Plot: Inspired by the famous 1897 editorial that has become a holiday staple, Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus tells the story of young Virginia O’Hanlan.
You may be wondering why I’m covering this movie on an action website but there are several reasons – A) Charles Bronson is in it, B) There are several fight scenes and C) at one point Bronson punches someone and knocks him out, so this isn’t without some action which may come as a surprise to many… it certainly was to me.
Believe it or not I had never seen this movie before until recently and although it has made-for-television all over it, it’s a charming and uplifting tale which also has Charlie Bronson punching people which I think helps to spread the message of Christmas.
Richard Thomas is more the lead character here and he sports a rather dodgy Oirish accent, but he always has that everyman appeal making him extremely likeable. In Yes Virginia he plays James O’Hanlan, a dock worker who gets in a fight and becomes unemployed, so for the majority of the runtime he is looking for a job with no luck until he stops a robber in his tracks which opens up a whole new future for him.
Ad Asner also stars as the gruff but good-hearted newspaper man Edward P. Mitchell; he has a soft spot for Francis Church (Bronson) who was one of his best writers, but since his wife died, he has turned to alcohol and generally lost his way in life.
The paper receives a letter from an 8-year-old girl called Virginia (James’s daughter) who asks them if Santa Claus is real as her father said if it’s printed in The Sun then it’s real. Edward decides this project may be perfect to lift Church’s spirits and despite his protestations he accepts the challenge of writing the article. I will leave at least something to your imagination, but the film is feelgood holiday fare that will put a smile on your face.
Bronson gives one of his better performances here as the tortured Church who feels like there is nothing left in life worth living for.
The action I mentioned is mostly centered around James who has the old Irish temper and keeps getting into fights; this keeps things moving to avoid it getting overly sentimental.
Overall, Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus is a surprisingly charming made-for-TV movie with Charles Bronson giving a moving performance as a man who has lost nearly everything. Despite the nice holiday message of hope and redemption people do still get punched in the face throughout the film as it simply isn’t Christmas without fistfights.
