An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving is a television film loosely based on a short story by Louisa May Alcott. Filmed on location in Canada, the film premiered on Hallmark Channel on November 22, 2008. It was followed by the sequel, An Old Fashioned Christmas which aired on December 11, 2010.[1]
| An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Based on | short story by Louisa May Alcott |
| Written by | Shelley Evans |
| Directed by | Graeme Campbell |
| Starring | Jacqueline Bisset Helene Joy |
| Theme music composer | James Gelfand |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Michael Prupas Steve Solomos |
| Cinematography | Mitchell Ness |
| Editor | Jean Beaudoin |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Hallmark Channel |
| Release | November 22, 2008 |
Synopsis
editWidow Mary Bassett (Helene Joy) and her three children have hit difficult times on their farm; it is especially apparent when they cannot even afford a turkey for their Thanksgiving dinner. Oldest daughter Tilly (Tatiana Maslany) writes to Mary's wealthy and estranged mother Isabella (Jacqueline Bisset), exaggerating their situation in a lengthy letter. Isabella comes to the farm to offer her help and finds a kindred spirit in Tilly. However, Mary resents her mother's attempts to help them out of their financial difficulties.
Cast
edit- Jacqueline Bisset as Isabella
- Helene Joy as Mary Bassett
- Tatiana Maslany as Mathilda "Tilly" Bassett
- Kristopher Turner as Gad Hopkins
- Gage Munroe as Solomon Bassett
Reception
editWhen the film premiered on the Hallmark Channel, it gained 5.2 million viewers, delivering a 3.2 household rating and nearly 2.8 million homes, making it the highest-rated cable movie of the premiere day and week. It also ranked No. 1 in the time period for household and total viewer ratings and deliveries, and boosted the network to rank first in prime Ttme for the day. This made Hallmark Channel rank sixth for the week. This made the film the fifth-highest-rated original movie in the network's history to its date, and its fourth-most-watched original movie among households. It is also the network's most watched and highest-rated November original movie ever.[2]
Critics' reviews, however, were mixed. Star magazine called the film "stuffy,",[3] while the TV Examiner claimed "Hallmark Channel has cranked a sweet, ultimately uplifting old school holiday film" and called it an "old style of made-for-TV film".
References
edit- ^ JACQUELINE BISSET Reprises Role in Hallmark’s AN OLD-FASHIONED CHRISTMAS Archived October 2, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Daemons TV. Retrieved on October 3, 2010
- ^ Barrett, Larry (November 25, 2008). "Hallmark's 'Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving' Serves Up Tasty Ratings". Multichannel News. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
- ^ "Star Magazine An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Review by Marshall Fine". Archived from the original on October 19, 2009. Retrieved January 22, 2009.