Original subtitles

ADAMS: We always plan to be in California

long before the first snow falls,

but a few seasons ago,

we hit some early snows that held us back for weeks.

And so it was late in December

when we moved down the western slope of the Rockies

into the country of the Utes.

We were bone-weary, and our livestock was half-starved,

but we pushed on day after day as best we could,

and at last we came out of the snow country

into a peaceful mountain valley.

Here, there was good grazing for our stock

and a sorely needed chance to rest for all of us.

It seemed almost like a miracle

that we should arrive in such a valley,

especially that evening,

for the next day would be December 24th,

Christmas Eve.

♪

ADAMS: I might have lost sight of the fact

that the next day was Christmas Eve

if it hadn't been for John Reed.

I watched him leading the children in Christmas carols,

and for a moment, I was a kid again,

waiting for old St. Nick,

and I remember thinking...

Here is where Christmas begins,

the young looking to the old for the gifts of the season.

John Reed was a man who gave the best of all Christmas gifts,

the gift of love.

Well, this sure makes me homesick.

Charlie, I never knew that you had a home.

Why, sure, I had a home when I was little.

You think the stork just dropped me down out here

in the middle of a vacant field?

You mean you had a mother and a father like other people?

Why, sure I did.

I had a mother and a father and an Uncle Oswald, too.

Boy, these things are thorny.

Charlie, what do you want with all this holly anyway?

Oh, just trying to spread Christmas cheer around, that's all.

You know, Bill, I have brothers and sisters, too.

We used to go around singing them Christmas carols.

I was just along for the walk. They never let me sing. Heh.

Why not?

Oh, I could never carry a tune.

Oh. Come on, we've got enough of this.

We better get back.

You know, Bill, when I was little,

my folks used to always tell me there's no Santa Claus.

I figured all the time they was trying to pull something over on me.

Charlie, are you gonna hang your stocking out tonight?

I always do. Just in case, you know.

Sure is peaceful country, ain't it?

Yeah, it sure is.

Come on. All right.

♪ ...angels sing ♪

♪ Jolly old St. Nicholas ♪

♪ Lean your ear this way ♪

♪ Don't you tell a single soul ♪

♪ What I'm going to say ♪

♪ Christmas Eve is coming soon ♪

♪ Now, you dear old man ♪

♪ Whisper what you'll bring to me ♪

♪ Tell me if you can ♪

♪ When the clock is striking 12:00 ♪

♪ When I'm fast asleep ♪

♪ Down the chimney broad and black ♪

♪ With your pack, you'll creep ♪

♪ All the stockings you will find ♪

♪ Hanging in a row ♪

♪ Mine will be the shortest one ♪

How good that music sounds.

If Mr. Reed was singing in German,

he might be one of our own Star-Singers.

Well, he is one of our Star-Singers, Mama.

Und Kris Kringle, too.

What does language matter at Christmas?

Yeah.

Can't you finish that doll tomorrow, Papa?

You've been driving all day, and to work so late.

Ah, this isn't work, Mama.

It's Christmas.

Did I make enough tops, Mama?

I promised Mr. Reed there would be one for each boy.

It would be such a tragedy if some child thought he was forgotten.

One for each little boy and one for Mr. Wooster.

My good friend Charlie.

If there was no Christmas, Papa, what would you do?

I can't imagine a world without Christmas, can you?

I can't imagine a world without you.

Ja?

You know, there's a kind of a glow

coming from this wagon that lights up the whole camp.

Is it too early for me to say merry Christmas?

It's never too early for Papa.

Merry, merry Christmas, Major Adams.

May God bring you the joys of the season.

Danke schoen.

♪ O little town of... ♪

Where's Bill?

Oh, he said you told him to see if the guard was doubled.

That's right, I did.

Why? In country like this?

Well, McCullough's still way out in front of us.

It doesn't do any harm to take some extra precautions.

