5/5 WONDROUSLY MAUDLIN HOLIDAY CLASSIC
  by N. Thomas
WARNING, SPOILERS, etc.

This DVD's cover art, which is original to the movie's release over fifty years ago, has a tagline that reads: "Six kids on a true and wonderful adventure!" This is one of the most misleading teasers in cinematic public relations history. It has the reader imagining a sextuplet of young ones perhaps sledding on particularly icy mountains or facing down some Scrooge-like, anti-Christmas archnemesis. In fact, it's about children losing both parents to highly contagious diseases and having their family rent permanently asunder.

This tale is based on a true-life story set in Wisconsin. Robert and Mamie Eunson (Cameron Mitchell and Glynis Johns) are Scots who have just landed in America (the year is 1856), having been invited there by Mamie's uncle. They arrive in the tiny logging village of Eureka, only to be informed that both uncle and his cabin have been incinerated in a house fire. The Eunsons are assisted by the friendly locals in reconstructing the house and Robert takes to tipping timber. It should be noted Mamie is heavily pregnant upon their reaching Eureka; she delivers baby Robbie soon after the cabin is completed. Robert eventually starts a successful boat building business and Mamie gives birth to five more children: Jimmy, Kirk, Annabelle, Elizabeth, and Jane. The Eunsons are prospering and happy--until little Kirk is diagnosed with diptheria. Mamie and Kirk are quarantined while Robert takes the other children away. The boy recovers, but the goodbye kiss he gave Dadda before his departure proves fatal, and Mr. Eunson succumbs.

Mamie takes to working as a seamstress and Robbie becomes the man of the house. Things stabilize, but only briefly: tired and work-worn, Mamie contracts typhoid. Knowing she won't survive, she charges her eldest with finding good homes for his siblings. After her death, Robbie does exactly that, dispatching his brothers and sisters to kindly townsfolk. Stoic and resigned during the process, he does break down when he's alone and sees the tree outside the homestead where his father had carved the names of the children into the bark. Baby Jane is the last to be handed over--Robbie stands at the door of a house and asks the woman who answers, "Will you take my sister, ma'am?" Pathos, lachrymose, mourning, and gloom! (It reminds me that in Great Britain, this movie was released under the title The Day They Gave Babies Away...*gulp*!)

He then turns and trudges, solitary and struggling, up a hill in a snowstorm. You may ask, "What does this horribly sad tale have to do with Christmas?" Robbie is breaking up the clan on Christmas Eve, wisely thinking people are more likely to accept taking in an orphan while filled with the holiday spirit.

I remember having my grade school show this film when I was a kid and half the auditorium was weeping openly by the end. While many people would avoid something this maudlin during a time of year we're enjoined to be merry and bright, I find it triumphant and warm-hearted. Trade a viewing of this classic release for one of the bubble-gum, toothless cinematic confections Hollywood releases every year in December...

5/5 all mine to give
  by Ailton (New Jersey, USA)
All Mine to GiveI first sought this movie when I was about 14 years old. Today I'm 55 and still have it in my head as the best movie ever. My older brother and I cried every time during the five times we sought this movie on TV back home in Brazil. I looked for it under it's name in portuguese " em cada coração uma saudade^ which has nothing to do with the original title, but it gave me the name in english ( thanks to the internet ). I want to see it again, in english this time, to see how much I cry. I will get my 15 year old daughter and her friends to watch this with me to see their reaction compared to mine some forty years ago. I highly recommend this. If it stayed in my mind for forty years, it must be great.

5/5 Best Movie Released!
  by Jeffrey Ellmann (UNITED STATES of AMERICA)
It's about time someone released this on DVD. This story is loosely based on a true story in Wisconsin. Everyone should watch this once to see how a young person has to put himself to the side and make sure that his brothers and sisters are placed in proper homes on Christmas Eve after his mother died. If you have a heart and soul, you "will" have a few tears running down your face. Buy this and watch it on Christmas Eve instead of the other garbage on television.

5/5 All Mine to Give
  by Aldah B. Powell
To me, this is a great movie. It shows strength in character; how people handled life in general. Strong character in handling sickness and death. The oldest child, barely a teen had to find homes for his younger sibling and then go off to work to take care of himself. I recommend this movie to everyone.

5/5 Holiday Staple
  by David Baldwin (Philadelphia,PA USA)
This film is definitely a buried treasure and deserves to be discovered and placed in the pantheon with "The Bishop's Wife" and "It's a Wonderful Life" as essential holiday viewing. The makers of the film are working with tricky material and succeed in capturing your heart. Some would dismiss the film as mawkish and overly sentimental but I did not feel the least bit manipulated. Whatever tears the movie engenders are earned. Be forewarned that it's tough viewing at times but you will feel rewarded having seen this film.