What made this movie so appealing was the harsh reality of the times set against the backdrop of the holidays. The husband had been unable to get work locally, so he had found employment in a town 50 miles away and could only come home on the weekends via bus. The family had expected him to arrive home during the day on Christmas Eve when they learned via a radio news broadcast that there had been a bus accident in which two men had been killed. Set during the Great Depression, there were no televisions or cell phones and like most, the family had no car, so all they could do was sit, wait, and hope. No talk of Santa Claus, festive meals, expensive gifts, etc. And a very strong cast including Patricia Neal, Andrew Duggan, Richard Thomas, William Windom, Cleavon Little, Edgar Bergen and Ellen Corby, among others.