Christmas Mountain (1981)

Mark Miller is down-on-his-luck cowboy Gabe Sweet who rides into the town of Lobos just before Christmas.

He quickly lands in trouble with restaurant owner Flora (Fran Ryan) for ordering and eating a meal he can’t pay for.

And then he lands in jail when Flora insists on filing charges, though the sheriff’s reluctant to jail someone on such a minor offense just before the holiday.

Gabe’s ticket out of jail turns out to be a down-on-its-luck Mexican family living on nearby Christmas mountain.

The two women in the family lost their husbands in an avalanche. Teresa, one of the woman, is pregnant and about to give birth. Her son Julio has just traded his beloved burro in order to buy supplies for the family.

Finding just a smidgeon of Christmas spirit, town leaders decide to help out the family by sending them a basket of worn-out clothing and five loafs of stale bread.

And since no one is willing to make the tiresome trip up Christmas Mountain to deliver the goodies, the same town leaders decide to cover the cost of the meal Gabe couldn’t pay for and free him from prison if he’ll make the journey.

He agrees, even though he’s a “cow man” and the Mexican family raises sheep. But he refuses to sleep in the home of sheep folks when they offer.

The next morning, Gabe is visited by the ghost of his former best friend (Murph).

Seems Murph has a problem. He wasn’t good enough on earth to earn his full angel equipment. So he’s a “tenderfoot angel” and will remain so until he can get someone to do a good deed on earth.

He turns to Gabe for that favor. He wants him to befriend the Mexican family, fetch a doctor for pregnant Theresa and teach the folks of Lobos a thing or two about Christmas spirit.

Gabe isn’t certain he’s up to the task. He says he’s quite content to be a loner.

But since he wants his own angel wings one day, he promises to give it a try.

Murph promises to back him up, whenever he gets cold feet.

Mark Miller as Gabe Sweet, the cowpoke trying to score points for the day he becomes an angel in Christmas Mountain (1981)

Slim Pickens as Murf, the tenderfoot angel hoping to earn all his equipment in Christmas Mountain (1981)

Review:

The idea of an angel being forced to hang around earth until he can earn his wings isn’t exactly fresh.

But a cowboy angel? Played by Slim Pickens?

Somehow, it makes for a pretty heart-warming little family film, partly because Brian Poelman can pull heartstrings as the Mexican boy, partly because of Mark Miller’s “aw-shucks” approach to his part and largely because Pickens doesn’t try to hog the film.

Barbara Stanger’s low-key approach as the woman about the give birth helps too. And, by the way, Mark Miller and Stanger were husband and wife when this movie was filmed.

Barbara Stanger as Teresa, grateful for a stranger’s intervention in Christmas Mountain (1981)

Brian Poelman as Julio, a young Mexican boy trying to negotiate with stingy storekeeper Findlay in Christmas Mountain (1981)

Directed by:
Pierre De Moro

Cast:
Mark Miller … Gabe Sweet
Slim Pickens … Murf
Fran Ryan … Flora
Barbara Stanger … Teresa (Mexican girl)
Tina Menard … Lupe
Brian Poelman … Julio
Logan Field … Doc Thatcher
John Hart … The Rev. Thorndike
Maurice Cranmaison … Sheriff
Catherine Shelton … Eunice
Jack Evans … Skeeter

Runtime: 90 min.

aka:
Christmas Mountain: The Story of a Cowboy Angel

Fran Ryan as Flora, owner of the restaurant in the town of Lobos in Christmas Mountain (1981)

Tina Menard as Lupe, mistrustful at first of the strange cowboy who comes calling in Christmas Mountain (1981)

Memorable lines:

Gabe Sweet: “Sure is nice finding some white folks. There’s nothing but Mexicans and Indians south of here.”
Flora: “Oh, I know what you mean. It’s awful trying to keep those foreigners out. Specially since the whole country was owned by Mexicans and Indians for a while. But we do our best.”

Gabe Sweet to Teresa after she offers him a place to stay for the night: “I’m a cow man. I don’t sleep in sheep folks’ cabins.”

Gabe Sweet: “You gotta promise me, Murf. You gotta promise me.”
Murf: “Boy, angels don’t ever lie. Not even low-grade ones.”

Teresa, bidding Gabe farewell: “You are an angel.”
Gabe Sweet: “No, ma’am, not just yet. But I’m workin’ on it.”

Findly, the penny-pinching storekeeper who buys Julio’s burro for a bargain price in Christmas Mountain (1981)

Maurice Cranmaison as sheriff of Lobos in Christmas Mountain (1981)

Logan Field as Doc Thatcher, the man who says he’s too busy to look in on a pregnant Mexican woman in Christmas Mountain (1981)

John Hart as The Rev. Thorndike, trying to convince his parishioners to do a good deed for the holidays in Christmas Mountain (1981)

Barbara Stamger as Teresa. the pregnant widow who lives on Christmas Mountain in Christmas Mountain (1981)

Mark Miller as Gabe Sweet, tossed in jail just before Christmas for eating a meal he couldn’t pay for in Christmas Mountain (1981)