The Christmas Coal Mine Miracle (1977)

The Christmas Coal Mine Miracle (Dir: Jud Taylor, 1977).

A festive family drama made for US TV.

Set in the mining town of Caufield in 1951, The Christmas Coal Mine Miracle tells the story of coal miners trapped underground on Christmas Eve following an explosion. Centered largely around Matthew Sullivan (Mitchell Ryan), his wife Rachel (Barbara Babcock), their two daughters and prospective son-in-law Johnny (Kurt Russell).

Although claimed by some sources to be based upon a true story, the closing credits read: “The events depicted in this motion picture are fictitious although suggested by the history of mine disasters”. Which particular mine disasters are unclear. I think the movie would have more impact were it based on actual events. Instead what we have with The Christmas Coal Mine Miracle is an intriguing story, although not particularly dynamically told. 

Surprisingly, considering it was made in the era when disaster movies were vogue, the focus of the film is not the explosion in the mine, but the relationships of those affected by it, particularly the women. As a result the movie suffers from being overly reliant on dialogue and a little short on action. Originally broadcast on the NBC network, it has the distinct feel of a Movie of the Week, albeit distinguished by a better than average cast. Top billing is afforded to Mitchell Ryan, but further down the cast are the more familiar names of Kurt Russell, John Carradine and Melissa Gilbert. 

Gilbert, then also appearing as Laura in long running drama Little House on the Prairie (1974-83), receives a "special guest appearance" credit. As the movie’s then most viable star it seems an attempt was made, possibly late in production, to hinge the story on her character. As youngest daughter Kelly, Gilbert narrates the story’s opening, but this has the effect of wrong footing the audience as the rest of the film is not exclusively told from her perspective. Still, she is a cute kid and her appealing performance is probably the movie’s highlight. 

As earnest young man Johnny, Kurt Russell is, well, earnest. In fairness to Russell the role is not especially well fleshed out and seems small potatoes compared to his next project - his Emmy Award nominated performance as Elvis Presley in acclaimed TV movie Elvis (John Carpenter, 1979). Which is kind of an issue with every character; none are particularly well delineated and the audience never gets to know any of them well enough to be as affected by their plight as they should.
  

The Christmas Coal Mine Miracle is no Christmas classic. Were it a true story in the traditional sense, rather than vaguely inspired by historic mining accidents, I feel as if I would have warmed to the story a little more and have more investment in the characters. That said, if you stumble across this movie on daytime TV it is worth a look for the decent performances from its likeable cast.