It's interesting how many reviewers commented on this movie and compared this version to an earlier movie version of the story. Since most people will only see this movie made in 1997, these comparisons mean very little. Tearing down this movie, because they liked the original better doesn't take away from the charm of this one. My family really enjoyed this movie as a warm, loving, well made story. For the most part, it appears people who watched this movie really enjoyed it and rate it highly. The only ones who gave it low marks are those who fancy themselves as movie "experts." And as I have discovered, many times in their attempt to sound lofty, intellectual and smarter than everyone else, they totally miss the point.

The short stories of Truman Capote are as varied as a Christmas fruitcake, and in this expanded version of the story and the 1966 Television special, Patty Duke takes on the role so perfectly created by Geraldine Page. Every year, she makes fruitcakes for the neighbors, even sending one to the president and first lady. This year, movie star Jean Harlow gets the one that the previous year had been sent to Koan Crawford. Capote's childhood must have been fascinating even though he seems to have been transported from one relative to another. Along with "The Grass Harp", Capote made minor changes to the circumstances, but it is clear that the relatives seen here were his elders and were all influential in creating who he would become.

Sweet Eric Lloyd plays the young variation of Truman with Piper Laurie and Anita Gillette as Duke's serious sisters. Ironically, Laurie had played a variation of Duke's character in an underrated version of "The Grass Harp". Gillette's sister is somewhere in the middle strictness and seriousness wise, obviously form between right and wrong and sisterly loyalty. What there is in the way of a story surrounds the decision to send young Scott off to military school and the emotional turmoil this brings to him and Duke.

Typical Capote eccentrics appear in minor parts including an obviously black maid who claims to be Cherokee (a character also in "The Grass Harp"), the local bootlegger, a tomboy with a crush on Lloyd and her obsessive piano playing mother. Think of this as a Southern variation of Neil Simon's autobiographical plays. It's more character driven and slice of life than plot driven, but it is all so sweet. Childhood memories of Christmas are precious and often influences who we are as adults. To see the adult Truman Capote in these young characters may seem as different as night and day, but it is a comfort in seeing how he shared his real self in all the stories he told.

Patty Duke played Sook, a simple Southern Christian woman, who lives with her siblings; Piper Laurie played Jennie, the eldest who sacrificed her own personal life to care for the younger siblings; Anita Gillette played Callie and Jeffrey Demun played Seabone. The story is mostly about the relationship between Sook and Buddy, a young boy. Buddy was left there to live with them in Monroeville, Alabama (hometown of Truman Capote and Harper Lee). In real life, Truman lived with relatives while his mother pursued acting in New York City. Sook and Buddy's relationship is endearing especially with Patty Duke and Eric Lloyd in the roles. This film is the only version of the story I have seen so I can't compare this version.