Retro Review: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

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It Came Upon the Midnight Clear is an old made-for-TV movie that I saw in syndication when I was a kid. I seem to recall it being on more than once, either multiple times during the same holiday season, or in consecutive years. I loved this movie, but looking back on it, all I remembered was that it starred Mickey Rooney as a grandfather hanging around with his grandson during the Christmas season, and the ending of the film. It doesn't appear to have gotten a home release past the VHS format, and is long out of print. I was happy to find it on YouTube recently, and watched it for the first time in ages. Even though I had fond memories of it, I had little memory of it -- what was it about the film that I liked way back then?

It was strange watching it again, as nothing was coming back to me as I did so. I'd have expected some "Oh, now I remember this part" moments, but that never happened, and by the end, I was curious as to why I had enjoyed the film so much as a kid. I mean, it's not a bad movie, but I also couldn't figure out why it would have appealed to me back then.

The plot is basically this: the Grandfather dies, but is given the chance to come back for a few days to help the folks in Heaven find a missing angel in New York City.

While watching this again, I had the following observations:
  • Within the first minute or so of the intro, where the grandson is speaking directly to the camera, I realized that the actor was "That guy with the red hair from The Orville" (his real name is Scott Grimes, but I didn't know that until I looked it up to confirm he was the same guy).
  • Mickey Rooney really was a good actor. There were a few times while watching this when I thought "Wow, even in a movie like this, he's a great actor." The guy was a Hollywood legend, but I think this movie is the only film of his I've seen.
  • The guy who plays the Wiley Boggs character is perfect in that role.
  • At the end, when the grandson is speaking (again) directly to the camera, and says that his grandfather was the greatest man who ever lived, it just seems weird. The greatest man who ever lived. How? It's such a strange statement.
When it was all over, I found it an entertaining film, but couldn't understand what I'd liked about it so much back in the day.

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