What Christmas movie was this?

[theonlysaneone]

I remember a long time ago, back in third grade, being forced to watch a movie about an old woman who bought some airtime on a local station to read stories to children. She became popular and eventually got a show in which she was known as "Grandmother Goodheart." The fame became too much for her, and she started shoplifting because she couldn't handle the pressure.

What movie was this?

"How could this happen? Grandmother Goodheart, stealing on Christmas Eve?"

This has been bothering me for some time. I couldn't find anything on Google or Wikipedia, so I figure it's pretty obscure. But on a site with several thousand members, surely SOMEONE else knows what movie I'm talking about.

[Siniri]

I have seen the same movie (or one similar). If I remember correctly, the TV show wanted to have her get all kinds of plastic surgery and stuff, and the fine print on her contract was that if she broke the deal she'd have to pay them... so she read the fine print and realized they would terminate the contract if she did anything to hurt the show's rep, so that's why she shoplifted.

I couldn't remember the title either, tried a google search, then tried searching IMDB quotes for "Goodheart" and found it: The Story Lady. It was made-for-TV, so it is pretty obscure.

[theonlysaneone]

I have seen the same movie (or one similar). If I remember correctly, the TV show wanted to have her get all kinds of plastic surgery and stuff, and the fine print on her contract was that if she broke the deal she'd have to pay them... so she read the fine print and realized they would terminate the contract if she did anything to hurt the show's rep, so that's why she shoplifted.

I couldn't remember the title either, tried a google search, then tried searching IMDB quotes for "Goodheart" and found it: The Story Lady. It was made-for-TV, so it is pretty obscure.

Wow, great job. That's it. It seems like I had the details right and the motivations wrong.

[Siniri]

Wow, great job. That's it. It seems like I had the details right and the motivations wrong.

Well, I didn't remember the "Granny Goodheart" name, so I wouldn't have found it if you hadn't remembered the details. When I went to see LoTR (Return of the King), I completely misremembered the ending of the book and was mad that the movie ending wasn't the same (which it wasn't, but neither was my recollection). I still swear my version is better than the book ending:

I thought Frodo cut off his own finger because he couldn't bear to part with the ring. In the book, Gollum falls in after cutting it off Frodo. In the movie, I believe Frodo pushes Gollum in.