A Smoky Mountain Christmas 1986

Country music superstar Lorna Davis [Dolly Parton] is overwhelmed and disillusioned by her career and the loneliness that seems to follow fame. To escape the glare of Los Angeles, she heads to a friend’s cabin tucked away in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains for a quiet Christmas retreat, hoping the peace of the season will mend what’s frayed inside her.

Upon arriving, she discovers the cabin has become the improvised home of seven orphans hiding from the local orphanage. They stumble upon her while she’s sleeping in one of the beds, an allusion to the tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The youngest among them proclaims:

“I know who she is. She’s the Angel.”

Because both sides are hiding secrets they don’t want exposed—the children from the orphanage and Lorna from the world she left behind in L.A.—they agree to keep each other’s presence at the cabin a secret. What starts as a wary accommodation quickly blossoms into genuine care, and Lorna begins to form bonds with the children, especially with the eldest, Jake, who watches and judges every new moment with guarded hope.

But the quiet holiday refuge is breached by the arrival of Harry [Dan Hedaya], a sleazy and ambitious paparazzo who has tracked Lorna’s movements, intent on exposing her hidden location. He is not the only threat. Jezebel [Anita Morris], a mountain “witch woman,” is determined to kill the star for drawing the attention of her lover, the local sheriff, John Jensen [Bo Hopkins]. The threat is not idle—Jezebel’s plots cast a shadow over the cabin, and Lorna’s safety depends on help from the surrounding mountains. Fortunately, Mountain Dan [Lee Majors], a wise and wander­ing mountain man, proves a steadfast ally who understands the lawless ways of the mountain folk and who intervenes just when danger closes in.

When Harry eventually reveals Lorna’s identity to the town’s lawman, the sheriff, Lorna is arrested and the children are taken back to the orphanage. Jezebel, disguised as an old woman, attempts to drug Lorna with a poisoned pie during a prison visit, but the plan backfires as Jezebel herself falls into an enchanted sleep after being duped. Seizing the moment, Jake, Dan, and Harry come together to rescue the children and break the hold the orphanage holds over them.

With the authority of a holiday beacon, they dress for the part—Dan as Santa Claus and Lorna as his helper—and infiltrate the orphanage to free the kids. They are confronted by John as they attempt to escape, a tense moment that threatens to end their daring plan. They are brought before Judge Harold Benton [John Ritter] (uncredited), whose demeanor is initially cool and detached, but whose sense of fairness ultimately prevails. In the end, the judge dismisses all charges against Lorna and Dan and grants custody of the children to Lorna, sealing a Christmas miracle built on courage, trust, and the power of found family.