Product Description

When Buddy (Eric Lloyd, The Santa Clause 3) is abandoned by his parents at the age of seven, he is dumped in the south at the small-town home of some older unmarried cousins. Without friends of his own age, Buddy develops a close friendship with one of the older, simpler ladies, Sook (Patty Duke, The Patty Duke Show) and the two undertake many adventures together. At Christmas time, they bake 31 fruit-cakes which they give as Christmas presents, even mailing them to President Roosevelt and Jean Harlowe! Although Buddy is eventually urged to move on with his life by his incessant cousin Jennie (Piper Laurie, Carrie), the memories of his friendship with Sook lives with him forever. Based on the original novel by Truman Capote, A Christmas Memory is a heartwarming story of love and friendship - and it is now available for the first time on DVD just in time for this holiday season.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10263 in DVD
• Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
• Released on: 2007-10-23
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 91 minutes

Customer Reviews

Wonderful "Christmas Memory"
I saw this film several years ago when it originally aired on television, and I loved it. I was so excited to get it on DVD. What a wonderful, heartwarming tale.

I will say that I never saw the original with Geraldine Page. That being said, I believe Patty Duke's performance was unbelievable. She was amazing in a very understated way. She makes the audience fall in love with Sook after only a few minutes. The relationship between her and Buddy (played nicely by Eric Lloyd) is evident from the beginning.

Piper Laurie also turns in a very fine performance, but it is really Patty Duke who shines in this wonderful film.

Glorious Re-make of TV Classic
It took a lot of guts for Patty Duke to take over this role that won Geraldine Page two Emmys back in the 1960s. Duke does an excellent job in making the viewer care and understand Sook and Buddy's relationship. I believe this movie has been put down because people feel it should have been left alone, but why not have a whole new generation enjoy one of the most-loved Christmas tales ever written? I also prefer not having Capote's voice-over narration in this one. As much as I am a fan of his work, his voice in the original was very obnoxious and I feel distracted from the story.

Besides Duke, Piper Laurie and Eric Lloyd (Buddy) also turn in top-rate performances. I was in shock this received not a single Emmy nomination, especially not for Duke or Laurie. I am very happy to see this one coming out on DVD and plan on ordering several for Christmas gifts this year.

Three versions of a Christmas Memory
My first introduction to this story was a version offered up by National Public Radio (NPR) and narrated by Richard Thomas (John Boy Walton). When I finally saw the Geraldine Page version I was enchanted, especially by the sincerity in the narration by Truman Capote. After seeing the version featuring Patty Duke I became convinced that all of the versions have something special to add to the Holiday Season. The genius is in the story itself as well as how it it interpreted. Moreover, it provides us one of the most sensitive insights into America's Southern Culture that I have seen since "To Kill A Mockingbird."
If you ever get the chance to hear the NPR version of this classic, I think it provides an added enjoyment that the television versions try to do but somehow miss.