Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas

Released on Amazon Prime in November 2016 (now on YouTube)

Plot

Maryellen and her siblings are running all over a department store while her mother desperately tries to find a Christmas present for her husband. Maryellen is longing for a white Christmas, especially during a December heat wave in Florida. Maryellen is tired of the same old traditions--while some people find comfort in familiarity, she wants something different. Maybe she can visit her grandparents in Georgia. At least it snows there!

The Larkin family is also preparing to host Benji, who's just recovered from polio, and his mother while Benjy has an operation to help him be able to walk better, as his polio side effects are worse than Maryellen's (Mrs. Larkin knows his mother from when they worked in a factory during WWII). To welcome them...Maryellen paints the house's front door bright red. Maryellen and her mother have a heart-to-heart while Maryellen helps clean up, about how Maryellen wants to stand out and be special, and how Maryellen's mom built planes during WWII but now is a stay-at-home mother. Can Maryellen find a way to balance family obligations and her desire to grows herself?

Late that night, Maryellen finishes painting the door red (it was streaky and patchy). She and Benji talk while paints. He's an only child, his father having died when he was little, so Maryellen's numerous siblings are quite a change for him. They also talk about Benji's upcoming operation. He's hopeful that if it works, people will stop overlooking him. Joan comes home with Jerry, and after complimenting Maryellen's art (maybe that's her special talent!), he confides that he and Joan are "pinned" (engaged to be engaged). Maryellen is sworn to secrecy, and happily agrees.

Maryellen and Davy stop by hospital to visit Benji after school. They're dismayed to see so many children will have to spend the holidays in the hospital, especially after a doctor says the hospital is focused on healing and not Christmas decorations or presents. Davy feels uncomfortable around the patients, which distresses Maryellen. After all, she had polio, too! But she's too confrontational with Davy, putting him off. That leaves Maryellen to try to plan a talent show for the children in the hospital by herself...but her siblings are annoyed that she's going off to Georgia by herself...then she lets it slip that Joan's engaged (Joan was waiting for Christmas to make the announcement).

Since she hasn't yet upset Benji, Maryellen visits him. While talking, she sketches him laughing at the jokes he loves. Benji loves the sketch--everyone thinks of him as a cripple, not any aspect of his personality. The doctor also notes how happy Benji is with the drawing. Maryellen visits the other children in the hospital, talking with them about their post-hospital plans. She also learns that the children there don't want a big celebration. Maryellen draws the children doing what they dream of after their recoveries, and Davy uses his wood-working skills to make frames. Like her mom talked about earlier, she's learning to listen to what others want, rather than what she thinks they want. She even returns her train ticket to Georgia so she can give the money to Benji, to allow him and his mother to return for rehab.

Christmas arrives, sunny and hot, but with Maryellen happy to be with her family, feeling confident that she can be her own person, and her grandparents coming for a surprise visit--with a cooler full of snow from their home!


Misc

I can't find out where this was filmed.

Mrs. Larkin's name is spelled Carolyn in the credits and pronounced that way by Mr. Larkin, but spelled Caroline in the captioning. Benji is spelled with an I in the credits and with a Y in the captioning. And Davy is spelled "Davey" in the captioning. AND the captions have "feelings" spelled as "feelin's"!

The story Mrs. Larkin tells about Jonas Salk is true--Salk refused to patent his polio vaccine to keep the cost low.

There are several mentions of the 1950s mindset that women are to be homemakers, but are capable to more as well, including Joan worrying that getting married young means she won't be able to go to college (Maryellen suggests Joan talk to Jerry about their future).

The doctor at the hospital says he's not allowed to discuss the patients' medical information. While HIPAA wasn't enacted until 1996, it's not out of the realm of possibility that hospitals had their own policies in place.

IMDB notes several anachronisms, like cars from after 1955.


Cast
Maryellen Larkin - Alyvia Alyn Lind
Kay Larkin - Mary McCormak
Joan Larkin - Madison Lawlor
Carolyn Larkin - Jessica Belkin
Mr. Larkin - Gerald Downey
Beverly Larkin - Noelle E. Parker
Tom Larkin - Jax Daniel Morgan
Grandpop - Paul Linke
Grandmom - Mary Linda Phillips
Davy Fenstermacher - Maxwell Acee Donovan
Benji - Samuel Faraci
Jerry Ross - Alex MacNicoll
Paul - Sean Leo
Polio Kid - Jethro Posz
Doctor - Kurt Fuller