LOGLINE
Even a humble Christmas gift can save a family—and a community.
PITCH
Matthias Dozen, the oldest son of baker Bartholomew Dozen, helps feed even those who can’t afford his bread. A hobo cowboy welcomed into his home at Christmas gifts the Dozen family with a special pretzel recipe. Though local thugs damage the bakery, the family thrives by selling the newest best thing—Pretzels!
SYNOPSIS
Bartholomew Dozen’s small bakery is next to noisy train tracks leading to the Wild West. Matthias, his oldest son, works closely with his father, next to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado. The family bakery is a fundamental business for the two mining towns among the trading companies and saloons. As the oldest of twelve children, Matthias is being apprenticed to take over the bakery from his father in time. Travelers often jump off the trains and stop by for a loaf of fresh bread. The bakery also attracts thieves and looting in the neighborhood has grown in recent years. Each Christmas Eve, Bartholomew hosts a meal for the poor, spreading holiday joy and cheer. Even when strangers steal from him, he tries to overlook the theft, grateful for the goodness in his life. Every morning Matthias’ mother Catharine gets up early and helps prepare the dough for the oven. One winter afternoon the week before Christmas, a hobo cowboy wanders into the bakery wearing an old leather jacket, a black hat, and leather boots. The cowboy asks Bartholomew for a job, but Bartholomew has no job to offer him. Instead, he asks the stranger to stay for dinner.
As the cowboy Peter Jesse introduces himself, a sudden crash sounds from the back of the store. A young thief with holes in his shoes slips out the side door with handfuls of bread, knocking over bags of flour. Matthias runs to the cash register only to find the drawer hanging open and all the cash missing. As Peter helps clean up, he says the boy might desperately need the food and money. That night Catharine prepares dinner, and Bartholomew places a candy cane at each setting. Peter pulls a slip of paper from his pocket and stares at it as though it is sacred. It is his family’s soft pretzel recipe. Peter explains that pretzels look like children’s arms folded in prayer, the way they once crossed their arms over their chest long ago. Each one has three holes to honor the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Pretzels bring blessings to all. He asks the Dozens to make pretzels in his honor.
After Matthias studies the recipe, Bartholomew places it in his jacket. Then, Matthias walks Peter to the front door and watches from the window as he walks toward the train. As Peter passes the bakery next to their home, Matthias notices another broken window in the shop. On Christmas Eve, Matthias and his family hold their annual holiday meal for anyone in need. After dinner, the entire family goes to church and sings Christmas carols all the way home. Early Christmas morning, a neighbor bangs on the Dozens’ front door. Matthias opens the door to find the bakery on fire. Despite the entire neighborhood dousing the bakery with water, much of the building goes up in smoke. Then, the wind blows the pretzel recipe from Bartholomew’s jacket pocket, and Matthias grabs it at once. Instead of losing everything, neighbors who ate fresh bread at Bartholomew’s bakery help him rebuild and make money through pretzels. Customers line up to try the pretzels—which Bartholomew insists always bring blessings. Soon Bartholomew, and his son Matthias, spend more time making pretzels than baking loaves of bread; the family has more success with pretzels than they could imagine.
No comments:
Post a Comment