Santa Claus (1959 film)

Santa Claus

U.S. marquee poster
Directed by René Cardona
English version:
Ken Smith
Produced by Guillermo Calderón
Written by Adolfo Torres Portillo
René Cardona
Starring José Elías Moreno
José Luis Aguirre
Armando Arriola
Cesáreo Quezadas
Narrated by Ken Smith
Music by Antonio Díaz Conde
Cinematography Raúl Martínez Solares
Edited by Jorge Bustos
Production
company
Cinematográfica Calderón S.A.
Distributed by K. Gordon Murray Productions
Release dates
  • 26 November 1959 (1959-11-26) (Mexico)
  • October 1960 (1960-10) (US)
Running time
 97 minutes
Country Mexico
Language Spanish

Santa Claus (sometimes known as "Santa Claus vs The Devil") is a 1959 Mexican fantasy film directed by René Cardona and co-written with Adolfo Torres Portillo. In the film, Santa works in outer space and does battle with a demon sent to Earth by Lucifer to ruin Christmas by killing Santa and "making all the children of the Earth do evil."

A dubbed and slightly edited English language version was produced for U.S. release in 1960 under the direction of Ken Smith.[1] It was lampooned on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Plot

On December 24, Santa prepares for his yearly journey at his Toyland castle in space.[2] He plays the organ while his children helpers from all over the world sing. Meanwhile, in Hell, Lucifer instructs his chief demon Pitch to travel to Earth and turn the children of the world against Santa.

In a busy marketplace, Pitch attempts to convince five children to "make Santa Claus angry": Lupita, a poor girl; Billy, the son of wealthy but negligent parents; and three troublemaking brothers. Pitch fails at convincing Lupita to steal a doll from a vendor but succeeds in convincing the brothers to break a shop window. Santa's child workers alert him to these events.

Unable to travel to Earth before nightfall on Christmas Eve, he instead uses equipment to watch Pitch and the children. One device allows him to view Lupita's dream, induced by Pitch, in which she is tormented by life-sized dancing dolls who entice her to steal. He also listens as the three brothers plot to break into Billy's home and steal his presents. They also attempt to write a letter to Santa claiming they have been good, but Santa's voice informs them that he can see all they do.

Merlin the Wizard, Santa's most trusted assistant, gives Santa a sleep inducing powder and a flower that allows him to disappear. He then retrieves a magic key that will open any door on Earth from Vulcan and prepares his mechanical reindeer. On Earth, the three rude boys plot to capture and enslave Santa. Meanwhile Lupita and her mother say a prayer and Lupita says that she has wished for two dolls, one of which she will give to Baby Jesus.

During Santa's journey, Pitch makes several unsuccessful attempts to sabotage Santa's delivery of toys in Mexico City. Santa succeeds in reuniting Billy with his parents, who had left him alone to go to a restaurant. On a city rooftop, the three brothers prepare to capture Santa and steal his toys. They see Santa's sleigh in the sky and hurry indoors to find that they have only received coal. After a failed attempt to steal the sleigh, Pitch succeeds in emptying Santa's dream powder bag while Santa drops the disappearing flower.

Santa's trip is nearly complete when he is chased by a vicious dog outside a large house in Mexico. Finding himself without the powder or the flower he climbs a tree to escape the dog. Pitch appears and proceeds to wake the household and calls the fire department to report a fire at that location, so Santa will soon be seen by many people. With dawn approaching, Merlin assists with a last-minute escape and Pitch is defeated after being doused with the spray from a fire hose.

Before returning to the castle Santa makes one final stop, leaving a doll for Lupita. His labors now completed, Santa steers the sleigh back to the castle, content in the knowledge that he has brought happiness to all of the Earth's children.

Cast

The English version of Santa Claus features only limited production credits and no cast information.[3][4]

Production

Santa Claus was produced by Guillermo Calderón and filmed at Churubusco-Azteca Studio in Mexico. Its running time is reported as 94 minutes. This appears to be the running time of recent home video editions of the English dub. At least one brief scene was cut from the English edition, and further footage was removed from individual prints as they aged and suffered damage. The original film was approximately three minutes longer than that now seen in the United States. Santa Claus was filmed in Eastmancolor with a monaural soundtrack.

Critical reception

The film was considered to be a financial success over several holiday-season theatrical releases in the 1960s and 1970s. Broadcast of the film also became a holiday tradition at several U.S. television stations. The film garnered at least one award, winning the Golden Gate Award for Best International Family Film at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1959.

The film was featured in the fifth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which first aired on Christmas Eve 1993. The devil Pitch became a recurring character on MST3K, played by Paul Chaplin. In December 2014, the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000, now a part of RiffTrax, performed a live riff of the movie to theaters nationwide.[5]

Home media

Santa Claus was released on VHS by GoodTimes Home Video in 1992 and as a Region 1 DVD on November 1, 2004 by Westlake Entertainment Group. It was also released on DVD, on the Holiday Family Collection, by Mill Creek Entertainment in 2006.

The running time of each version is 94 minutes. The home video releases were transferred from theatrical prints of the film. These prints had suffered damage from age and routine use; as a result the home video releases contain several awkward splices and the color reproduction is poor.

The MST3K version of the film is currently available as part of the series' Volume XVI DVD set. The set also features extras including "Santa Claus Conquers the Devil: A 50-Year Retrospective", an original radio spot, a still gallery, and a teaser for "Wonder World of K. Gordon Murray in Colorscope".

References

  1. ↑ Miller, Michael Edward (December 8, 2012). "How "Santa Claus Vs. The Devil" Came To America". Around and About Chattanooga. WUTC 88.1 FM. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  2. ↑ "Weird Christmas: 'Santa Claus' (1959)". Mysterious Universe. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  3. ↑ The Wonder World of K. Gordon Murray
  4. ↑ Santa Claus at the Internet Movie Database
  5. ↑ "RiffTrax Live Santa Claus". Fathom Events. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
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