Cover to the DVD release.
The Great Rupert (reissued as A Christmas Wish) is a 1951 comedy family film produced by George Pal and starring Jimmy Durante (who would go on to narrate Frosty the Snowman), Tom Drake and Terry Moore. It is based on a story written by Ted Allan, which was also published as a children's book under the title "Willie the Squowse".
The story revolves around a little animated squirrel who, with lots of charm, accidentally helps two economically distressed families overcome their obstacles.
Plot[]
Joe Mahoney, a vaudeville performer who has fallen on hard times, has to leave his best friend and stage companion Rupert, a dancing squirrel, in the town. Rupert will have to fend for himself with the other squirrels and live in a tree. Mahoney had been renting a flat (attached to the Dingle house) from the Dingle family consisting of miserly father Frank, his wife and their son Pete, an aspiring composer. Frank recently learned a gold mine he'd invested in years earlier will start paying a return of $1500 a week. Frank begins cashing the checks and hiding the bills in a hollow baseboard.
A family of happy but impoverished acrobats, the Amendolas, move into Mahoney's former flat. Unsatisfied with tree life, Rupert also finds his way back to his old house. Rosalinda Amendola is in love with Pete Dingle.
Back in his old drey, Rupert makes space by clearing out Frank's hidden cache of money. As he throws the bills out, they float down into the Amendola house appearing to be sent from heaven in answer to Rosalinda's mother's prayers. Since Frank's gold mine pays weekly, he deposits money in the same spot every Thursday between 3-3:30 and this scene repeats itself many times.
The Amendolas spread their wealth around, investing in small businesses all over town. As citizens begins to gossip about the source of Amendola's money, taxmen and police converge on the Amendola house demanding answers right around the same time Frank is informed the gold mine is tapped out. While the IRS agent and police officers wait for the miracle money to appear, Rupert catches a lit cigarette and stores it in his drey where it starts a fire that engulfs the Dingle home.
Outside, during the ensuing blaze, the Amendolas are told by an inconsolable Frank about the hidden (presumed burned) cash and promise to help him rebuild the house. Rupert, having been saved by firefighters, goes back to the park where he is picked up by Mr. Mahoney and enlisted in a newly-minted circus act.
In the final scene, the families tour the rebuilt home and learn that an oil well Pete had invested in finally came in and his music ("Music for Orphaned Instruments") was purchased by a song publisher. It plays on a car radio as the group celebrates and Pete and Rosalinda embrace.
Cast[]
| Actor/actress | Character |
|---|---|
| Jimmy Durante | Mr. Amendola |
| Terry Moore | Rosalinda Amendola |
| Tom Drake | Pete Dingle |
| Frank Orth | Mr. Dingle |
| Sara Haden | Mrs. Dingle |
| Queenie Smith | Mrs. Amendola |
| Chick Chandler | Phil Davis |
| Jimmy Conlin | Joe Mahoney |
| Hugh Sanders | Mulligan |
| Donald T. Beddoe | Mr. Haggerty |
| Candy Candido | Molineri (Florist) |
| Clancy Cooper | Police Lt. Saunders |
| Harold Goodwin | Callahan (FBI Man) |
| Frank Cady | Mr. Taney (Tax Investigator) |
| Uncredited | |
| Lester Dorr | Eddie (Bartender) |
| Kenner Kemp | Passerby in Park |
| Frank Marlowe | Dave (Mailman) |
| Torben Meyer | Mr. Petrushka (Baker) |
| Ralph Montgomery | Fireman |
| Irving Pichel | Puzzled Pedestrian |
| Harry Strang | Fire Chief |
External links[]
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