(La Porte, IN) - Attempts are being made to get major Hollywood actor Sam Elliott here to celebrate the 35th anniversary of a Christmas movie filmed in La Porte and nearby Three Oaks, Michigan.
Elliott played the lead role in the movie “Prancer,” which still airs during the Holiday season.
John Hancock, who lives in northern La Porte County, directed the film that occupies a special place in his heart.
Hancock said he has spoken with Elliott along with his handlers about joining other actors in the film who are coming for the celebration December 14 and 15. The first night of the celebration will be at the Acorn Theatre in Three Oaks and in La Porte the following night possibly at the Civic Auditorium.
Hancock said he believes the odds of Elliott coming for the occasion is better than 50 percent.
“It’s not for sure yet but we’re very hopeful,” he said.
Elliott plays a grieving widowed father, whose apple farm outside La Porte has fallen on hard times. Fearing he’ll be unable to provide for his eight year old daughter, he considers having his deceased wife’s sister take care of her but later changes his mind.
The movie ends when a reindeer the girl discovered in the family’s barn named Prancer later reunites with the other reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh after she helped nurse the deer back to health.
Hancock said he directed the film at the request of his wife, who felt it would become a classic during the Christmas season.
“It turned out to be. She was right,” he said.
Hancock said Rebecca Harrell, who played the girl named Jessica, is among the surviving actors and actresses from the move that have committed to appearing at the celebration.
He was put on the map in Hollywood as director of the 1973 movie “Bang the Drum Slowly” about two baseball players becoming close after one of them was diagnosed with cancer.
After Prancer, Hancock made several other movies in the immediate area. He spent his childhood between the home of his parents in Chicago and their La Porte area fruit farm.
“It’s such a great place to make a movie. It was a great thrill to work where I grew up,” he said.
