Jason Robards was indeed the bitter, widowed father whose daughter's Christmas wish is simply to have a tree in their house in the 1972 CBS telefilm "The House Without a Christmas Tree."

The film, set in Nebraska in the mid-1940s, was based on the classic children's novel of the same name by Gail Rock, and also starred Lisa Lucas as the daughter, Addie Mills, and Mildred Natwick as her eccentric, live-in grandmother.

It became a beloved holiday movie for years, enough so that all three stars reprised their roles for three sequels: "The Thanksgiving Treasure" in 1973, "The Easter Promise" in 1975, and "Addie and the King of Hearts" in 1976.

The fourth film seems to break the holiday tradition of the first three, but in fact author Gail Rock broke it earlier -- the third book is called "A Dream for Addie," not "The Easter Promise" (though the holiday is still central to the plot).

Fortunately for fans such as yourself, "The House Without a Christmas Tree" was released on DVD a few years ago.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the other three. All were available on VHS once upon a time, but are long out of print.

The young star, Lucas, did a few other roles, but never really caught on as an actress. Her most recent screen performance was a small one in the forgotten 1993 Robert Downey Jr. rom-com "Heart and Souls."

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