Ebbie

Ebbie or Miracle at Christmas: Ebbie's Story is a 1995 TV movie directed by George Kaczender, written by Ed Redlich, and starring Susan Lucci in the title role. It is a gender-reversed retelling of the 1843 novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, with a hard-hearted female character in place of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge.

Ebbie
Also known asMiracle at Christmas: Ebbie's Story
GenreDrama
Fantasy
Written byPaul Redford
Ed Redlich
Directed byGeorge Kaczender
StarringSusan Lucci
Wendy Crewson
Ron Lea
Molly Parker
Taran Noah Smith
Music byLawrence Shragge
Country of originCanada
United States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerJean Abounader
ProducersHarold Tichenor
Jayme Pfahl (co-producer)
EditorRoger Mattiussi
Running time96 minutes
Production companiesCrescent Entertainment
Maverick Productions
Victor Television Productions
DistributorBuena Vista Television
Release
Original networkLifetime
Original release
  • 4 December 1995 (1995-12-04) (USA)

Plot

The title character is businesswoman Elizabeth "Ebbie" Scrooge. Ebbie has never appreciated Christmas, and has been rotten to the holidays. She doesn't give to the needy, doesn't care about her employees at Dobson's (the store she owns), and most of all, she works on Christmas. One night, the ghost of her partner, Jake Marley (counterpart to Dickens' Jacob Marley character, played here by Jeffrey DeMunn), haunts her. She is soon brought back to a deserted Dobson's, where the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Jennifer Clement and Nicole Parker) show her the Christmases she has celebrated. They take her to a very significant Christmas when her sister Francine (Molly Parker) died after nearly miscarrying her niece (Ebbie believes that Francine would have survived had she not left her alone to attend a party); it is also the Christmas she met her soon-to-be boyfriend Paul (Ron Lea). They show her many other Christmases, including another grim one when Paul leaves her because she values work over him, when she and Marley take over Dobson's, and finally, the previous year, when Marley died.

The Ghost of Christmas Present (Lorena Gale) shows her the life of her assistant Roberta Cratchet (Wendy Crewson), her daughter Martha (Laura Harris) and her son Tiny Tim (Taran Noah Smith). Next, she sees the party that she is invited to every year by her niece (also Molly Parker), but has always declined; everyone toast Ebbie, but her niece does not drink (the reason being that she is pregnant). She sees Paul and his wife and children, and Ignorance and Poverty in the form of feral homeless children, while the ghost throws all of her harsh words back at her. Then, the Ghost of Christmas Future shows her a terrible future where Tiny Tim has died, Dobson's is shut down, and she herself is hit by a car, has no visitors in the hospital, and dies flat broke.

After experiencing all those visions, Ebbie becomes a better person. She is shown the next morning, whereupon she bids good morning to the doorman. She also orders a large turkey for the Cratchets, donates money for the poor children, buys a coat for a homeless woman (Elan Ross Gibson) and offers her a job, gives Rita a raise (so Rita no longer needs to work her second job), gives a better job to Roberta, and finally attends the party her niece has been inviting her to. The movie ends with Ebbie at the Cratchets' house, eating dinner with them.

Cast

(in credits order)

Susan Lucci ... Elizabeth 'Ebbie' Scrooge
Wendy Crewson ... Roberta 'Robbie' Cratchet
Ron Lea ... Paul
Molly Parker ... Francine 'Frannie' (mother and daughter)
Lorena Gale ... Rita / Ghost of Christmas Present
Jennifer Clement ... Ghost of Christmas Past #1
Nicole Parker ... Ghost of Christmas Past #2
Susan Hogan ... Mrs. Dobson
Kevin McNulty ... Mr. Dobson
Taran Noah Smith ... Tiny Tim
Jeffrey DeMunn ... Jake Marley
Adrienne Carter ... Little Ebbie
Bill Croft ... Luther / Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come
Elan Ross Gibson ... Homeless Woman
Laura Harris ... Martha Cratchet
Sarah Hayward ... Nurse #2
Maria Herrera ... Nurse #1
Gary Jones ... Floor Manager
Tamsin Kelsey ... Mrs. Taylor
Karin Konoval ... Ebbie's Mother
David Lovgren ... Michael
Tom McBeath ... Van Munson
Hrothgar Mathews ... Ralph
Larry Musser ... Ebbie's Father
Malcolm Stewart ... Patterson
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carolyn Adair ... Pregnant Friend
Liza Huber ... 70's Girl (uncredited)
Tong Lung ... Vietnamese Store Owner (uncredited)
Trevor Lawrence Young ... Caroler (uncredited)

See also

Sources
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