One of my all time favorites.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Poor acting: Ruthie the youngest daughter and Miss Mayfield the teacher were the worst actors. I knew this could not be a family from the Depression Era when the first scene shows food being fed to the dog, and actors leaving plates with food on the table. Also, the children were whiny and rude in school. One character who was dubbed as a "good boy" trespassed, not once, but twice. Overall, not the great, inspirational film many say it is. To correct their judgment, they need to watch The Waltons Homecoming.

Although done on a low budget with a mostly unknown cast Christmas On A Dollar set in the Depression years has a Walton kind of appeal to it. It also has a bit of O Henry's Gift Of The Magi in the story.The plot concerns the Kamp family in rural America of the Thirties. There's Brian Krause and his six children trying to cope with both hard times and the recent loss of Mom. Oldest daughter Danielle Chuchran is playing the role Mom for the others. A situation that can be cruel. I know from my own family my grandmother lost her mother at a much younger and she got to raise her two younger brothers, one of whom died as a child. It scarred her for life and she was one mean and bitter woman by the time I came on the scene.But mostly this concerns Jacob Buster one of the younger kids who has polio and of course with no health insurance and that's what's really crippling the family finances as well. Anti-Vaxxers ought to take a real good look at this film and what that can do. I also remember from my childhood the lineup at my school for the polio vaccine in the 50s.Buster has a lot of day dreams about being a cowboy hero fueled by a horse that neighbor Nancy Stafford owns. But riding is difficult when you are in a leg brace. This film was done under Christian auspices and believers will go away hearts aglow with this family's faith and the love and support they have for each other. I looked at this film and see how could these things happen in a modern age. Ironically this film is set during the 30s a most reforming age.Now we Americans are in the hands of people who want no safety net either economic or medically for people just like the Kamps. That fact truly makes me weep.Watch Christmas On A Dollar and see how it effects you.

Everything about this movies is bad. The children's dialog is not what children would say. The actors/actresses dialog is unbelievably simple-minded. The depression era setting is perfectly clean and un-lived in. Houses are perfect - with the best drywall (drywall didn't exist in the depression) anyone could create, neat furnishing and perfectly painted houses - I think I saw one with aluminum siding. Nobody looks poor. The "horrible" old "mean" woman is totally unrealistic and is just "acting" mean to follow a well worn script that has been done better a thousand times before. The school teacher is a horrible actress, even the bad kid is badly scripted and badly acted. Don't believe the 10 star review - it must have been written by the production company. Saw this on the "Up" channel - supposed to be "up-lifting", but just too simple-minded to be believable. Will make you angry you wasted your time.

Way better than I was expecting. At first, I was thinking "these are some pretty modern hairstyles for a bunch of people living in the depression", and "look at all these well kept homes that these look more like This is the Place state park than the dust bowl". But it didn't take long for the story to suck me in and even bring me close to tears a couple of times, and I'm a stoic dude. I knew it wasn't just me when my 9-year old had to leave the room because he couldn't bear to watch the developing conflict in the story line. Obviously, this isn't a high budget production, but if you can suspend your disbelief for a bit, you and your family will be entertained while learning some valuable lessons in the process.