Quebec’s contribution to the Christmas movie world is this slight but often amusing 1971 kiddie film about a gregarious alien (played by comic Marcel Sabourin in a fur coat and green fishnet pants) who lands in the Francophonic Canadian province during the holidays. A young boy and his little sister befriend the alien, who calls himself Poo Flower (go figure). The alien has a magic wand that allows him to fly and he wears a pointy hat that blows bubbles into the air. The local adults, however, find little Yuletide joy in this extra-terrestrial visitor and a merry chase commences with the local constabulary in pursuit of Poo Flower’s flying saucer. The resourceful alien winds up eluding capture by enacting several disguises, including a turn as Santa Claus (or Pere Noël, as they say in Montreal) and as an old lady (a cross-dressing alien?).
The total budget for this film seems to have been roughly $50, as witnessed by the special effects (complete with visible wires to enable flight). But Sabourin’s wild shenanigans (he’s sort of like Robin Williams’ Mork designed for the kiddie party crowd) is actually entertaining and the sight of adults running about in the snow after a pie-tin flying saucer is genuinely charming (how can anyone not love Ed Wood-style special effects?).
Santa Claus may have once conquered the Martians, but here a Martian conquers Quebec and it is genuinely a lot more fun to watch.
The movie’s cute, I saw it as a little kid on TV in the ’70s and it was neat, grow some nuts and go with some cool kid fantasy flick!