Rathbone vs. Colman!

The 1942 recording of "A Christmas Carol" from Columbia Records starring Basil Rathbone invites comparisons to Ronald Colman's version on Decca Records from the year before.

I really like these type of records. It's fun that there are several different ones, as it's interesting to see how the adapters manage to squeeze whatever material they can into the running time available. Both of these are albums of six 12-inch 78 rpm records, so they're about the same length.

I think both are great. Each has a stellar lead and top supporting cast.

As mentioned last time, Ronald Colman's Scrooge narrates the story as if it had already happened sometime in the past, whereas Basil Rathbone is describing things as they happen.

Another difference is that Colman uses his "real" voice, which is awesome, whereas Rathbone affects something of an "old man" voice.

This seems fitting as Ronald Colman was a MOVIE STAR and Basil Rathbone was more of a star character actor.

No doubt who was the star in 1935!

Basil worked his way up a bit by 1938!

Colman never played Scrooge in movies or TV, but Rathbone played Scrooge twice on TV, in 1956 and 1959. He easily could've headlined a movie version, if something like that would've happened.

You can have a fun little mini-marathon watching and listening to Basil Rathbone's various Scrooge projects, throwing in his turn as Marley's Ghost in the 1954 "Shower of Stars" adaptation with Fredric March.

I'm not sure how Ronald Colman would have been as Scrooge in a movie. On the whole, he was too handsome and charming for such a role. I understand that he was protective of his brand and perhaps he wouldn't have wanted to have been buried under makeup not befitting a matinee idol and/or appear in a role that his fans might not like.

But Colman's great voice and acting skills easily translate to the audio world and he does a great job as Scrooge on his recording.

An awesome color photo of Hollywood's British colony. How many of these stars do you recognize?

So, two great actors with different approaches.

I say it's a tie!