Santa looked a lot like Clapper

Happy New Year. My fondness for this movie's mainly due to Douglas Seale, who I liked as Clapper, the sympathetic manservant in RAGS TO RICHES (A Halliwell Hobbes for the 1980s!) & who plays one of the most appealing Santas ever. He plays his entire role in a 3-piece suit, probably the only movie Santa never to wear the traditional holiday costume. As for Ernest, his energy's admirable & he's occasionally funny. I particularly appreciate the lack of schoolboy grossness, but hate the artless destruction (causing wrecks by backing up in traffic, obliviously trashing a friend's house.) Mr. Seale's portrayal & the opening titles seem to belong in a different movie altogether. I also like the idea of Santa Claus being not a single immortal being, but an office to be held awhile, then surrendered.

The overall tone's close to DUKES OF HAZZARD: sweet sentimentality punctuated by car wrecks. Don't get me wrong, I liked DUKES too, mainly due to Boss & Rosco. Because of DS, one of the finest-ever onscreen Santas, this film's essential holiday viewing, although with a finger on the fast-forward.