John Grin's Christmas

I was lucky enough to catch "Christmas" the one time it ran on TV, and I wish it would be released on DVD. Of course, it is an adaptation of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol " with Robert Guillaume as John Grin, the Scrooge character. His son Kevin has a role as the Bob Cratchit character, with Geoffrey Holder and Ted Lange as two of the Ghosts. There are so many second-rate versions of "Christmas Carol" that seem to be around, and one of the few really good versions gets lost in a film vault somewhere. That's too bad, because this is truly a little gem of a TV movie. It was made on the heels of Guillaume's run as Benson and capitalized on that series' popularity. There is a bit of Benson's dry wit, but John Grin is not Benson. The writing is low-key and the characters well-done and interesting. Too bad we most likely won't see this one again. It's well worth the time.