Favorite Story - "A Christmas Carol" (1949) - Part 2

As mentioned last time, the 1949 broadcast of "A Christmas Carol" from Ronald Colman's syndicated radio series "Favorite Story" uses nearly the same script as his 1941 recording of the story for Decca Records.

It's extremely similar, but there are a few differences here and there. I look at it as my job to point out those differences!

One difference is noticeable right off the bat. Because this is a radio show rather than a recording for home use, this show has an introduction. The announcer is Joseph Kearns, who did a ton of radio work with no fanfare, then finally became known to audiences for his role as "Mr. Wilson" on the "Dennis the Menace" series starting in 1959.

Ronald Colman also gives an introduction, saying how this is everyone's favorite story. The idea of the show was that each week, the story being presented would be someone's favorite story. Who could argue that this one is everyone's favorite?

Once the story gets going and Scrooge begins his narration, it is immediately apparent that this is basically the same script as the record. This part is word for word and the delivery is the same.

A few scenes have slightly different dialogue. These are the ones with the charity collector and Bob Cratchit at the beginning and the one with Belle in the Christmas Past sequence.

A couple of scenes that were on the record set are omitted here. Those are when Scrooge is describing the merry-making with the miners and sailors that he was shown by the Ghost of Christmas Present and the scene in the future where the other businessmen discuss Scrooge's death.

But you really have to listen to each one closely to even notice these things.

I think the pace of the record is a little quicker than the radio show as well. Not sure if that's why they had time for the extra scenes.

The music is different as well. It's don't think it's a copyright issue, as the record mostly uses "The First Noel." On the whole, I prefer the music from the record.

Also of note is that the ghosts sound echoier on the album.

The version of the show that we heard did not include the tag with Ronald Colman telling us the names of the supporting cast, so here's a quick clip of that:

Who else could seen so charming and classy while reading credits?

Anyway, the supporting cast is largely different from the 1941 album, but Eric Snowden as Bob Cratchit and Cy Kendall as the Ghost of Christmas Present are back.

"Who are you calling portly?"

Arthur Q. Bryan is recognizable as the portly gentlemen on the show, which is the same role he played not on Ronald Colman's, but Basil Rathbone's record set!

One other thing about the radio show is that it has places for commercials from the local sponsors. This gives Joe Kearns a chance to mention Ronald Colman's "recent Decca album." Fun!

So, record or radio show, it's good!