OK, so we do need a bit of a breakdown of the 1939 "The Campbell Playhouse" presentation of "A Christmas Carol," as it's always interesting to see what's included, omitted or added when dealing with any adaptation.
This is quite a faithful version of the story. It includes quite a bit of narration, as befitting the presence of Orson Welles as narrator. Most of the narration is taken verbatim from the original text, without much being changed.
The actual dialogue is pretty faithful as well, but some of it has been changed, as is usually the case. It all fits the mood.
We get everything expected in the opening scenes at Scrooge's office, including Scrooge's nephew and the charity solicitation (with just one gentleman) and Scrooge yelling at Bob Cratchit for using too much coal.
Bob gets some fun extra stuff as he sings along with the carolers and goes over his Christmas list while working.
Bob also makes a donation to charity, which is a nice touch.
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| Frank Readick (left) and Orson Welles as The Shadow. Frank did the sinister laugh better! |
Frank Readick (who, like Orson Welles, had previously played The Shadow on radio) does a fine job as Bob Cratchit.
I did find it curious that once Scrooge's nephew leaves, we don't hear anything about him again at all. Fan doesn't appear in the Christmas Past sequence, so there's no reference to him there and we don't go to the nephew's party with the Ghost of Christmas Present or at the end when Scrooge is reformed. I don't believe we ever find out that the nephew's name is Fred.
Bernard Herrmann's score really shines in the transition to the next scene. The music is infectiously jaunty as Bob goes home then ominously moody as Scrooge does the same.
The Ghost of Christmas Past doesn't show Fan, but he does include young Ebenezer at school and with Fezziwig in addition to the breakup with Belle and the scene with Belle happily married, which is often omitted.
Although the Christmas Present sequence doesn't include Fred's party, they do see the miners and sailors and other people celebrating and, of course the Cratchit's Christmas dinner. So, an interesting mix.
For Christmas Yet to Come, Scrooge and the spirit visit the Cratchits first to learn that Tiny Tim has died, then they see the other businessmen and finally Scrooge's grave. Quick, but the highlights as needed.
On Christmas morning, Scrooge engages the kid to buy the turkey and meets the charity gentleman.
Next morning, Scrooge beats Bob to the office raises his salary and promises him that Christmas bowl of smoking bishop!
Script, music, acting, sound effects - we get it all here!
While I'm tossing out the pop culture references, I recognize the opening and closing theme as Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. A couple of years later, this became a huge hit for Freddy Martin and his Orchestra as "Piano Concerto in B Flat." A great record, which you can hear below:
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