♪ And dreamless sleep ♪

♪ The silent stars go by ♪

Major, I sure feel full of Christmas cheer tonight.

You keep away from that bottle.

Bottle? I only mean Christmas spirit.

Well, you can have all the Christmas spirit you want.

Just don't drink any.

♪ ...of Bethlehem ♪

You're frowning,

on the night before the night before Christmas.

♪ ...above thy deep and... ♪

What's the matter?

You hear something out there?

No, I guess not, Charlie.

I suddenly get the feeling that I should be hearing something.

It's too calm, too quiet.

It's like the calm before a storm.

Now don't tell me it's going to snow again.

Why, there's not a cloud in the sky.

No, there isn't, Charlie.

I guess it's just my imagination.

♪ ...hopes and fears of all the years ♪

♪ Are met in thee tonight ♪

Oh, yes, we're getting ready to have a Christmas tree.

A Christmas tree.

Yes, you know, it's amazing what could be done with some simple materials.

Now take these Christmas flowers from Sweden.

All you need for them is paper, scissors,

and a loving heart.

That's wonderful, John.

So, we're gonna have a Christmas tree, huh?

Mr. Reed says we can't have a Christmas without a Christmas tree.

Well, Mr. Reed is just the man who knows, I'll tell you that.

What can I do, Mr. Reed?

Well, just get a paint brush and start painting there with the boys.

ELLIE: Jimmy! Jimmy Sherman!

Oh, here he is, Mrs. Sherman, right here.

Why, you should have been in bed an hour ago.

Aw, Mrs. Sherman, Christmas only comes once a year.

I know.

Come on, Jimmy.

You said Santa Claus would come tomorrow night.

And so he will, Jimmy.

Santa Claus has to have a chimney.

Now, who told you that?

Mr. Wooster.

Well, he asked me. I had to tell him somethin'.

Now, maybe Mr. Wooster hasn't met Santa Claus

since he added this area to his route.

That's right, I haven't.

Now, if you had asked me, I would have told you that here in the Rockies,

Santa Claus comes down through the pine trees,

and we've got plenty of pines,

so there's nothing to worry about.

Good night, Mr. Reed. Good night, all.

Good night! Good night, Mrs. Sherman!

Uh, John...

John...

you listen to me.

Those children are going to be expecting to see Santa Claus.

You can't treat children like that.

What's the matter, Seth? You believe in Santa Claus?

Me believe in Santa...? John, I'm a full-grown man.

I wish I had the time to debate the point with you,

but you do believe in Santa Claus,

whether you're aware of it or not.

Well, the fat's in the fire now,

and you'd better come up with some kind of a Santa Claus tomorrow night.

I intend to.

All finished, Mr. Reed.

I'm ready for a very happy Christmas.

And so am I.

Tell me the truth, Mr. Reed.

Are you Kris Kringle?

Well, in my country, if I was Kris Kringle,

I wouldn't be "Kris," I'd be Father Christmas.

Ha ha, you certainly would be, John,

and you are.

You are, indeed.

Gute nacht, Father Christmas!

♪ God rest ye, merry gentlemen ♪

♪ Let nothing you dismay ♪

Indians!

Bill! Charlie!

Hurry up!

Back in the wagon. Lay down on the floor.

Here, Papa.

Fire! Help!

Get that out of here!

Get over here with water! Hurry up!

ADAMS: This was a day like no other.

Many things were part of it.

Death and life and hope.

A tree and a star.

It was the birthday of the child born in a manger,

the prince of peace.

This day was a day of pain,

a flash of fire illuminating faces I'd never forget.

What am I going to do?

He's gone.

He's gone.

I know, I know. I know.

Peter!

Peter!

Aah haa! Peter!

Mrs. Harris, come on.

Mrs. Harris, come on.

Bill! Charlie, come here!

Come on, ma'am.

All right, all right.

Take her away, Bill.

Charlie, give some help and get him out of here.

John!

Just a shot on the shoulder.

