It Happened One Christmas (1977)
Channel: Brian Morrison
Date: 2022-07-07

It Happened One Christmas is a 1977 American made-for-television Christmas fantasy-comedy-drama film directed by Donald Wrye, starring Marlo Thomas, Wayne Rogers, Orson Welles, and Cloris Leachman. It originally premiered as The ABC Sunday Night Movie on December 11, 1977.

The film, a gender-reversed version of the film It's a Wonderful Life, centers on Mary Bailey Hatch, a young woman who dreams of seeing the world but is forced by circumstances to remain in her small hometown as head of the family's Building & Loan business. On a Christmas Eve, in a moment of financial crisis, a severely depressed Mary contemplates suicide, but is rescued by her guardian angel, Clara Oddbody (Cloris Leachman). Clara shows Mary the positive effect that she has had on everyone she has met throughout her life.