Julie’s Christmas Special (1973) - Julie Andrews, Peter Ustinov, Peggy Lee

aka. “The Julie Andrews Christmas Show“ The Bootleg Files: Julie’s Christmas Special: [...] “Julie’s Christmas Special” opens with a lavish number rich with the jolly camp nonsense that permeated television specials of the early 70s: Andrews is surrounded by a multicultural battalion of dancers in maxi-skirts and bell-bottomed polyester jumpsuits (billed as Dougie Squires’ Second Generation) who gyrate in a strange mix of lite-ballet and Vegas vamping while the star offers a cheery rendition of “I Saw Three Ships.” To its credit, the number does not end in canned applause (another staple of the era’s production protocol), but with an off-screen voice declaring, “That’s a good one, Julie!” Andrews retreats to her dressing room for a nap. While asleep, she is visited by the Sugar Plum Fairy, played by Peggy Lee and filmed through the thickest gauze-covered lens this side of “Mame.” Andrews awakes, puts on a hooded white cloak and walks out the door of her dressing room and into a snowy landscape to sing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” (And this type of stuff was relatively sane compared to the typical 70s television output.) Andrews then returns to her TV show’s stage to introduce Santa Claus, played by rotund Peter Ustinov while sporting a bushy white beard. But Ustinov is wearing a tuxedo, and his Santa needs to show an ID card to verify his claims. Where is Santa’s red suit, you may wonder? “I left it at home,” Ustinov mumbles, with a shrug. Ustinov’s Santa takes Andrews to a Christmas from long ago, where a brass band plays “God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen” under a bridge before being joined by a squad of working class blokes who join Andrews in singing “Carol of the Bells.” Ustinov’s Santa complains that “people don’t care about me anymore,” and Andrews insists that he has a persecution complex and needs a “good psychiatrist.” Andrews then departs to visit the Sugar Plum Fairy, whom Santa dislikes. “There are times she can be real pain in the ice,” he grumbles. The Sugar Plum Fairy resides in a suite that looks like Belle Watling’s parlor if it was designed by Mr. Freeze, and Andrews and Lee launch into a string of pop tunes that have nothing to do with Christmas. Sadly, their voices and performing styles don’t truly mesh, and the segment feels like an eternity before Santa reappears to play with his electric trains and reminisce about how he once delivered toys to “Georgie Washington” and “Tommy Edison.” Lee comes back to sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” while seated on an airplane, then Andrews drinks a cup of the wine-laced “Santa’s Little Helper” to help St. Nick lift his massive bag of toys. The scene shifts to a Victorian food market for no very good reason, and then Andrews joins the Treorchy Male Choir to sing “Silent Night” and “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Lee returns to wake Andrews up – remember, it was all a dream! – and Andrews performs a holiday-themed song that I’ve never heard before or since. And then, the closing credits cue us that it’s time to turn off the telly. [...] Source: -------------------------------- ABC; Dec 14, 1973 Producer: Blake Edwards, Jon Scofield Music: Jack Parnell Director Jon Scofield Writer: Frank Waldman #JulieAndrewsSpecial