Get to the people who really need you.

Get him inside the wagon. I'll go get Dr. Dahlman.

Tony, where'd they get you?

In the arm.

Yeah. Let's see it here.

Maybe we better send the children outside while we take care of this, huh?

No, no. They stay here.

Those Indians come back... I want 'em to stay here.

I'm not gonna take no chance of my children falling into the hands of those Indians.

Tony, they'll be all right. You can trust me.

I trust you.

I'm gonna keep my gun handy and my children close to me.

And if they come back, I'm gonna be ready.

All right, Tony.

Let's put it down here for now,

see what we can do for this arm.

Major Adams! Major Adams!

Ah, easy, Mrs. Sherman, what is it?

It's Jimmy! He's gone! He's gone!

Now, he can't be gone. He's probably wandered off to one of the other wagons.

No, I...

Well, you know how he likes to visit.

When did you see him last?

During the raid.

I was helping to load rifles,

and suddenly I turned around, and he was gone.

Now, now, we'll find him, Mrs. Sherman.

He's gotta be around camp someplace.

Uh, Bill!

Jimmy! Jimmy!

Any sign of him, Charlie? Not a sign.

Well, we better keep on lookin'.

Right.

Did you folks see little Jimmy Sherman around here?

No. No, we haven't.

Thank you. No.

Doc, you all right?

All right?

Oh, we're just fine, Major Adams.

You can see that, can't you?

We'll fix your wagon for you, Mrs. Dahlman.

We'll have you in shape right away.

But how much do we have to stand?

How much can we stand and still go on?

Cora, this doesn't help any.

You go west, climb the mountains,

cross the desert, dig the graves,

but keep on going west, west, west,

until we fall into our own graves.

Mrs. Dahlman, you've got to try to get hold of yourself.

You've been through Indian attacks before.

And it isn't the last, is it?

Well, I hope it is.

You hope.

"This is the last," you said in the plains.

Cora...

In the Rockies, you said,

"From here on, the Indians will be friendly."

Please, Cora...

Well, how many people have we lost today

to the "friendly" Indians?

How many will we lose tonight?

And how many tomorrow?!

Cora, please, no, no, no, no. Cora, please.

Last night, I was stringing popcorn for a Christmas tree.

Can you imagine?

Christmas in this country!

They'll be back. They'll come again and again

until we're all wiped off the face of the Earth.

She's frightened, Major.

I know, Doc.

You brought us here! You brought us here!

Come on, Cora, please, please.

She's right. I brought 'em here.

I can't blame you for what happened.

I brought 'em, so now I've got to hold myself accountable.

Well, she'll cry for a while, then she'll calm down.

It's the shock.

Well...

I'll go over and have a look at John Reed's arm,

and call me if you need me.

Thank you, Doctor. Thank you.

Bill, I wanna check every wagon in this camp.

You take that side, I'll take this.

I wanna know just exactly how every family made out.

All right.

You keep your eyes open for Jimmy what's-his-name... Jimmy Sherman.

All right.

How many dead?

Five.

Five. Five of my braves.

How many wounded?

Maybe twenty.

Not sure yet.

Twenty. So many.

How many white men die?

The scouts say they bury three bodies.

Little Eagle is gone.

Is his burro gone, too?

Yes, I looked at once.

Send a party to hunt for my son.

Why must there be war?

Because we are here, and they want to come here.

Will there be another battle?

Yes. Today the wagon train will move down the mountain.

At nightfall, we will meet them at the foot of the mountain.

It will be easier there.

More death.

More waste!

They are the enemy. It must be.

Did you see anything?

No, Bill, I didn't.

If there's any Indians within miles,

they're sure well hidden.

Well, it's pretty easy to hide out in those hills.

How's everything around the camp?

There's no further casualties.

Some of the folks are wonderin' when we're gonna move on.

Yeah, I know.

I've been trying to decide whether we were hit

by a bunch of young braves having some fun

or whether it was a war party.

