from his shop in New York City. Story 1 -… More
One of my favorite made-for-TV Christmas movies from the late 70's. A trio of tales celebrating "The Man in the Santa Claus Suit", with a framing plot of Fred Astaire renting out a Santa Claus suit to three different men from his shop in New York City. Story 1 - John Byner plays a good-hearted (but smelly) street person who uses his Santa Claus suit to commit robbery, but winds up celebrating Christmas with the family he was intending to rob. Story 2 - Gary Burghoff rents a suit to express his love for the special girl in his life, in a romantic adventure which involves a department store runaround. Story 3 - Bert Convy plays an absent father, who rents a suit to win back his young son's affection. It's a scene of a highrise Manhattan family drama. In typical Christmas Movie style, the stories all resolve themselves nicely by the end. There is also a neat ending with Fred Astaire donning his own Santa Claus suit. Where's the official DVD?