It’s the summer of 1997. You’re watching your favorite new show, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. The theme song starts. The narrator says, “Beyond belief, fact or fiction, hosted by Jonathan Frakes.” Then, the narrator says more about a world of truth or deception. The song eventually fades out. Frakes emerges from the hallway of light and smoke and asks, “Have you ever seen a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie?”
Hopefully, that joke landed.
Last week, my answer would’ve been a big ole “Nope!” Now that big ole nope is a miniature yep because my girlfriend and I kicked off our holiday movie streaming with one called A Biltmore Christmas over the weekend. It took a Hallmark movie starring Jonathan Frakes and a Biltmore House setting for me to fancy watching one.
So, I’ll admit this Hallmark movie has been on my radar for nine to ten months. Jonathan Frakes mentioned it on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast episode he guested on. I stumbled across this podcast while searching for interviews of Frakes during Picard Season 3 on YouTube. I listened to the episode walking the YMCA track and told my girlfriend we needed to watch it at Christmas time. Well, that time is now.
A Biltmore Christmas is about Lucy, a Hollywood writer working on a modern retelling of “His Merry Wife!” The made-up holiday movie classic was filmed at the Biltmore House in 1946. An exec isn’t excited with her script thus far, so he sends her to Asheville to work on a more romantic ending (even though it’s Christmas and she’ll miss caroling with her family. The bastard!). The Biltmore caretaker/curator invites the writer to tour the House, which is elaborately decorated with costumes and memorabilia from the movie (Very much like the Downton Abbey exhibition was at the Biltmore). During the tour, she knocks over an hourglass that magically time travels her back to the “His Merry Wife!” movie set and falls in love with someone from the past. There’s more to the story, but I’ll stop there before I spoil something.
I mainly wanted to watch A Biltmore Christmas because Frakes is in it. Even though I had no idea how much he would appear on screen. My inner geeky Stormstrouper enjoyed watching him in the movie. I know Frakes as badass Commander William Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Because of Hallmark, I know him as Winston, the Biltmore House caretaker/curator who introduces Lucy to the hourglass. Frakes played a very convincing caretaker/curator with all the “His Merry Wife!” film history we learned from his character.
Frakes is one of those actors whose stuff I’ll watch because he’s in it. He’s an exceptional actor and director. I need to watch more of the non-Star Trek stuff he’s directed. Frakes is a cool dude! And I love how he wasn’t too good to be in this type of movie (when I assume some people definitely are). He told Michael Rosenbaum that the A Biltmore Christmas director asked him to be in it, so besides the money, playing the caretaker/curator very well could have also been doing a favor for an old friend. I love that assumption. If true, I love the sentiment.
Oh! Before I forget, Robert Picardo is also in the movie. He played the hologram doctor on Star Trek: Voyager. So, there are two Star Trek alums in this flick.
I also wanted to watch this movie because it was filmed and set at the Biltmore House in Asheville. I’m not from Asheville, but North Carolina is home, just like those stickers say. I get super excited when North Carolina pops up in films and television shows. I take pride in where I’m from. This could be DuPont National Forest in The Hunger Games, Charlotte in Homeland, and when I see contestants from NC on reality shows. I’ll root for the person because we’re both from the same state.
Plus, The Biltmore House Estate is marvelous and beautiful. Any inch of its 8,000 acres makes a pleasing stage. The film crew did an excellent job capturing snow on the grounds and the House in winter. In one scene, Lucy looks out her hotel window and sees the North Carolina mountains in all their vividness. I heart those mountains. The Vanderbilts built a great thing all those years ago. Why someone has yet to make a Downton Abbey-type show about the Vanderbilts at the Biltmore is beyond me. Wink wink, Julian Fellows.
Overall, A Biltmore Christmas was a decent and wholesome film. The acting was fine, and the story was pleasant. There’s even a tiny twist in the end. My girlfriend has seen several Hallmark Christmas movies and said this was good. I am still determining when to watch another Hallmark Channel movie. Hallmark, remember this equation: Jonathan Frake + North Carolina setting = I would watch another one.
You can still check out A Biltmore Christmas on the Hallmark Movie Channel. And I recommend you watch or listen to the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast on YouTube or podcast platforms. The episode with Frakes is brilliant.
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