With only a quick half-hour to tell the tale, the BBC radio adaptation of a "A Christmas Carol" starring Alec Guinness can't include everything. But what it does include is fascinating.
The story starts with the narrator reading some lines directly from the text to set the scene. We then hear people bustling about with their Christmas activities.
The action in Scrooge's office gets going when (I think) just one charity solicitor comes in. Scrooge dismisses him in the usual manner.
Then Scrooge argues with Bob Cratchit about the coal. As he's berating Bob by saying how he can afford to waste coal because he doesn't pay for it, I'm thinking, "Where have I heard that before?" I know it's not in the original text, but it's very familiar. Then it struck me that it's what Seymour Hicks said to Donald Calthrop in "Scrooge" from 1935!
In fact, the whole beginning part is straight out of that movie, including the order of things. In the book, Fred comes in before the charity solicitors, but in this radio show, as in the movie, the order is reversed.
So, you wonder if this whole thing will be a shortened version of the Seymour Hicks film.
Nope, not at all!
Scrooge goes right home, doesn't see Marley's face in the knocker, but he does see it repeatedly in his fireplace, a seldom used detail from the book.
Marley makes a quick visit and interestingly tells Scrooge that the other three spirits will be the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come!
After Marley leaves, Scrooge tosses and turns for a bit before the first spirit arrives. It's funny that they would use precious time for this.
In any event, we only get the chance for one scene from Christmas Past and it's different from any other I've heard or seen. Quite a bit, in fact!
It's Fezziwig's Christmas party, but the details are so different. Fezziwig himself is cracking some jokes before he has Dick Wilkins and Ebenezer clear away for the party and the fiddler comes in. Fine, but then Mrs. Fezziwig comes in with two daughters and Fezziwig pairs them up with the apprentices. Ebenezer gets Charlotte and Dick gets Sophia (Sofia? Pronounced "So-FIE-ya")! Scrooge used to be an operator!
Even wackier, they play musical chairs and Ebenezer is the life of the party! Fezziwig says, "Ebenezer knows how to enjoy himself." What happened to him? We don't know, because right after this, he's back in his bed!
It's different, but it's fun!
While waiting for the next ghost, Scrooge is doubting whether there'll even be one. He says, "Jacob Marley said three spirits. Bah! Three fiddlesticks!"
Scrooge sees the light under the door and meets the Ghost of Christmas Present. The spirit talks about Bob Cratchit and says because Bob keeps Christmas better than Scrooge, he's the better man for it.
We then visit Bob's house and it's a lot of fun as the family enjoys their Christmas. Martha hides when Bob comes in making horse sounds because he's carrying Tiny Tim (a nod to the book calling Bob Tim's blood horse) and the boys chant when they bring in the goose. The narrator talks a bit about the goose and the pudding.
Scrooge notices Tiny Tim and asks the spirit about his future. He is extremely remorseful when the spirit throws the "surplus population" remark back at him. Perhaps the most powerful moment of this production.
We do have time to visit Fred's party as well, and that's also fun. When they play Yes and No, Fred's sister-in-law guesses the answer, and says, "It's your Uncle Scro-o-o-o-oge!" just like in the book!
Marley said he'd be coming so no surprise to us or Scrooge that the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is up next.
They visit the Cratchit house where they learn of Tiny Tim's death and then go the graveyard where Scrooge sees his own neglected tombstone. Oddly, Scrooge reads out the letters to spell his name. I dig it though, because he calls the Z "zed" in a moment of British awesomeness!
Scrooge begs for a chance to make things right and finds himself back in his room on Christmas morning. One thing of note is that Scrooge still thinks it was all a dream.
Things get extremely wacky now!
He calls out the window to a boy, as usual. The "boy" sounds kind of old, though. I looked up the actor, Leslie Crowther, and he was 17 at the time. He apparently had a long career in England after this, so fans of his would probably enjoy hearing him at the beginning of his career.
Anyway, the wacky part is that the kid knows Bob Cratchit, so he'll have no problem delivering the turkey.
Even wackier is when Scrooge hears a knock at his door. Who is it? Bob Cratchit! What? And he says he was sent by Fred to ask Scrooge to reconsider his dinner invitation! Huh?
It's unclear whether Scrooge had given Bob the day off to celebrate Christmas, so maybe Bob was on his way to the office?
Whatever the case, we get the chance for Scrooge to raise Bob's salary and indicate that he is going to Fred's for dinner without having to leave home.
Another wacky thing is that when Scrooge is telling Bob how he'll help him and his family, when he mentions Tiny Tim, he says, "He's not dead, is he?" Hey, he just reformed, so he needs to work on his tact!
All in all, I enjoyed this show. It's got enough different little things to keep it interesting. I wouldn't want the same thing over and over.
I like the voice that Alec Guinness uses for Scrooge. He's not over the top at the beginning or the end. I think it's a well modulated performance.
I'm not familiar with any of the other actors, but they seem like solid professionals, which I'm sure they were.
And I think the music "composed by Hal Evans and condicted by Trevor Harvey" is really good and adds a lot.
Solid job and worth a listen!
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