Back to “Christmas Oranges”, I enjoyed it. It’s a delightful, endearing holiday film. It has a Scrooge factor but at the same time, it’s a very fun and enjoyable film that I recommended!
Click here to watch “Christmas Oranges” on Amazon
TITLE: Christmas Oranges
FILM YEAR: 2012
DURATION: 100 Minutes
COMPANY: Mainstay Productions
Based upon the book by Linda Bethers and Ben Sowards
Directed by John Lyde
Screenplay by Sally Meyer
Executive Producer: Ron Brough, Barry Evans
Co-Executive Producer: Michael Hughes, Norma Olsen, Jaren Riley, Christian Vuissa
Producer: Paul D. Hunt, John Lyde
Music by James Schafer
Cinematography by John Lyde
Edited by John Lyde
Costume Design by Catrine McGregor
Starring:
Edward Hermann as Mr. Crampton
Nancy Stafford as Mrs. Hartley
Bailee Michelle Johnson as Rose
Savanna Kylie Lewis as Emily
Juliette Lyde as Mary
Bruce Newbold as Joe
Yolanda Stange as Polly
A girl is suddenly forced to leave her happy orphanage home and move to a far more harsh institution, where the headmaster takes an instant dislike to her. She keeps her spirits up through her lonely life by looking forward to a traditional Christmas treat, and when the holiday arrives, something unexpected happens.
In 2012, a Dove Approved holiday film titled “Christmas Oranges” was released for direct-to-video.
Based upon Linda Bethers and Ben Sowards Book, the book received a film adaptation courtesy of John Lyde (a film editor known for his work on “Scarlett”, “The Trial of Porter Rockwell”, “Forever Strong”).
The film would feature the late Chris Hermann (“Nixon”, “Annie”, “The Lost Boys”), Nancy Stafford (“First Lady”, “Matlock”, “Christmas for a Dollar”), Bailee Michelle Johnson (“Extinct”, “127 Hours”, “Christmas Made to Order”), Savanna Kylie Lewis and more.
The film revolves around an older Rose who talks about her upbringing and the film takes viewers back when Rose (portrayed by Bailee Michelle Johnson) was very young and how she became an orphan and raised by Mrs. Hartley (portrayed by Nancy Stafford) and given a lot of love and raised the orphans with love and kindness. But when the flu hit their town, the children got sick, a few died and Mrs. Hartley was also sick and would eventually succumb to her illness.
With no more orphanage, the children were given to families and those who didn’t have families were taken in by other orphanages.
For Rose, she was taken to an orphanage owned by Mr. Crampton (portrayed by Edward Herrman), a bitter, cold man, who rules the orphanage with strict rules.
To make things worse, some of the children are straight up mean to Rose at first but thanks to Emily (portrayed by Savanna Kylie Lewis), her new orphan friend is there to protect her.
But the freedom of singing, reading books and having fun like she did at Mrs. Hartley’s orphanage, is not allowed as the children must clean and do their chores to stay at the orphanage and if they break the rules, they are sent to the attic with no food.
With life being so strict at Crampton’s, how does things change when young Rose moves into the orphanage?
A delightful holiday film that is touching and no doubt, family friendly, the film also showcases the use of oranges for Christmas.
For some people, this may be a shocker but in the 19th century, when stockings were hung near the fire, an orange would be placed in the toe of the Christmas stocking.
According to the Smithsonian, “Placing an orange in the toe of one of these Christmas stockings may have had something to do with the legend of the three balls (or bags or bars or coins) of gold that the Bishop of Myra, the real Saint Nicholas, gave to three poor maidens to use as dowries. Saint Nicholas, who was born at the end of the 3rd century—and whose life is amalgamized with another Saint Nicholas, who lived in Sion in the 6th century, according to some digging by Maria Alessia Rossi, a Kress postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University—is said to have saved the three impoverished women from being sold into slavery with the gold”.
Of course, not everyone has gold or money to give 9out, so people used orange as an alternative. It’s important to also note that the orange was considered rare and expensive in 19th Century Europe. So, in a way, a child gifted with an orange was considered a luxurious gift. That was until parents started to give their children iPhones, iPads and expensive clothing.
While Sunkist would promote oranges on Christmas back in the early 1900s, it’s a shame that the tradition had ended and went from a healthy orange to Christmas candy. But in a way, there Christmas traditions that are considered luxury but are not to those in America, especially in Japan, where Kentucky Fried Chicken has become tradition and luxury (because it costs so much in Japan).
But nevertheless, back to “Christmas Oranges”, I enjoyed it. It’s a delightful, endearing holiday film. It has a Scrooge factor but at the same time, it’s a very fun and enjoyable film that I recommended!
