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.
Made for television, A Christmas Memory is adapted from the wistful short story by Truman Capote, previously filmed in 1967 as a one-hour episode of ABC Stage 67. Capote himself narrated the original version, in which he recalled his lonely childhood and the strong bond between himself and his simple-minded older cousin Sook, a role brilliantly essayed in 1967 by Geraldine Page. The remake stars Patty Duke as Sook, with whom young Buddy (Eric Lloyd) (the Capote character) lives during one memorable Depression Christmas while his divorced (and detached) mother and father are otherwise occupied. Looked after by her unmarried sisters Jennie (Piper Laurie) and Callie (Anita Gillette), the warm, unfailingly cheerful Sook busies herself with preparing Christmas fruitcakes for everyone she can think of–including President Roosevelt and Jean Harlow!–and, with the innocence of the eternal child, she allows the impressionable Buddy into her own private world. When the time comes for Sook and Buddy to be separated, he prefers to remain with her. . .a decision, alas, that is not his to make. Bereft of Capote’s eloquent narration, and including several subplot intrigues not to be found in the original short story, A Christmas Memory is a game effort, but in the end falls short of the 1960s classic.
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. – Amazon reviewer
Starring Patty Duke, Piper Laurie, Eric Lloyd.
Note: You may also be interested in [One Christmas (1994](http://amzn.to/1HQF5c7)) a bittersweet story by Truman Capote: “In 1930, young Buddy (T.J. Lowther) lives with his aunt (Julie Harris) in Alabama. For Christmas, Buddy travels to New Orleans to reunite with his estranged father (Henry Winkler), while holding some unrealistic expectations for the holiday. As it is, his father is a con artist more intent on scamming than building a relationship with his son. Meanwhile, his dad is pursuing the niece (Swoosie Kurtz) of wealthy Cornelia Beaumont (Katharine Hepburn) — but Christmas is the season of miracles.” It is not listed individually here in the best period dramas list as some find it too heavy for Christmas.