Santa Claus (sometimes also known as Santa Claus vs. the Devil) is a 1959 Mexican fantasy film directed by René Cardona and co-written with Adolfo Torres Portillo. In the film, Santa Claus works in outer space and battles with a demon named Pitch, sent to Earth by Lucifer to ruin Christmas by exposing Santa to the public and "making all the children of the Earth do evil". <br /><br />In 1960, a slightly edited English language dubbing of the film was produced for release in the United States by K. Gordon Murray. The film achieved wider recognition and a cult following after it was lampooned on a 1993 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. <br /><br />Plot: <br />Santa Claus, high above the North Pole in his cloud-borne castle equipped with more surveillance devices than the Impossible Mission Force, prepares to deliver presents on Christmas Eve night. Santa is especially interested in helping Lupita, the daughter of a poor family, who wants nothing more than a doll; and a young boy whose parents are so wealthy they never spend any time with him (Santa fixes this by feeding them Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters). However, the Devil will have none of this and sends his minion Pitch to foil Santa's plans (or else he will, as punishment, eat chocolate ice cream). <br /><br />Santa Claus was produced by Guillermo Calderón and filmed at Churubusco-Azteca Studios in Mexico. Its running time is reported as 94 minutes. This appears to be the running time of recent home video editions of the English dub. At least one brief scene was cut from the English edition, and further footage was removed from the individual prints as they aged and suffered damage. The original film was approximately three minutes longer than the version now seen in the United States. Santa Claus was filmed in Eastmancolor with a monaural soundtrack. <br />Credits <br />José Elías Moreno as Santa Claus [uncredited in English version] <br />Cesáreo Quezadas as Pedro [uncredited in English version] <br />José Luis Aguirre 'Trotsky' as Pitch (Precio) [uncredited in English ] <br />Armando Arriola as Merlin [uncredited in English version] <br />Lupita Quezadas as Lupita [uncredited in English version] <br />Antonio Díaz Conde hijo as Billy [uncredited in English version] <br />Ángel Di Stefani as Vulcan [uncredited in English version] <br />Ken Smith as the narrator [credited on-screen as "English Direction"] <br />Nora Veryán as Lupita's mother [uncredited in English version] <br />Queta Lavat [uncredited in English version] <br />Polo Ortín [uncredited in English version]
