where he is picked up by Mr. Mahoney and enlisted in a newly-minted circus act. In the final scene, the families tour the rebuilt home and learn that an oil well Pete had invested in finally came in and his music ("Music for Orphaned Instruments") was purchased by a song publisher. It plays on a car radio as the group celebrates and Pete and Rosalinda embrace. Cast Jimmy Durante as Mr. Louie Amendola Terry Moore as Rosalinda Amendola Tom Drake as Peter 'Pete' Dingle Frank Orth as Mr. Frank Dingle Sara Haden as Mrs. Katie Dingle Queenie Smith as Mrs. Amendola Chick Chandler as Phil Davis Jimmy Conlin as Joe Mahoney Rupert, an animated squirrel Hugh Sanders as Mulligan Don Beddoe as Mr. Haggerty Candy Candido as Molineri - Florist Clancy Cooper as Police Lt. Saunders Harold Goodwin as Callahan - F.B.I. Man Frank Cady as Mr. Taney - Tax Investigator Irving Pichel as Puzzled Pedestrian (uncredited) Production In 1949, the film's producer George Pal, who had formerly produced animated shorts, convinced the independent Eagle-Lion Films to co-finance a two-picture deal with him. These films would be The Great Rupert and Destination Moon. The film was originally known as Money, Money, Money and was based on a story by Ted Allen purchased by Pal in June 1948. It was adapted by Laszlo Vadnay. Filming started at General Service Studio on June 20, 1949. At one stage the film was called The Great Amandola; at another, it was Rupert II. Pal's stop-motion animation used in creating the illusion of the dancing squirrel was so realistic that he received many inquiries about where he had located a trained squirrel. In 1999, Arnold Leibovit Entertainment rereleased the film on DVD and in 2022 a high definition restored unedited version was released with original main titles to the various streaming platforms such as TubiTV, Amazon, Plex, Apple TV and others. In 2003, 20th Century Fox and Legend Films revived the public domain film with a colorized special edition under the title A Christmas Wish. For that release, Terry Moore provided an audio commentary track. See also List of films in the public domain in the United States References External links 1950 films 1950s Christmas films 1950s Christmas comedy films 1950s fantasy comedy films 1950s stop-motion animated films American black-and-white films American Christmas comedy films American fantasy comedy films Eagle-Lion Films films Films about entertainers