Horace McNickle (Edward Asner) is a two-time felon serving prison time for counterfeiting. On the week before Christmas, he escapes from prison dressed as Santa Claus due to his uncanny resemblence to St. Nick resulting from his long white beard and heavyset features. McNickle hides out from the police in a nearby suburban neighborhood where he is befriended and helped by two local children who think he is the real Santa Claus. McNickle takes advantage of the kids naive ness to help him get his counterfeit money hidden somewhere in a local department store while he develops kind-hearted feelings for his two con victims that make him slowly understand the true nature of Christmas.
Ed Asner
René Auberjonois
Jim Metzler
Susan Tyrrell
Alan North
Fred Gwynne
Frank C. Turner
Karen Landry
Philip Bruns
Nicolas Van Burek
Vicki Wauchope
Peter Bibby
Lillian Carlson
David Glyn-Jones
Anthony Holland
Claire Vardiel
Linda Darlow
Lorraine Foreman
Joseph Golland
Russell Hunter
David Longworth
John Payne
Robyn Stevan
Don Thompson
Jerry Wasserman
William S. Taylor