Santa has to get a job as Santa to earn money to pay his overdue rent bill.The usual problems of an Italian film are present here, most notably the bad dubbing. But actually the dubbing could be far worse. And the picture quality is surprisingly good for the era.One could say the film lacks originally. There are obvious nods to "A Christmas Carol", for example. But it does have its own special appeal. The elves are interesting and their head bookkeeper happens to be a very well-known American actor... how he ended up in this mess is probably a story in itself.

I vividly remember going to see this in the movies when I was 5 Years old. The commercials promoting it on TV stick in my head also. As another reviewer said, going to the movies was a big deal then. Now that I am 43 I have been getting very nostalgic. I was very happy to see that this movie was available on DVD. When I watched the movie I was really surprised at how bad it was, as Billy Joel says in one of his songs "The good old days weren't always good" To start with the opening song "A Christmas that almost wasn't" sounds more like a halloween song, a little haunting. The colors in the movie were also very dark and drab. As for Santa "my God" what a depressing Santa he was a little whiner, I wanted to grab him ala the Godfather and say "You can act like a man" The whole movie is just cheaply done, songs and everything. This is a case of my childhood memories playing tricks on me. Oh well there's always Rudolph.

For those who love this film, it's now available on DVD, which I just got through watching. I guess I discovered it much too late in life. The review accessible via the "external reviews" link here pretty much sums it up for me. I found Alberto Rabagliati to be a rather drab and depressive, even depressing, Santa, and in 1966 veteran character actor Mischa Auer was as frightening to behold as the Crypt Keeper himself. Also, Paul Tripp's portrayal of the lawyer Mr. Whipple reminded me that I never wanted to see another singing attorney since the cancellation of "Cop Rock."Oh well, maybe I shouldn't sneer at this film. I did appreciate it as an interesting relic of the 60s, and I can see it's well-loved by people on whom it was imprinted when they were young. After all, that's the very reason I still get misty over "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol." Merry Christmas!

I have been watching this movie since I was a little girl, It has become a family tradition in our home.My kids enjoy it as much now as I did then. This is definitly a family Christmas movie you shouldn't miss if you get a chance to see it. Shows the values of love, respect, and helping others,along with having some great music and lots of fun. And at the end you realy end up liking the bad guy. A must see...