CHRISTMAS GIFT, THE (CBS 12/21/86) John Denver, Gennie James, Jane Kaczmarek, Mary Wickes, Kurtwood Smith, Edward Winter, Pat Corley
It is Christmas time, and a widowed New York architect named George Billings (John Denver) is sent to a small Colorado town to survey it as a possible real-estate development.
George and his young daughter Alex (Gennie James) arrive in the small mystical town where everyone seems to believe in Santa Claus. Once George becomes acquainted with its citizens (Jane Kaczmarek, Mary Wickes, Kurtwood Smith, Edward Winter, Pat Corley) the magic of Christmas takes over and soon finds himself fighting against his boss in a bid to preserve the town's old-fashioned charm.
NOE: The holiday film was Denver's first acting role since Oh, God! (1977). Denver said he took the role "because it was the perfect opportunity to ease back into acting; it is a light, warm tale of human relationships. I waited for something that I felt really good about and turned down a lot of scripts over the years. I've been very picky about acting projects and, in retrospect, I made a big mistake a few years ago when I turned down the Zack Mayo role (played by Richard Gere) in An Officer and a Gentleman. It was mostly due to my naivete - I couldn't envision the final product from the initial script."