A Christmas Carol (1954)
Adaptation: Hugo Peretti & Luigi Creatore
Scrooge: Claude Rains
In keeping with the theme of famous British actors making recordings of "A Christmas Carol," we check out this deep cut from Claude Rains on Mercury Records in 1954.
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| A sensationalized reissue poster! |
Claude Rains, of course, was a brilliant actor with a long line of memorable roles starting with "The Invisible Man" in 1933. Who else could command the screen so well when you couldn't even see him?
As I mentioned when discussing the 1935 mover "Scrooge" starring Sir Seymour Hicks, I often see Claude Rains credited as playing (or at least voicing) Marley's Ghost, whom you don't see, in that film. I don't think that's correct. It doesn't even sound like him, and why would he be using a different voice in a low-budget British film when he was already a star in Hollywood?
Is the root of this simply that Marley's Ghost is invisible and Claude Rains had played, well you-know-who!
In any event, he definitely did portray Scrooge on this interesting record from 1954. As evidenced by the label, it was for the kiddie market.
It's an unusual treatment of the story. I won't say anything more right now, in case you haven't heard it and would like to.
Give it a listen:
Next: Let's discuss!
Interesting!!
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