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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»1980s Movies»Movies 1988
    Movies 1988 Movies E USA Movies 2 Mins Read

    Ernest Saves Christmas (1988)

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    The prospect of an Ernest sequel – especially one with “Christmas” in the title – seemed a quite horrifying thought after Ernest Goes to Camp, one of the most execrable would-be comedies ever to be produced.

    Filmed at the new Disney studios in Florida and on location in Orlando, Ernest Saves Christmas looks like most Florida-made movies; bright and false. Nor is the supporting cast especially gifted or appealing.

    Ernest P. Worell (Jim Varney) is a sweet but dimwitted taxi driver who suffers delusions of grandeur. He has just chauffeured a rather extraordinary fare – “His Great Red Oneness, the Claus” himself – and it seems Santa hasn’t got the magic for another Christmas season and has come to Orlando, Florida, for Joe Carruthers (Oliver Clark), the dumpy children’s TV hack he has chosen as his successor so he can retire.

    Things quickly unravel, thanks to Joe’s meddling agent, Marty (Robert Lesser) and Santa’s increasingly unreliable memory, and – incredibly – Ernest soon becomes Santa’s only hope.

    Joining forces with a hip young runaway named Harmony Star (Noelle Parker), Ernest rushes to save the holidays.

    As the title suggests, the film is aimed almost exclusively at the young and innocent. It’s bargain basement stuff and Miracle on 34th Street it ain’t, but it does boast a splendid Santa Claus in British-born theatre veteran Douglas Seale, and Jim Varney makes the bumbling rube hero far sharper than he seemed in previous Ernest outings.

    Jim Varney died from lung cancer on 10 February 2000 in White House, Tennessee, aged just 50.

    Ernest P. Worrell
    Jim Varney
    Santa
    Douglas Seale
    Joe Carruthers
    Oliver Clark
    Harmony Star
    Noelle Parker
    Chuck
    Gailard Sartain
    Mary Morrissey
    Billie Bird
    Bobby
    Bill Byrge
    Marty Brock
    Robert Lesser
    Pyramus
    Buddy Douglas
    Thisbe
    Patty Maloney
    Agent Skippy
    Beecher Martin
    Mr Dillis
    George Kaplan
    Patsy
    Lindsey Alley
    Lacy
    Phran Gauci
    Carl
    Bill Cordell
    Brad
    Larry Francer
    Police Chief Spenks
    Bob Norris

    Director
    John Cherry

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