I recall as a child in the 60s, occasionally seeing a short live-action film version of the 12 Days of Christmas. It would appear randomly on the TV schedule during the yuletide season, so it was a rare treat.
From what I remember: it had a Victorian setting – True Love may have had a handlebar mustache, may have ridden a penny-farthing bicycle. Me wore a dress with a bustle. Each day he would present new presents, piling up in Me’s house, chaos and hilarity ensue. I recall on the last day True Love leading a parade (as drum major) with pipers and drummers, etc.
Anybody else remember this? And better yet…know where I can see a copy? YouTube came up empty.
That’s definitely it. Made in 1955, nominated for an Oscar, shown annually on British TV…and apparently never released commercially. There are threads on IMDB of people searching for copies.
I’ve been searching for the same film. I remember catching it on TV once, maybe twice when I was little. I remember it being so darned funny that I STILL remember it. did you ever find it?
I logged onto the web just now to look for this movie myself. I, too, am a child of the 60’s and loved this little tongue-in-cheek movie. I will try to find it, too.!
The name is The Twelfth Day of Christmas. You can purchase a cd of the film or a vcr. There are several places that have it for sale. Was going to purchase from England but the seller’s Paypal was out of use. Too bad!
I’ve seen some of the live-action version you were talking about, but when I was a kid, they used to run this charming animated version on Nickelodeon–this was in the days when they showed short films between shows since they didn’t run commercials. (They also ran the same short on the show Hocus Focus, the one about the medieval wizard who time-traveled to the modern era and made his home in a film library.)
What a thoroughly enjoyable holiday film. I could see Searle’s hand in this, and could’ve sworn once or twice the music almost strayed into “St. Trinian’s” territory. This will become part of my annual Christmas viewing list.
Went down the rabbit hole of favorite childhood Christmas films and found this board. Also found a high def almost complete version of “On The Twelfth Day”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaMw6Hhw--A
