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Why the Xmas Without Snow DVDs are so crappy


"A Christmas Without Snow" first aired as a TV movie in December 9, 1980 on CBS. It may have been repeated for a couple of years after that, but I can't determine that for sure.
I taped it at that time, as its themes immediately appealed to me - choir members and rehearsals, tackling major works, pipe organ work, etc. Although I had it on tape, I thought I would get a DVD copy for its superior image quality. Wow, what a disappointment. Even after trying another brand of DVD, it was obvious tht they were just making DVDs of inferior off-air recordings. The discs didn't even come close to what I already had.

The story is no great epic, to be sure. Much of the background music was taken from the Messiah. No mention is ever made of what denomination the church was, and the interior appears to be generic 1950s Protestant. IMDB only says "San Francisco" as the filming location (Duh!).

The soloists selected were not major stars, but were obviously professional singers who could perform those parts on-camera.
The organist was played by Ed Bogas, who is actually an organist, and was also responsible for the music for the entire movie. His website is www.ebogas.com. He is still active at the age of 78 (in 2015), and contributed music for television specials for the Peanuts series, succeeding Vince Guaraldi after his death in 1976. He has pages in Wikipedia and IMDB.
The producer/director/co-writer was John Korty, also still active in movies at 78 (in 2015), who established a studio in Marin County, just across the Golden Gate bridge. He led the way for future producers George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola who also located in Marin. He also has pages in Wikipedia and IMDB.

So why were the DVD copies so crappy? And what church did they use as a set? I'm assuming that since this was a TV movie, it would have been cheaper to rent a local church than to build a set.
(1) Not long after the movie was no longer being aired on TV, someone (I can't say who) approached Korty Studios about the rights to the movie. They were signed away for a small amount, with the understanding that the studios would get a percentage of the video sales. This person then signed away the rights again to Warner Brothers, who did produce a VHS copy of the movie. In 2005, the copyright expired, probably due to disinterest. So anybody who can get a copy of the movie can make and sell a DVD with any payment to anybody. These copies are generally 2nd or 3rd generation tapes, which may not even be in stereo.
(2) The church is the Korean Presbyterian Church of San Francisco at 720 Van Ness Avenue. If you look through their pictures on their website, you'll find a couple of pictures of the sanctuary. And on the left side of one picture is a portion of the choir loft and the organ facade, easily recognizable in the movie. If they had renovated their sanctuary in the last 35 years, it probably wouldn't have been recognizable.

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You are correct that the church in the movie was what is now the Korean Presbyterian on S. Van Ness. It was formerly Trinity Lutheran, and was purchased by the Korean congregation in 1978. I don't think the movie stated what denomination the church was, but I always assumed it was Lutheran, since Zoe and Henry were of Danish heritage, and Rev. Lohman had a German name.

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