It’s that time of the year where I start my annual Christmas Watch List of seasonal favorites. The first one I watch every year is The Homecoming, A Christmas Story. Written and narrated by Earl Hamner, Jr, it becomes the basis for The Waltons, although with Patricia Neal and Andrew Duggan as the parents and Edgar Bergen as Grandpa.

From Wikipedia: On Christmas Eve 1933, the Waltons are preparing for the holiday. However, John Walton, who has taken work in Waynesboro, Virginia, about 50 miles (80 km) away, is late returning home, and his family is becoming increasingly worried.

John-Boy is worried that he is not living up to his father’s expectations. His father wants him to learn a trade while John-Boy wants to be a writer.

The character of Olivia grates on me at times during this movie as she did in the series. I know she doesn’t approve of the Baldwin sisters making moonshine, or the Recipe as they call it, but she is downright rude when talking about them to other characters. She makes a fool of herself thinking they have given John-Boy some of the Recipe when it was actually eggnog.

My favorite character is Hawthorne Dooley, played by Cleavon Little. He is a preacher and has also started doing jobs for the Baldwin Sisters to make ends meet. The way that he teaches John-Boy that sometimes you have to go about things indirectly in order to get what you need is brilliant.

Check out The Homecoming: A Christmas Story. It is readily available several places.