If it was a war party, we can expect more trouble.

And I don't want to run into it at the foot of the mountain.

Yeah, me neither. We'll be out there in the open and no cover.

I gotta think of our stock, too.

There's good grazin' here.

If we don't give them a couple of days to fill up their bellies,

they won't make it across the desert.

Oh, Charlie, any sign of that Sherman kid?

Nope. And I looked in every wagon, too.

Did you look under every wagon?

Under? Yes, Charlie.

Remember the last time he got lost,

we found him under a wagon?

I think we did.

Sure, he crawled under a wagon,

and went to sleep, didn't he?

All right, I'll go take another look around.

I'll help ya, Charlie.

Come on.

Major Adams, how soon can we get out of here?

Well, gentlemen...

we're staying right where we are for the next couple of days.

We just can't sit back and have those Indians wipe us out.

Our stock can't go any further without feed and rest.

Besides, we're heading right down into the desert.

I say, we go on foot if we have to.

We'd never make it, Tony.

Those Indians come back, it's finished!

Major!

You gotta come right away. It's Mr. Reed.

John? Yes.

All right, Charlie.

John...

Oh, I'm glad you got here, Seth.

Somehow, I'd hate to leave without sayin' good-bye.

I thought Doc Dahlman was with you.

Oh, he was, he was, but... he couldn't do anything.

There's nothing to be mended.

You can only darn a sock a certain amount of times.

Aw, stop it, John. Not you.

Unfortunately, my body is older than I am,

and it won't take me to California after all.

The ways of the Almighty are hard to discern.

He let me live through storms and floods and fire,

and then suddenly, here, in the midst of this valley,

he summons me.

And I'm certainly going to ask him a couple of questions about that.

Stop talking, John. Just take it easy. Rest.

You're a good man, Seth. I particularly wanted to tell you that.

Maybe a little irascible, hard at times,

but in times of adversity, a tower of strength.

And another thing I always noted about you.

Even when you were busy doing the big things,

you never lost sight of the little things...

The little things that so often make the big things bearable.

John, I think you're up to something again.

I'm a transparent old man.

You always did see through me,

but I promised the children Santa Claus.

Yes, I heard you.

Well, it seems I won't be able to be there,

at least, not in the earthly form I intended.

Now, I'm going to ask you to keep my promise for me,

and under the circumstances, I don't see how you can possibly refuse.

Neither do I, John.

You'll find the suit over there in the chair.

And don't forget about the tree for the children...

and the candles and the star.

And maybe, God willing, I'll be able to see to the star.

And now, I think I'll sleep.

I'll take me rest.

You'll... you'll see to Christmas?

I'll see to it, John.

The little things that make the big things bearable.

Good-bye, Seth.

Good-bye, John.

Camp meetin'!

Come on, folks! Camp meeting, everybody!

Bill!

Get everybody on the other side

and get them over here right away for a meeting.

Come on, folks!

Go see what Major Adams wants, huh?

Come on, folks. Camp meeting.

Come on, everybody! Camp meeting!

Come on, hurry 'em up, Bill!

Come on, everybody!

Everybody, come on!

Now, folks...

in a few hours, it's gonna be... Christmas Eve.

What are we gonna do about it?

Nobody's in the mood for Christmas, Major Adams!

Well, let's hear whether you're in a mood for it or not.

Bill, I want you to take somebody with you

and go out and cut a good-looking pine tree.

Bring it in here and set it up in the middle of the circle.

Right away.

But this is no time for Christmas.

Why isn't it?

If anybody ever needed Christmas, we sure do.

Charlie... Yes, sir?

Go mix up a batch of cookies.

What kind?

How many kinds can you make?

One kind. Make 'em!

Yes, sir.

Christmas in this country?

Yes, Mrs. Dahlman, Christmas in this country.

Maybe Christmas in this country most of all.

Where are all those children

who were making those ornaments last night?

