The Man Who Saved Christmas

Movie / Show Details

A.C. Gilbert, the inventor of the Erector Set, faces an impossible choice in this 2002 CBS television drama. When government officials summon him to the White House during wartime, they pressure him to convert his toy factory into a weapons manufacturing facility. Caught between his passion for bringing his construction set to children and the weight of patriotic duty, Gilbert reluctantly agrees to the conversion. Later, he is asked to become the public face of a campaign urging Americans to forgo toy purchases and buy war bonds instead, forcing him to confront a deeply personal conflict as a father himself.

This made-for-TV film runs 100 minutes and carries a TV-PG rating. Directed by Sturla Gunnarsson and written by Debra Frank, Joseph Maurer, and Steve L. Hayes, the movie stars Ari Cohen as Gilbert alongside Jason Alexander, Kelly Rowan, Jayne Eastwood, and C. David Johnson. The single-disc DVD edition lets you own this family-friendly drama about principle and sacrifice at a used price.