My next freebie film is 1979’s The Man in the Santa Claus Suit, a film that is strangely obscure considering it stars song and dance legend Fred Astaire in what would be his second to last role. Astaire shines in what is otherwise a largely forgettable film that’s not without its moments. Here, he is the kindly owner of a costume shop but also turns up in multiple roles, interacting with three very different customers at Christmastime, transforming into a hotdog vendor, kindly policeman, limo driver and more, shelling out cryptic but helpful advice. Is he a ghost? An angel? Santa Claus himself? Who knows but it’s a smart if very convenient plot device, tying together three very different stories in that familiar Love, Actually vein.
Gary Burghoff plays introverted, lonely heart teacher Bob, tragically in love with his fashion model neighbour Polly (Tara Buckman) but too shy to tell her. For some reason, Bob thinks he should just propose to her, which seems batshit mental enough but then Astaire’s jeweller somehow convinces him that dressing up as Santa for the proposal will really sweeten the deal. It’s to Burghoff’s credit that he makes Bob sympathetic and not completely off his rocker, as only in a magical Christmas film would this ever seem like a remotely feasible scheme. That’s the power of Santa, kids.
Elsewhere, in a startling change of tone, John Byner plays homeless maitre d’ Stan, who’s on the run from some mob goons after ending up in possession of a gun that was used in a murder. He wants a Santa suit as a disguise so he can split down undetected then, for reasons I don’t quite follow, he attempts to rob the home of eccentric rich older couple, the Daytons (Nanette Fabray and Harold Gould) who are watching their brattish grandchildren. Conflict ensues. The old couple are wilfully peculiar, launching into a number of unnecessary and irritating vaudeville song and dance routines. It’s never clear why they do this but what’s truly shocking is that Astaire himself never gets involved in any of the dancing. What gives?
In the third plotline, political speechwriter Gil (Bert Convy) is frantically trying to oversee a local senator’s campaign while hoping to find a way to reconnect with his estranged wife and son. You guessed it - Astaire’s limo driver convinces him to go big or go home and that dressing up as Santa is the way to win back their hearts. It gets a bit silly but various very obvious lessons are learned and all three guys learn that the power to change their destinies was inside them all along and so on.
It’s pleasant but packed with too many implausibilities and odd character choices to really hit those emotional targets it so obviously guns for. This features that maddening trope that keeps popping up in these films, where shop staff just assume that any dude wearing a Santa suit in their general vicinity must be their Santa, so grab him, send him off to work and the guy just goes along with it. That old chestnut.
Luckily, Astaire is charming whenever he pops up, which is a lot. 1970s New York also looks fabulous here, with plenty of wintery shots of Central Park and its surrounding area. But, sadly, the whole film feels decidedly throwaway, which I guess, in terms of Christmas films, isn’t the worst thing. It ticks enough boxes that, like many festive guilty pleasures, you can enjoy it once then forget about it.
The Man in the Santa Claus Suit is a welcome dose of yuletide schmaltz today as the house move saga is seriously stressing us all out and appears no closer to being resolved. So yeah, the cheesier the better is fine with me.
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