The Thanksgiving House
Network: Hallmark Channel
Original Air Date: November 2, 2013
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| Pictured above: Emily Rose and Justin Bruening. |
CAST:
Lindsay Wagner ... Abigail
Emily Rose ... Mary Ross
Justin Bruening ... Everett
Adam Kaufman ... Rick
Bruce Boxleitner ... Parker
Cerina Vincent ... Ashleigh
Julia Jones ... Victoria
Cassidy Ann Shaffer ... Girl
Ben Giroux ... Quincy
Ramon De Ocampo ... Spence
Nora Sakal ... Uncle Bill's Daughter
Tim Trobec ... Mr. Carney
Greg Haines ... Uncle Bill
Cory Blevins ... Fenton
Patrick Connell ... Uncle Bill's Son
PLOT:
When a Boston lawyer inherits a house on what may be the site of the first Thanksgiving, she battles with a local historian to keep it from becoming a tourist attraction.
More from Hallmark press release:
When Boston lawyer Mary Ross (Rose) inherits a house in Plymouth from her late aunt, she has no idea she may have inherited a historical treasure. Mary's initial desire to sell the house is supported by her slick boyfriend, Rick (Kaufman), but she is shocked to discover local historian Everett Mather (Bruening) has evidence that her house is located on the site of the first Thanksgiving! With the house turning into an unexpected tourist attraction, putting Mary in the media spotlight at the prying of unscrupulous gossip blogger Ashleigh Mulligan (Cerina Vincent, "Cabin Fever"), Everett tries to prove his theory and Mary tries to prove anything that will keep the house in her hands. Suddenly, Mary clings to the house as an artifact of her own history before her happy childhood memories were tarnished by her father's abandonment.
Mary and Everett's passionate battle over the house creates a need for legal mediation involving Everett's lawyer father Parker (Boxleitner), but it also creates an undeniable romantic spark. Mary even starts to develop a love for Thanksgiving that radiates from both Everett and his mother, Abigail (Wagner). With the encouragement from Abigail and a newly inspired spirit, Mary is ready to reach out to her father and celebrate Thanksgiving in a big way. But as Mary and Everett become closer and greedy Rick plots to convince Mary to sell, Mary must decide if it is more important to preserve the house's historical ties, or make it the site of many happy Thanksgivings to come.
*"The Thanksgiving House," is a Mediapool Production in association with Larry Levinson Productions.
Movie Review:
This story was about the origin of the original Thanksgiving... mixed in with land challenges, a little romance, and family struggles.
Everett is sure he has found the place where the first thanksgiving took place. Unfortunately, for Attorney Mary Ross, it is her recently acquired Aunt’s home, which holds precious memories of her childhood. Mary is not willing to let go of this cherished home, even though tourist begin to travel by just to get a glimpse of it, and the local news blogger/gossip, as well as her gold-digging soon to be ex-boyfriend, are all pressuring her to sell.
In the meantime, Everett and his parents, Parker and Abigail, should be the enemy, yet, Mary discovers a great friendship with them. She sees in them, the family she has longed for since childhood. She befriends Abigail, as a second mother, who gives her great advice on family and forgiveness. In the end, they all join her for their own special thanksgiving in the place of the very first. A compromise is made… and Everett gives a gift to Mary, that is very sweet.
A lovely Thanksgiving story that will warm your heart!
See or Skip:
See!
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image via: http://www.lindsaywagnerinternational.com/
It's interesting reading about the Christmas/holiday movies that are coming about 10 months! LOL
ReplyDeleteAre you going to do a poll of the Christmas movies like last year?
Misty
I'm glad you enjoy hearing about the next bunch of Christmas Movies comnig from Hallmark... though I know very little about this one (as of today: January 19, 2013), I was still excited to share it with all of you!
ReplyDeleteI think it's great they are doing another movie with the theme centered around Thanksgiving!
And... as for Movie Polls - yes, I am doing it like last year! You should see it coming very soon!!!