Come on in here, all of ya.

Now, I know I can depend on you kids

to trim the tree for me, can't I, huh?

Yes! Yes!

But there's no candles!

It isn't a Christmas tree without candles.

You won't be able to see it when it gets dark.

Well, where in thunderation

did John Reed expect me to get candles?

Mr. Reed thought that you would get them from me.

Ohh.

He knew that I made all the candles for the tree.

I have all we need.

You don't want a Christmas tree.

Why not?

With Papa not cold in his grave?

Have you no respect?

Yes, I have respect,

but respect is not all I have for Papa.

I also have love.

Papa loved Christmas.

We have the candles, we have the tree.

Thank you, Mama.

No, no. Thank you, Major Adams.

All of a sudden, just now,

you make me see something...

That life goes on.

It is good that life goes on.

We'll have a Christmas.

And it is good that life goes on.

Bless you.

♪ Deck the halls with boughs of holly ♪

♪ Fa la la la la la la la la ♪

♪ 'Tis the season to be jolly ♪

♪ Fa la la la la la la la la ♪

♪ Don we now our gay apparel ♪

♪ Fa la la la la la... ♪

Don't worry, Mrs. Sherman, we'll find him.

Maybe he's in this wagon. Jimmy!

He isn't in this wagon. I've looked in there.

Behind this barricade...

You can't go out there, Mrs. Sherman.

Come on, we'll find him.

If they've found him, he's dead.

Courage. Our best scouts are searching.

Little Eagle has only lived five summers.

He's so small, and the world is so big...

and so full of hatred!

ADAMS: It was a strange, terrible day

for many of our people.

Full of uncertainty, we prepared for war and prayed for peace,

and each passing hour brought a new crisis, a new fear.

Make sure you pour those full, son.

Put plenty of powder in there, boy.

Major Adams, please come.

It's Graham, he's been hurt.

Oh? Where?

We'll never find him!

Mrs. Sherman, this has happened before,

and we've always found him right here in camp.

The Indians have him. I know the Indians have him!

Oh, they don't have him. Come on, now. Get ahold of yourself.

Charlie, I wanna... sterilize these instruments.

And when I call ya, you bring this whole pan in, will ya?

Yes, sir.

I had no idea he'd been wounded.

You won't let him die, will you, Major Adams?

Mrs. Dahlman, I'm going to do my very best.

I think maybe you better wait out here, huh?

I know. You don't want to be distracted.

Thank you for understanding.

I'm a doctor's wife.

Here, at least, I know what's needed.

We'll make it, don't you worry.

I'll swear that Jimmy Sherman isn't in camp.

I've looked high and low for him.

Where's the major?

You can't see him. He's in surgery.

What? The doc's got a bullet in him.

Jumpin' Jehosaphat, what next?

You'll have to work fast.

I can tell from the way I feel that...

there's already been considerable hemorrhaging.

Doc, why in tarnation didn't you tell me about this earlier?

Well, I thought it was something I could handle myself.

Well, I'll do the best that I can, but...

I certainly wish it was somebody else.

I haven't got time to shop around.

What if something goes wrong?

Well, if it does,

blame it on your medical advisor.

I'll try to instruct you in each phase of the operation,

as long as I can stay conscious.

Well, you better stay conscious, Doc,

if you want to stay alive.

Believe me, I'll do my very best.

Ah, start your incision

in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen.

The lower right what?

Here. Just above the ileum.

The hip bone.

Oh, here?

Yeah. As soon as you complete the incision,

try to find the point of hemorrhage.

It'll probably be on the inner side

of the haunch bone, you understand?

Yeah.

The bullet should be lodged right there.

Well, come on, Seth, there's no time to lose.

Charlie, bring in those instruments!

Ah, after you remove the bullet,

do what you have to do.

You'll have to leave a piece of gauze

in the incision for a drain, right?

Right.

Can I help you, Major?

You sure can, Bill.

