But that is the theme of this most unusual Christmas movie that is a Christmas movie more because of the spirit of the thing than the time of year in which it is set.
Dick Van Dyke, in probably his best screen role, plays Claude R. Fitzwilliam, Fitzwilly for short, butler to Miss Vicky (Edith Evans). He is head of the household servants and they all act as thieves for him, running a series of con games and out and out brazen thefts all so that their beloved employer Miss Vicky will think that she is still wealthy and can live out the rest of her life in the manner to which she is accustomed. The fact is that when her father died she was left the whopping total of 180 dollars. Dad was flat broke. Fitzwilly runs this operation with military precision, aware that if Miss Vicky ever found out she would demand that they all return the money, which they cannot. You see, Miss Vicky's servants are not the only generous people in this film - albeit with other people's money - Miss Vicky is too, always giving away her money to charities. She just can't seem to say no. Now Fitzwilly usually apprehends her checks when the mail goes out, but occasionally a check will get through. This assures that they are continuously operating while teetering on bankruptcy.
And then an outsider intrudes into Fitzwilly's well oiled machine. Miss Vicki has decided to employ a secretary, Juliet Nowell (Barbara Feldon), to help her with her alternative dictionary that shows all of the ways that each word can be spelled incorrectly. This dictionary was Fitzwilly's idea to keep Miss Vicky busy, but now it has blown up in his face as this secretary begins snooping around and asking questions about the goings on in the mansion.
What is so great about this film is that there really are no bad guys. Everybody has good motives. Miss Vicki is a philanthropist with no money, her servants could easily land jobs doing less for more without the worry of being incarcerated, and Miss Nowell is suspicious that these servants are stealing from their employer.
I've never seen anything quite like it and I highly recommend it. It truly has the Christmas spirit.
