I thought the actor was Henry Winkler but I'm ovbiously wrong.  The
movie starts with a young boy "adopted" by older couple.  The father
is a furnature craftsman.  He tosses the bratty kid a piece of wood
and says, "Know what this is?"  The kid says "It's a stick".  The
father says "No, it's a table leg, or a chair leg, or a flute, etc.
It's whatever you want it to be." And he shows the kid how to whittle.
 (or something like that).  The kid (later becomes who I thought was
played by Winkler) grows up and goes to college and starts a furnature
factory cranking out dirt cheap furnature much to the dissapointment
to his father.  His father dies broken hearted in a factory fire
following an argument with his son.  His son has a change of heart and
the story ends like a wonderful Christmas story with the now grown son
tossing a homeless kid a stick and asking the same question his dad
asked him so many years ago.   I loved it!  But only saw it once maybe
in the 80's.  PLEASE, I must know before I go to my grave.

Hello.

I believe that you're thinking of "An American Christmas Carol" (1979)
starring, yes, Henry Winkler.

Winkler plays a Benedict Slade, a Scrooge-like character who as young
man operates a furniture factory in New England, and subsequently
rediscovers the Christmas spirit.

"The movie translates Dickens' classic story from 19th century England
to Depression-era New England. The result is very effective... The
writers and director made excellent decisions in their choice of sets.
Three notable examples were the New England furniture factory as the
setting for Slade's youth..."
http://www.us.imdb.com/title/tt0078764/


DVD at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00001O2G7/

------
search strategy:
"henry winkler" "furniture factory"

I hope this is the movie that you had in mind. If not, please let me
know via the "request clarification" feature. Thanks.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by pastorjohnc-ga on 26 Dec 2005 07:41 PST

That was my first inclination when looking at Henry Winkler's
filmography but I saw nothing about a furnature factory or his
beginnings as an orphan or the other things I mentioned that I
recalled.  I'm overnighting "An American Christmas Carol" DVD from
Amazon.com and I'll take a look at it.  If it is not the one I'm
seeking, I know it's a good movie and worth the purchase.  If it is
the one I'm refering to, please telll me what is the next step.  Do I
just rate your answer? (In which case you well deserve the $50.00 and
I'll go to my grave with a smile on my face and a great movie in my
heart).

Thanks,

John

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 26 Dec 2005 11:15 PST

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback.

My gut feeling tells me that this is the right movie because it does
include the furniture factory. Also, one of the customer reviews on
Amazon mentions that Winkler's character "Slade felt abandoned and
betrayed by those he'd loved, and Fonzie was also abandoned by his
parents" (implying an orphan situation of some sort).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B00001O2G7/ref=cm_rev_next/104-0801171-2808746?%5Fencoding=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=130&s=dvd&customer-reviews.start=11


I believe that the adoptive father character was "Mr. Brewster" played
by Chris Wiggins as there's a screenshot of Wiggins showing a boy how
to use a woodworking machine:
http://chriswigginsonline.8k.com/cgi-bin/i/screencaps/xmas4.jpg
A later screenshot shows Winkler and Wiggins in a what appears to be a
business office:
http://chriswigginsonline.8k.com/cgi-bin/i/screencaps/xmas6.jpg

Basically, if it turns out to be the right movie, then we'll consider
the matter closed and you may issue a rating, if you desire.

If it turns out to NOT be the right movie, then use the "request
clarification" feature to let me know and we'll go back to the drawing
board.

Thanks!

Bingo!  I ordered the DVD and fast forwarded to last chapter and yes,
this is the movie I was looking for!  I will sit down with the wife
and enjoy it tonight.  Thanks Juggler for your research!  I should
have discovered this on my own and kept considering this movie but it
just did not look like it was right but your research showed
otherwise.

Thank you very much for the generous tip.
Happy New Year!
-juggler