Light that lantern and hold it over here

so I can see what I'm doing.

All right, Doc, I'm ready when you are.

Then make a straight incision

just above the big bone,

from here to here, all right?

All right.

Now separate the layer of tissues.

Hold on, Doc.

Well, he passed out. You're on your own now.

Over here, Bill, some more light.

We just lost, Charlie.

Think he'll make it?

I don't know, Bill. Hope so.

You better go outside and see how things are going.

I'm gonna stay here with the doc.

Did I live?

Oh, and take Lionel Strongheart with you.

Well, you can stop worrying about me.

I'm gonna live.

Well, that's good, Doc.

There's been enough of death today.

This is a day of life...

and faith...

a day of birth that...

promises resurrection.

I've never been a particularly religious man, but...

this day I feel very close to Christmas.

When do we attack?

Scouts signal wagon train has not moved.

We attack when the moon is high.

Has my son been found?

Not yet.

It is a big world to be lost in.

You'll never find him. How can you find him out there?

I'm going to try the best I can.

Stay right here.

Come here! Here, here, June, come on.

Come on, take it easy now. We're going back.

I don't want to live. I don't want to live!

Now, you don't mean that, honey.

My husband was my life.

My life is over.

It's not over. You're a young woman.

You're gonna bear your first baby, honey.

I must bring a child into an empty world

and live the empty, endless years!

He's gone,

and the world has turned to dust

and vanished.

Now, now, don't you...

There, there, there.

Cry. Cry all you need to, yeah.

It will be better in time, in time.

I too have lost Papa today.

I know how the heart aches.

I don't want to live!

Oh, no, no, no.

Think of what you have had.

A year of perfect happiness.

How many people live and die and never know such a year?

He's gone.

No, no, he's not gone... any more than Papa is gone.

Papa is gone.

Oh, no, no. Not while little Hans and Marta are here

to grow in Papa's image and fulfill his dreams.

You are going to bear Peter's child,

and Peter will live on in the child.

Oh, you are blessed among women.

There, now, come, come.

Let us leave the dead, huh?

Our concern is with life, with the living, huh?

Come, come.

Take care of things, Bill.

All right.

You have borne a son on the holiest night of the year.

♪ O come, let us adore him ♪

♪ O come, let us adore him ♪

♪ O come, let us adore him ♪

♪ Christ, the Lord ♪

Give me my son.

He's my hostage.

When I leave with our boy, you leave with yours.

Does white man make war on babies?

Does mighty chieftain of the Ute make war on babies?

I have not touched your son.

Lucky I got here first.

If you get here first, would white boy still be alive?

I doubt it.

We do not make war on children.

Since when?

How many graves of white children have I seen

between Kansas and here?

And how many graves of Indian children did white man ever look?

It is white man who say,

"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," not Indian.

Maybe you don't say it, Chief, but you sure practice it.

Once, my people lived at peace with the whites.

Shall I tell you how that peace ended,

what happened to our lands,

our women and, yes, our children?

I know you well, white man.

I have lived with you.

Knowledge is an ancient sorrow in my bones.

This is the land of Ute.

You bring death here, you!

You say you lived with whites?

Once I lived on white man's reservation,

not here on land of my father's...

but desert land...

prison land to the south.

Now you say all whites are bad.

You say, "Only good Indian is dead Indian."

There are wounds on both sides.

Will the lives of two children heal those wounds?

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

A child for a child, both to go free.

Why would you take my word?

It must begin with one us. Give me your word.

I give you no promise beyond this moment.

There has to be a first moment.

Your word.

This is my word...

and only this...

you can take the boy back to his mother.

Why do I have to? Just tell me why...

Because the suit is already made,

and you're just about the same size John Reed was.

It'll fit you.

Well, I won't know what to say.

Well, you better gol-durn well think of something to say!

Oh, I don't look like Santa.

You do too. You got a beard.

Well, I ain't got a big belly.

