The Alcoa Hour - "The Stingiest Man in Town" (1956) - Part 3

The 1956 production of "The Stingiest Man in Town" from "The Alcoa Hour" TV series is a pretty straightforward and faithful adaptation of "A Christmas Carol," despite it being a musical and having a somewhat wacky title.

Most of the characters and incidents from the book are included, but as always, there are some changes and I'm forever fascinated by those changes!

The show is about 75 minutes of content, as it was broadcast in a 90-minute slot, so it's more than an hour for Alcoa, but it gives plenty of time for story and a lot of singing and dancing (plus commercials!).

Since this is a musical, the Four Lads as carolers have some expository singing to set the scene, then the crowd sings and dances.

Fred comes into the scene to lead the song "An Old Fashioned Christmas" before entering Scrooge's office, where he gets the usual cold greeting. They go back and forth with some clever rhyming dialogue.

Amusingly, Fred gives his uncle a present, which is a tie that Scrooge doesn't like!

The charity collectors come in and they have also have the usual back and forth with Scrooge, but non-rhyming.

Now it's Bob Cratchit's turn. Interestingly, when he's trying to get the next day off, he mentions Tiny Tim and how sick he is. Scrooge is not impressed and tells him to come in two hours earlier the next day, which is specific.

At some point, the charwoman (Mrs. Dilber) has come in and given Scrooge some gruel. She asks Scrooge for an advance on her salary for the next month. But Scrooge won't give it to her because she might die before next month rolls along!

Basil Rathbone is an awesome Scrooge! He's given good material and knows how to sell it.

An original character, Hawkins the ragpicker, makes an appearance and interacts with Mrs. Dilber and the Four Lads dressed as beggars for "The Stingiest Man in Town" title song. The Lads are sort of adopting Cockney accents for this song. Their studio recording of this number is more in their usual style.

They also give a little more exposition indicating that Marley's Ghost is coming to visit Scrooge while Scrooge is in bed.

And, indeed, the next scene has Scrooge snoozing away when Marley's Ghost comes in. The ghost has a kind of netting somewhat obscuring his face, so for once, Scrooge might not have recognized his deceased partner right away. He removes the netting to make Scrooge believe in him.

Marley sings while superimposed phantoms swirl around in a pretty good special effect for live TV.

The Ghost of Christmas Past shows up on a music cue right after Marley's Ghost leaves. This spirit is bearded and wears a robe. Looks like Friar Tuck or something. That must've brought Basil Rathbone back to his swashbuckling villain days!

Scrooge and the spirit go back to Scrooge's school, but we don't see Scrooge as a boy. They talk about Fan, but we don't see her either.

Next, they go to Fezziwg's. The spirit specifically says that was 40 years ago. There are lots of apprentices at desks. I think old Fezziwig calls one of them "Dick," presumably that's Dick Wilkins.

Old Scrooge sees his younger self and remarks, "Was I that good looking?"

As is usually the case, Belle is at Fezziwig's party and she dances with young Scrooge.

They wind up singing a duet about the future, but young Scrooge keeps saying, "Love flies out the window when poverty comes through the door." The scene is very impressionistic and we literally see a wall of gold building up between Scrooge and Belle.

The visuals and great singing by Vic Damone and Patrice Munsel make this a memorable scene indeed.

Now we come to Act 2 and the Four Lads reappear as carolers to recap the past and introduce the Christmas Present sequence.

Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Present who says he's better known as the Ghost of Christmas Spirit. Scrooge is catching on to what Christmas spirit means.

The spirit kind of looks like a big elf to me, as he has that sort of beard. The kind leprechauns always have, bushier at the chin and no moustache.

He has a bunch of toy soldiers and clowns and dolls and such dance around Scrooge, who joins in for a bit. There's a lot of dancing in this production, as ballet sequences in musicals were somewhat in vogue at the time, since "An American in Paris" had won the Oscar for best picture a few years before.

The ghost puts Scrooge's coat and hat on him and tells him some of the things they'll see, but we don't get a chance to see.

Things get wacky once they get inside the Cratchit house and Mrs. Cratchit leaves the pot of potatoes for a moment. Scrooge takes the cover off the pot to peek inside, leaving Mrs. Cratchit to wonder why the lid is off. Then Scrooge actually tastes the applesauce!

Peter comes out in an ill-fitting suit and Belinda comes in to have Mrs. Cratchit fasten the back of her dress, which embarrasses Scrooge. It's all a lot of fun.

The two younger Cratchits run in, leaving Scrooge to wonder how Bob Cratchit gets along on his meager salary.

Martha then comes in, and I'm pretty sure that Betty Madigan says, "Here's Mother, Marth-" realizing that she was supposed to say, "Here's Martha, Mother." That is a bit of a tongue-twister and the only goof I noticed.

Martha mentions that she had to work late and Mrs. Cratchit says she'd love to see Martha wearing one of the hats she makes.

Peter mentions that he's getting a job, but thankfully not with Mr. Scrooge! Mrs. Cratchit interestingly says she's never seen the ogre!"

Bob comes home with Tiny Tim and Martha hides as usual.

But Martha gets a lot of screentime here, interacting with Tiny Tim and singing the song "Yes, There Is a Santa Claus" to him. The Santa Claus-ness makes me realize that this whole show doesn't have too much of a British feel, but it's for American TV, so whatever!

Somehow Tiny Tim got a music box as a Christmas present. Not sure how or why.

When Scrooge asks about Tiny Tim, the spirit sings a song then tells Scrooge if he wants the future to change, he'll have to change it.

They next head to Fred's house where he reprises "An Old Fashioned Christmas" with his guests and sings "The Birthday Party of the King" with a Nativity scene in prominent closeups. This adds a somewhat rare religious tone.

Act 3 is next and the Four Lads come back for the recap and introduction of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Scrooge is still with the Ghost of Christmas Present when this scene opens, but he leaves and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come arrives. He's the usual dark-robed phantom.

They see Mr. Dilber and Hawkins talking about someone who died and how they stole his clothes. This combines a couple of the usual future scenes into one and works fine.

Scrooge asks who the deceased man in question was and the phantom shows him his own grave. Then there's another balletic sequence where a bunch of phantoms swarm around Scrooge and the grave.

Scrooge then understands what Marley had tried to tell him and talk-sings how mankind should be his business. He winds up back in his room with his bedpost.

Mrs. Dilber tells him it's Christmas morning and she comes in with Hawkins.

Next we're at the Cratchits' house and Tiny Tim is asking Martha about Santa Claus. Just then, the turkey arrives, interrupting the moment. I guess Martha won't get to sing her song!

Scrooge then comes in with presents for the family, including a new suit for Peter and a hat for Martha. Pretty cool! He also refers to the younger Cratchits as Ann and William.

He pretends not to know where the turkey came from, but he does raise Bob's salary. He says he can't stay for dinner because he's going to Fred's for dinner.

Scrooge has a very nice moment with Tiny Tim as he says he needs Tim's help to help him change the shadows. Bob sings about Tim's future and Scrooge joins in, with a reprise of the "One Little Boy" song that the Ghost of Christmas Present had sung.

Then everyone reprises the Santa Claus song.

The Four Lads come back with just a couple of lines to end things.

After a sort-of commercial, we get a curtain call from the whole cast singing "An Old Fashioned Christmas."

So, a lot of content from the book with a lot of songs. A really fun show!