A few things about the MGM/Maxwell House old-time radio show "Good News of 1939" and its adaptation of the 1938 movie "A Christmas Carol."
As I mentioned before, I think they do a good job of representing the movie. I would almost say that I think it works better as an audio drama.
I've never been crazy about Reginald Owen's makeup in the movie, but that's something we don't have to worry about here.
And having Lionel Barrymore as the narrator instead of Scrooge is an interesting twist. We have other opportunities to hear him play Scrooge, so it's not like our one chance was lost.
With Barrymore not able to do the actual movie, however, we did miss our one chance to see him play Scrooge. It's not Reginald Owen's fault, but we have to blame someone!
In any event, listening to the whole hour-long "Good News" show is another one of those things that seems like a history lesson more than entertainment. I think the show is kind of bloated, like they're trying really hard to entertain you. The music to me is especially over the top. I can easily listen to an hour of records from 1938, but not of this type of music.
I think this was pretty square back then as well!
I do think Robert Young is a good emcee for the show. He was an MGM contract player for quite a while and did some good work for them in some good pictures.
He didn't really hit his stride, however, until he starred in the radio show "Father Knows Best," which led to the long-running TV show of the same name, which established him as a TV star, which later lead to his other successful series "Marcus Welby, M.D."
It's kind of fun that "Father Knows Best" was also sponsored by Maxwell House Coffee on the radio. Did one of the suits remember Bob Young from the "Good News" show?
I also remember his commercials for Sanka coffee, which were on quite often when I was a kid. Did he have to switch to decaf after all that Maxwell House?
I think it's fun that the announcer is Warren Hull, who started acting more over the next few years. He played the lead in "The Green Hornet Strikes Back" serial from 1940, as well as "Mandrake the Magician" and "The Spider's Web" serials. He was pretty good in those, but being a serial star didn't often lead to bigger and better acting parts. He eventually found a niche as host of the TV show "Strike It Rich" in the 1950s.
The comedy chores on "Good News" were handled by Frank Morgan and Fanny Brice and they were apparently quite popular with the listening audience, as they wound up outlasting the show, starring on "Maxwell House Coffee Time" after the MGM association was dropped.
Frank Morgan is best-known (only known?) these days for his title role in "The Wizard of Oz," but he was a versatile actor for MGM.
I don't think his radio act holds up well, though. He's a likeable performer, but the material is dated.
Fanny Brice, on the other hand, is still funny as Baby Snooks. At this point in time she was a 47 year-old playing a five or six year-old. It shouldn't work, but it does. Hanley Stafford does yeoman work playing her Daddy and the two of them work quite well together. Fanny wouldn't have been able to pull off the act on TV, but that shtick was perfect for radio. Radio was awesome for letting you form your own pictures in your mind.
If you're curious, here's the Baby Snooks sketch from this same episode of December 15, 1938:
We're fortunate that a number of episodes of the "Good News" radio show were preserved and it's fun to hear the MGM stars, but it's definitely an artifact of its time.
Funny thing, though... Now I have the urge to buy some Maxwell House K-cups!
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