I absolutely love all the christmas shows/movies. Anytime you know of one coming up , please put it on here!!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE ADAM KAUFMAN!!!!!!!!!!! LOOKING FORWARD TO THANKSGIVING HOUSE!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE THE HALLMARK MOVIES......SO MUCH BETTER THAN ONES IN THEATERS!!!!
Who played Emily's father
ReplyDeleteJack Scalia played the character of Mary Ross's father.
DeleteIt's great that Hallmark is using talented, older actors/actresses in their stories. Still handsome and beautiful and turn the hearts of older viewers.
DeleteSweet Movie, loved seeing the older actors who sill have charm and turn the hearts of older viewers.
DeleteThe movie was awesome, I would diffidently watch it again!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh good... Me too! Very Sweet Movie!
DeleteWho is the actor that played Mary Ross' dad? My husband and I both know that we have seen him before but we can't think of who he is!
ReplyDeleteThe actor who played Mary Ross' father is Jack Scalia.
DeleteThis was a very good holiday movie. The movie has history, family, and a holiday feel to it. It'll be hard to beat in 2013.
ReplyDeleteYes, I loved the history in it, too! I actually kept wanting more!
DeleteI watched "Thanksgiving House" last night, and I really enjoyed it, Hallmark has another "holiday favorite" that I will be watching every year. Emily (Mary) and Justin (Everett) had great chemistry and the cast, as a whole were wonderful.
ReplyDeleteOh, I agree, Jill! I thought it was a lovely Thanksgiving Movie!
DeleteWas Emily Rose's father played by Jack Scalia? The graying hair threw me for a while but you can't deny the dimples!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was Jack Scalia... known from All My Children and Various Movies! I thought he was perfect for the role.
DeleteLoved the movie, but who's the actor that plays Mary's Dad? He is not listed, and you could not read the credits. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThe actor who played Mary's Dad was Jack Scalia. (thank you Anonymous - for sharing his name, above!)
DeleteTo see what you might recognize him from, be sure to visit his imdb page:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0768815/
Loved the movie, what kind of cookie did Lindsay Wagner's character bake?
ReplyDeleteYes, what were those cookies and where is the recipe?
ReplyDeleteLol everybody wants to know the name to the cookies and recipes ?mmm
ReplyDeleteThey're called Sugar Slugs! I actually rewound my DVR to find out. I googled the recipe and found this. They're also called Sugar Shuttles...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.foodchannel.com/recipes/recipe/sugar-shuttles/
I love to watch all Christmas movies and cartoons DURING CHRISTMAS. You start before Halloween and by the time Christmas even comes you have seen them all and it is nothing but reruns.
ReplyDeleteWhen will the Thanksgiving house be released on DVD
ReplyDeleteHow can I get a copy of "The Thanksgiving House?" Please...Emily Rose is a family friend.
ReplyDeleteWhere is this house located in real life? I absolutely love it. Can you please help we find out more about the house? BTW I also fell I love with the show. I could never make it through the holiday season workout my Hallmark Christmas shows.
ReplyDeletePerhaps this Movie was never meant to be about anything other than the true meaning of Thanksgiving so I was wrong in my expectations of a long term romance between Mary and Everett.
ReplyDeleteRight until the last couple of minutes this would rank as my favourite Hallmark Movie of all time but a "sloppy" ending leaves me distraught and deflated and asking "WHAT HAPPENED NEXT"?
I was really enthralled by the performance of Emily Rose and Justin Bruening as Mary and Everett - at times Everett''s smile lit up the whole screen!
There were great performances too from the secondary actors such as Lindsay Wagner and Bruce Boxleitner who although didn't have a lot of screen time stole the credits in almost all the scenes he was in and even the "baddies" were quite likable.
But the final scene didn't make much sense to me. I think we can certainly take it that Mary rediscovered the true meaning of family and reconnected with her father but everythng else was left up in the air.
