While The Grinch is the most famous example, from Hans Gruber to Willie Soke each year we return to stories of characters trying to steal Christmas. Amongst shopping busyness or ‘Closed for Christmas’ signs the season seems to be an ideal time to pull off a heist, or upfront robbery. So, this year’s Alternative Christmas Film Advent Calendar looks at a series of less-mentioned attempts at festive thefts.
At the heart of Mr Soft Touch is a story all about giving back, albeit through the lens of taking back. Joe Miracle (Glenn Ford) returns from fighting in World War II to settle back into his life running a nightclub. However, he soon finds out that the club has been taken over and his co-owner brother presumed killed. With a ticket to sail out on Christmas Eve, Joe plans to take $100,000 (worth roughly over $1.3 million today) from the club’s safe, hide for a few days and then properly flee.
With the mob after him his temporary place of safety is a settlement house, provided by social worker Jenny Jones (Evelyn Keyes), who believes she’s one of Joe’s friends. The place is scattered with some loose decorations to celebrate Christmas, largely collected in one room, circled around the tree. It’s around this that a number of the key events in the final stages will pan out as Joe tries to blend in with a selection of Santas charitably giving out gifts to children as part of a fundraiser. Although, in this case the tone is quite different to slightly similar actions in previous Calendar entry The Lemon Drop Kid.
For Joe the charity displayed by Jenny and the settlement home extend far beyond what he would expect, and perhaps is usual, as he enters a back-and-forth of sorts with those now in charge of the club. And, as you might expect from a film set against the backdrop of the festive season, Joe’s intentions for the money start to shift towards more generous uses.
Yes, redemption arcs and the different guises they have may happen often outside of Christmas films, but there’s something about the festive season – perhaps because of classic stories such as A Christmas Carol and It’s A Wonderful Life – that brings us into them more, and simply pushes what they’re getting across. Mr Soft Touch may not do it in the most conventional of senses, with its mob basis and noir tones, and it’s not entirely pitched as a ‘redemption arc’ in style, or at least push. But, it’s certainly there with the backing of charity and giving, particularly giving back, at this time of year.
Mr Soft Touch can be watched on YouTube.
To find other places where the film is available, especially in different countries, check out its page on JustWatch.
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