Well, you got enough. Now stop beefing and get in there!

You're spoilin' my whole Christmas.

Charlie, stop arguing with me.

I've got enough trouble already.

Now those children over there

have been promised a Santa Claus,

and you are it!

Why do you hate me?

Aw, get in there, you!

Well, pull your pants up, Charlie.

I got 'em up to my armpits now.

I wonder what John was thinking about

when he made this jacket this long.

Why, it's longer than a woman's dress.

I look like an old fool, and I'm not going out there

in front of the people dressed like this.

He must have been crazy when he made it this big.

Why, it's even too big for him.

You were a conniving old man.

I didn't realize till this minute just how conniving you were.

Hmm?

Who you talking to?

All right, Charlie. Take the suit off.

Oh, I knew you'd be...

Major, do you hear that?

It sounds just like... like John laughing.

I'm sure it was.

Good.

Ha ha ha ha!

All right, Charlie. You just keep it up, keep it up.

You're asking for it, you're gonna get it!

Get out of my sight before I die laughing.

All right, go on.

Ha ha, good evening, children!

A merry Christmas to all!

Ho ho ho ho ho!

Well, let's see what we have here now.

What's your name, little man?

What's the matter?

Don't you know Santa Claus when you see him?

Make him go away, make him go away!

I want St. Nicholas!

I want Kris Kringle!

I want my mama!

Well, I certainly didn't come here to scare you all to death.

I... I don't know, I... There!

It's only Major Adams!

You bet, Jimmy! Ha ha ha!

There isn't any Santa Claus.

Aw, now sweetheart, that's where you're wrong.

You can't tell me that there's no Santa Claus

just because he doesn't happen to be the man you think he is.

You know, Santa Claus has many faces,

and he has several different names,

and people all over the world, they treat him differently.

You know, in Holland, they call him St. Nicholas,

and he doesn't put the presents in a stocking.

He puts them in a shoe beside the fireplace.

Lars, what do they call him in Sweden?

Jultomten.

Ha ha ha. There you are.

In Denmark, some of the children call him the "Yule man."

And in France, "le Pere Noel."

And in Spain,

the gifts for the children are brought by the Magi.

You remember the Three Wise Men in the Bible, don't you?

Yeah. Sure you do!

Now, none of those Three Wise Men

look anything like Santa Claus, do they?

But yet, those Three Wise Men brought the very first Christmas gifts

that were ever given.

Just think of it.

Here we sit, a small world within a world.

And many of us, we speak different languages,

and we follow different customs, and we go to different churches,

but we all celebrate Christmas,

all of us, in the name of that same child

who was born so many years ago

in a little stable in Bethlehem.

And it's the same all over the world tonight.

People who don't understand one another's language

are closely in touch with one another's hearts.

And in the name of that child,

Santa Claus brings gifts, and so does Kris Kringle

and Father Christmas and St. Nicholas.

And because of that, the world is warmer and kinder,

because of the way people sit, and they look at each other,

and they smile, and they say,

"Merry Christmas!"

Ha ha ha ha.

Do you believe in Santa Claus, Major Adams?

I do. You bet your boots, I do.

So do I!

Oh, that's wonderful.

Indians! Indians!

Hold your fire!

Just hold your fire.

I have been thinking.

You said there must be a first moment.

Peace must start someplace.

Maybe... here is the place for us.

Friend?

Friend.

ADAMS: It was December 24th, Christmas Eve.

Sunrise had brought death,

and sunset the birth of a child,

and nightfall the answer to our prayers...

Peace on Earth, good will toward men...

and hope for tomorrow.

♪ Round yon Virgin ♪

♪ Mother and Child ♪

♪ Holy infant so ♪

♪ Tender and mild ♪

♪ Sleep in heavenly ♪

♪ Peace ♪

ADAMS: That Christmas brought a new meaning

to the old, old words,

and with hearts overflowing,

we wished one and all a merry, merry Christmas.

♪