A Smoky Mountain Christmas (1986) Dolly Parton, Lee Majors, Dan Hedaya, John Ritte Movie Review

A Smoky Mountain Christmas (1986)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Dolly Parton in A Smoky Mountain Christmas (1986)

Dolly Parton does Snow White

Simple question, do you love Dolly Parton? If the answer is no then I sadly suggest you give "A Smoky Mountain Christmas" a miss if the opportunity to watch it ever comes your way. On the other hand if you like Dolly Parton, love her image and her singing then track this old Christmas movie down and revel in 94 minutes of Dolly Parton looking beautiful, being maternal and delighting with a variety of songs. Okay, with my serious head on for a moment I can't ignore the fact that as a TV movie from 1986 "A Smoky Mountain Christmas" is very dated, bordering on the cheesy in places but it has such a good spirit about it that you don't mind it being dated. You also don't mind that whilst set at Christmas "A Smoky Mountain Christmas" is more of a re-imagining of Snow White with Dolly Parton playing the part of Snow White.

Having grown tired of having her career as a singer and movie star messed about with Lorna Davis (Dolly Parton - Nine to Five) decides to take off to a mountain cabin where she grew up to recharge her batteries over Christmas. But she is surprised when shortly after arriving she is awoken by 7 children who say they live there and soon Lorna becomes a mother to the diverse group who go from cheerful to grumpy. But there are other things going on as well from a photographer who followed her there from Hollywood to a local witch who is jealous of Lorna's beauty which attracts the nearby sheriff. Plus there is Mountain Dan (Lee Majors - The Trail to Hope Rose) who the children are initially frightened off but warm to him when Lorna invites him in to share dinner with them.

Lee Majors in A Smoky Mountain Christmas (1986)

So as I said if you are not a fan of Dolly Parton I have to say give "A Smoky Mountain Christmas" a miss because it is 94 minutes of Dolly Parton looking so stunning that she would make Jessica Rabbit jealous. But for fans it is an hour and half of Dolly Parton entertainment as she sings, acts all maternal to the 7 children who she discovers as well as getting smoochy with Lee Majors who happens to look pretty fine himself as Mountain Dan. And did I mention that Dolly looks amazing, I know I am going on but seriously when you see Dolly standing there with a waste so thin and her ample bosom over it, it is hard not to stare.

Anyway aside from the fact that "A Smoky Mountain Christmas" is a 90 minute showcase for Dolly Parton it is also a lot of fun with the fun re-imagining of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with it set at Christmas. It has some nice updates on it, in fairness some corny ones as well but the snowy mountain cabin setting and with children needing a mother it has a fun, meaningful spirit. In fact it is surprisingly infectious and despite some serious groan moments, when it ends you will feel a desire to watch it again.

Aside from Dolly Parton who dominates "A Smoky Mountain Christmas" it also features some entertaining supporting performances. As already mentioned Lee Majors looks good as a bearded mountain man and Dan Hedaya is amusing as the seedy journalist who is tailing Lorna. Plus there are small parts for the likes of John Ritter and you can't ignore the fact that Henry Winkler is the director.

What this all boils down to is that "A Smoky Mountain Christmas" works partly because it is 94 minutes of glorious Dolly Parton but it also has an infectious spirit which makes you want to watch it again. It is now dated and frankly entertainingly corny in places but in the end none of that matters when it is so much innocent fun.

Tags: TV Christmas Movies, Christmas Movies


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