The short stories of Truman Capote are as varied as a Christmas fruitcake, and in this expanded version of the story and the 1966 Television special, Patty Duke takes on the role so perfectly created by Geraldine Page. Every year, she makes fruitcakes for the neighbors, even sending one to the president and first lady. This year, movie star Jean Harlow gets the one that the previous year had been sent to Koan Crawford. Capote's childhood must have been fascinating even though he seems to have been transported from one relative to another. Along with "The Grass Harp", Capote made minor changes to the circumstances, but it is clear that the relatives seen here were his elders and were all influential in creating who he would become.
Sweet Eric Lloyd plays the young variation of Truman with Piper Laurie and Anita Gillette as Duke's serious sisters. Ironically, Laurie had played a variation of Duke's character in an underrated version of "The Grass Harp". Gillette's sister is somewhere in the middle strictness and seriousness wise, obviously form between right and wrong and sisterly loyalty. What there is in the way of a story surrounds the decision to send young Scott off to military school and the emotional turmoil this brings to him and Duke.
Typical Capote eccentrics appear in minor parts including an obviously black maid who claims to be Cherokee (a character also in "The Grass Harp"), the local bootlegger, a tomboy with a crush on Lloyd and her obsessive piano playing mother. Think of this as a Southern variation of Neil Simon's autobiographical plays. It's more character driven and slice of life than plot driven, but it is all so sweet. Childhood memories of Christmas are precious and often influences who we are as adults. To see the adult Truman Capote in these young characters may seem as different as night and day, but it is a comfort in seeing how he shared his real self in all the stories he told.
Sweet Eric Lloyd plays the young variation of Truman with Piper Laurie and Anita Gillette as Duke's serious sisters. Ironically, Laurie had played a variation of Duke's character in an underrated version of "The Grass Harp". Gillette's sister is somewhere in the middle strictness and seriousness wise, obviously form between right and wrong and sisterly loyalty. What there is in the way of a story surrounds the decision to send young Scott off to military school and the emotional turmoil this brings to him and Duke.
Typical Capote eccentrics appear in minor parts including an obviously black maid who claims to be Cherokee (a character also in "The Grass Harp"), the local bootlegger, a tomboy with a crush on Lloyd and her obsessive piano playing mother. Think of this as a Southern variation of Neil Simon's autobiographical plays. It's more character driven and slice of life than plot driven, but it is all so sweet. Childhood memories of Christmas are precious and often influences who we are as adults. To see the adult Truman Capote in these young characters may seem as different as night and day, but it is a comfort in seeing how he shared his real self in all the stories he told.