Island of Lost Christmas Specials: Christmas Story with Patty Ann Gerrity

Snippet from a NTA Film Network Ad for "This Is Alice" with Patty Ann Gerrity.
Media History Digital Library. 

Christmas Story (1963) with Patty Ann Gerrity

The Hook (what makes it interesting): A Christmas special that was actually an episode of an rare and fondly remembered TV show for a short lived TV network, and that had a small landmark in Golden Age TV history. 

For those new to this blog, every December I add titles to the "Island of Lost Christmas Specials", a wishlist of lost or publicly unavailable Christmas media, episodes and specials from radio and TV. 

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In the 1958-1959 season American families were treated to a new series about a little "impish", "angel" "tomboy" girl named Alice Holiday. Titled This Is Alice, it was unique among all the Golden Age sitcoms with child characters for being one of the few with a little girl as the lead character. In fact it may have been the first American TV series with girl under 13 as the lead. Dennis The Menace with the late Jay North, Leave It To Beaver still have a strong syndication and streaming run today, but Alice has not been syndicated in decades and is mostly remembered by the generation that first saw her. 

Patty Ann Gerrity, image from TV Radio Mirror, April 1959. Media History Digital Library

9 year old Patty Ann Gerrity (1948-1992) was Alice, Phyllis Coates was her Mom, and Tommy Farrell played her father. Kathy Garver, who would become a household name with Family Affair auditioned for the lead but was cast as Alice's friend Sally. Already experienced in acting on film and dancing Gerrity also stood out with what could be her signature look; a combination of freckles, blue eyes and brown hair done up in two pigtails with ribbons.

This is Alice was the only child centered series from Desilu Productions. Gerrity was promoted in the press by Desi Arnaz as a "miniature Lucille Ball". The single season aired in first run syndication from 1958-1959 on the short lived NTA Film Network (1956-1961) and continued in American markets until 1962. That is the latest I could find it in American TV logs. The program also ran overseas. It was known as "La Travesuras di Alicia" in Argentina.

Snippet from the Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 24, 1964. From Newspapers.com

The series had a Christmas episode simply titled "Christmas Story". Based on TV listings, this episode was distributed as a stand alone Christmas special in some markets in 1963 and 1964. It seems to have had a very limited run as I could only find it listed in stations in Hawaii and California. Based on TV snippets it is was the story of Alice trying to sell Christmas trees while also helping an elderly woman

The Alice Christmas specials as broadcast the week of Christmas 1964 seem to be the very last times this series was broadcast on TV in the United States. 

The print for the original "This Is Alice" episode "Christmas Story" does exist in the UCLA Film and TV archives, as does the entire series.  The question is what changes were made to the print of "Christmas Story" shown in 1963 and 1964? If any? 

To date only 4 episodes of  "This Is Alice" are available publicly today thanks to the Moviecraft YouTube.

It’s A Charlie Brown Collection!

Today is the 60th Anniversary of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, which still doesn’t seem the same without a network TV rebroadcast or retrospective.

The Peanuts characters created by Charles Schulz 75 years ago remain popular and familiar to today’s children. It is interesting to look at how Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts cast have been marketed toward all audiences across that time. So here is a peak inside my not so rare but fun Peanuts collections:

A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of A Tradition, by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez.

Good Housekeeping June 1966 with photos and profiles of the voice cast from the upcoming Charlie Brown All-Stars, including Peter Robbins and Chris Shea from the Christmas Special.

Snoopy and Friends Sticker Fun 1987, and Hallmark books “The World According to Lucy” and “Snoopy’s Philosophy”.

Silent Child Stars in Color: Mary Ann Jackson 001

Mary Ann Jackson. Colorized from Exhibitor's Herald, May 26, 1928.

Of all the girls from the Our Gang and Little Rascals film series, Mary Ann Jackson (1923-2003) always stood out for her then current bob hair cut, face full of freckles, tomboy nature, and being a natural "tiny commediane".

In the above and below images, it may never be known what colors were originally on her dress.

Original Image

Prior to appearing in the Our Gang Comedies from 1928 to 1931. Mary Ann and her sister Charlotte "Peaches" Jackson were well known child actresses. At the age of 2, Mary Ann was already considered a possible successor to Baby Peggy Montgomery. Jackson was the baby star of The Smith Family Comedies from the Pathe Studios. She was rare for being a recognizable child actress before joining the Our Gang series.

The next set of images are from a photo of Mary Ann from 1927 that appeared in Motion Picture News and various other publications. It was described as a photo of her with a giant jar of candy that was gifted to her on her 4th birthday. First there is my attempt to colorize it. 

Snippet of Mary Ann Jackson from Motion Picture News, January 28, 1927. 

Image From Media History Digital Library

Now here is an original movie trade ad showing an artisit's rendering of Mary Ann from this photo:

Trade Ad For the Smith Family Series, from Moving Picture World, July 16, 1927. 

Image from Media History Digital Library.