Everett asks Mary "should he open the letter". As far as I could see this letter had never been mentioned to her so how could she have known what Everett was talking about? We had seen Everett anxiously checking his mail box for this a number of times so why would he not have opened it the minute he received it? Furthermore no matter what their differences and the resolution they had come to about the house it still had to be confirmed that it really was the first Thanksgiving Site so there was never any question of the letter NOT being opened.
Mary was due to return to Boston immediately after Thanksgiving where she was a named partner in a prestigious law firm.
It had been made clear early in the film that Everett was a good teqcher, enjoyed his job and wasn'tmgoing anywhere. At peak hour it would have meant probably a three hour round trip daily from Plymouth to Boston which would have been pretty ubsustainable so the big unanswered question was did Mary and Everett become good friends or form a long term romantic relationship?
I feel cheated at the end.
Unless I've mossed something it would appear that this was the only Hallmark movie that either Emiily Rose or Justin Bruening ever appeared in.
The Thanksgiving House is, indeed, an interesting Hallmark movie filled with romance, mystery, and great facts of Thanksgiving History!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear the ending left you feeling cheated, wanting more. I often feel that way of the movies I enjoy the most - wanting more of the story!
Justin Bruening (Everett) was also in the Hallmark movie "Class," back in 2010!
Emily Rose, (Mary Ross) to my knowledge, has not been in any other Hallmark movies. She was in a PixL TV movie last year, "Secret Summer."
As for "the letter." I do believe Mary knew Everett was expecting one from the Historical society, so she had an idea of what may be inside. To me, the story indicated that Mary was planning to stay in her new home there in Plymouth and she and Everett were developing a on-going relationship.
Thank you for commenting and sharing your thoughts!
Has anyone heard if "Thanksgiving House" is coming out on dvd? I have been looking for it forever it seems? Really loved that movie. The cast worked great together. I've kept it on my dvr while waiting for it to come out on dvd. Also, is Emily Rose and Justin Bruening going to be in any more Hallmark movies?
ReplyDeleteNo word, yet, on "The Thanksgiving House" coming to DVD. I think it would do well - since there are so few Thanksgiving movies.
DeleteAs for either Emily Rose or Justin Bruening being in another Hallmark, I haven't heard of them being in one, but I'm sure it is always a possibility!
My guess is that, since it has not come out on DVD by now -- several years after it premiered -- it is becoming less likely that it will come out on DVD.
DeletePixL has a hand in the decision -- in other words, a DVD release is not completely up to Hallmark -- and PixL offers Thanksgiving House on their YouTube channel, under the title "Legally Tender."
In regards to Thanksgiving House coming out on dvd, I hope PIXL and Hallmark can work something out. I don't think too many people have their computer hooked up to their tv. And if you don't have a smart tv that leaves you trying to watch it on your computer monitor. It's frustating watching movies fall by the wayside so you can't see them anymore. I think we had a similar conversation about Christmas on Chestnut St. Look at all the people here writing in about the Thanksgiving House. I can't imagine them not making money on this movie. So to Pixl and Hallmark, please try to work something out. Your viewers love and enjoy your movies and would love to see many more of them on dvd. Thank you
ReplyDelete"Matchmaker Santa" is a movie that is asked about (in terms of a DVD release) even more often than "Thanksgiving House" is asked about -- there are many people who love Lacey Chabert, and she is their favorite Hallmark actress -- and yet that one sits on PixL's YouTube channel as well (along with "Farewell, Mr. Kringle", "A Kiss at Midnight," "Backyard Wedding" and many others).
DeleteNo DVD for Matchmaker Santa either -- and it premiered in 2012. Backyard Wedding premiered in 2010. Farewell, Mr. Kringle premiered in 2010. A Kiss at Midnight premiered in, I think, 2008 or 2009.
In other words, "Thanksgiving House" is not alone in terms of Hallmark movies that have not been released to DVD, because PixL has some sort of stake in the matter. I guess there are reasons for doing it this way, and those reasons are only known by PixL and Hallmark.