20 reviews

Format: Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6

UPC: 018111218290
EAN: 0018111218290

Theatrical Release Date: December 9, 1980
Release Date: September 17, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

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Editorial Reviews:

Description
Starting over again in a new city, a divorced woman joins a local church choir and clashes with the choirmaster. Pushed to her emotional limits, her faith is re-affirmed in this beautiful classic of the Christmas season.

Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

A Christmas Without Snow September 18, 2008
Marilyn R. Beach (Columbus, Ohio USA)
I have read a lot of the reviews here and I wonder if they watched the same movie I just did. Granted it was made in 1980. The picture quality is not as good as new ones made today. This movie is packed with a lot of very good actors. John Houseman is wonderful in this. This movie covers a lot of every day trials that average people go through. A Black boy is wrongly accused of vandelism. The preachers son is the guilty party. A Mother leaves her home after a divorce to go to another city to try and make a new life for herself and her son. A Womans husband has cancer and the treatment did not work and he dies and she asked the minister why God would take a young men like that. People working together to repair the pipe organ that the preachers son almost distroyed.
The choir working very hard to sound like their new choir director wants them to sound. I thought it was a very moving and interesting movie.
I am glad I bought it and I will watch it again and again.

3 out of 5 stars

Corny,dated, but says interesting things about motivation December 9, 2007
KerrLines (Baltimore,MD)
I still think that this is one of the schmaltziest pieces of television film ever made, but it simply wouldn't be Christmas if I didn't suffer through the bad acting and corny,trite story every year! Why do I go back? Well, as man who conducted volunteer church choirs for 33 years (I started really young...I did!!!!), I can appreciate the angst of the amateur who performs for the sake of loving music.That is what this story is about; an amateur choir in a failing inner-city San Francisco Church,who gets a new choir director and organist (way above their level for the pittance pay) to shape them into a uniform group in a period of twelve weeks to perform the great masterwork "Messiah" by Handel.John Housman as the English,tea-sipping curmudgeon Ephraim Adams (Choir director par excellent) is simply a terrible actor in portraying a choir director.He barely moves his arms,and frankly is off-beat most of the time!...but,it is what Adams says that always inspires me enough to watch this piece of late '70's drek every year;there is a difference between the pro and the amateur.The amateur is to be the most respected because they do what they do for the sheer love of it.( I was the professional and did it for MONEY$$$$$$$....not for the love of it,trust me on this!) Naturally, the choir is transformed into nothing short of the same choir transformed in SISTER ACT, and the Church is filled to capacity with sincere people from every walk of life and culture.All dramas and confrontations,petty squabbles and little drams all are joyously resolved by the time "Hallelujah Chorus" is sung! Everything ends happily....I will put it away...and will pull it out again next Christmas...same results...same bad film...same good message!

5 out of 5 stars

LET'S BUILD A PIPE ORGAN FOR CHRISTMAS October 3, 2007
Betsy A. Heimbuch
1 out of 3 found this review helpful

Really, folks, some of you have become quite jaded. I admit the DVD transfer is terrible - buy the tape, you all know what to do. As a minister's daughter I related to this movie. If it can go wrong it will at Christmas. The organ always has a problem, so does the piano, the choir gets sick, the minister would like to get sick, the minister's family is saying "Christmas - is this a holy holiday?" Now, in Christmas without Snow the producers did an excellent job of showing how a congregation - all those church folks listen up - can pull together and the church family can have the organ, the choir, Handel's Messiah and it all turns out well. I love this movie - my husband and I play it every Christmas. Then a CD of the Messiah and what more can you ask other than the Christmas cookies. Lighten up folks.

1 out of 5 stars

depressing movie September 3, 2007
R. Murrow (usa)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I got the impression that someone who hates Christmas wrote this movie. It has none of the qualities that make a good Christmas movie. love, 'feel-good'emotion, snow, a loveable character, and so on. Rude church choir director kicking people out how sing less than perfect, unsucessful mom who cant support her son, drug using pastor son no happy ending, and hot weather!

The stars did a good job for the script they had to work with, and the music, (The Messiah) was nice at the end.

If you want to watch John Houseman, buy it, but if you want a good Christmas movie you should skip it. Worst I have seen.

4 out of 5 stars

satisfied March 14, 2007
ScubaJean (Boise, ID USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Bought this movie as a gift - haven't opened or viewed it yet - but it arrived in a timely fashion, so I was pleased.