"A Christmas Carol" (1941) - Victor Records - Part 4

A few (?) words about Ernest Chappell's 1941 adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" on Victor Records and how it compares to a couple of other, more famous, 78 rpm albums from the same timeframe.

The big competition for this set was the album from Decca Records starring Ronald Colman as Scrooge, as both were released for the 1941 holiday season.

Ronald Colman was a big star at the time and everybody loved his voice, so the Decca set would naturally attract more attention, as Ernest Chappell wasn't a household name anyway.

Then 1942 saw Columbia Records issue their version with Basil Rathbone as Scrooge. Rathbone was never as big a star as Colman, but he was still a name to be reckoned with and very familiar to 1940s record buyers. He's probably better remembered today than Ronald Colman, if only because of the Sherlock Holmes connection.

But if you take away the star power, is Ernest Chappell's version better?

Well, one thing it has going for it is a longer running time. The album has four records rather than the three of the other two, so there's more time to work with. Chappell's runs about 40 minutes, whereas Rathbone and Colman get only about 25. So, there's that.

Since Ernest Chappell is an announcer acting as narrator, his version has quite a bit more text from the book, including the "standing in the spirit at your elbow" line, which is so seldom heard.

The Decca version has Ronald Colman narrating as Scrooge, so the vibe is quite different. The Columbia version has a "star" announcer in Harlow Wilcox, but he only provides an introduction. The rest of the recording has the characters providing a lot of expository dialogue.

So, the Chappell version is like someone reading the book to you with the characters acting out scenes, whereas the Colman one is Scrooge telling us his story and the Rathbone version is like it's playing out as we listen.

The approaches are different, which I think is good, as I wouldn't want the same thing over and over with only the cast changing. I also think it's fun that each of the big three record companies f the time had competing versions.

It's interesting that the (RCA) Victor version seems to have the lowest budget, as they were extremely successful at the time with Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey among a number of top bands signed to the label.

In the final analysis, if I were back in the early 1940s and could only buy one, I'd still go with Ronald Colman. It's the voice!

"A Christmas Carol" (1941) - Victor Records - Part 3

The 78 rpm album of "A Christmas Carol" put together by radio announcer Ernest Chappell is on the longer side for such a project. The album consists of four 12-inch records, so there's about 40 minutes to work with in telling the story.

Did Mr. Chappell use those 40 minutes wisely?

Yes!

Please click to enlarge image so you can read it!

The liner notes of the album, ostensibly written by Ernest Chappell (E.C.), actually discuss how they tried to be as true to the spirit of the original as they could within the time allotted.

Obviously he was familiar with the concept of adapting this story in audio form, as he was the announcer on at least the 1938 and 1939 broadcast of "A Christmas Carol" on the "Campbell Playhouse" program.

I has heard both of those shows before I heard this album and I had wondered if this adaptation was influenced by those. The answer is... sort of!

There are naturally certain similarities just based on this album being done like a radio drama and telling the same story. All three feature a lot of narration in addition to scenes being acted out by the cast.

But they're not all the same, so let's discuss what's on this album.

As typical with almost any adaptation, the opening scenes mention that Marley was dead and Scrooge is mislery. We also have visits from Scrooge's nephew Fred and and (at least one)  portly charity solicitor. And Bob Cratchit gets the business.

One thing this adaptation definitely borrows from the earlier radio broadcasts is Bob Cratchit making a donation to the charity gentleman. The dialogue is virtually the same, as Bob offers "thruppence" and the gentleman remarks that Bob is generous but his employer is not.

I think that's really the only thing that's not from the book, but it's a nice bit.

After this, we have Bob and Scrooge going home in very different moods and Scrooge being visited by Marley's Ghost. Marley's Ghost gets a fair amount of the running time with a side and a half.

The Ghost of Christmas Past gets about the same amount of time as Marley's Ghost, but he only gets to show Scrooge a couple of scenes. They go from Scrooge's boyhood right to his breakup with Belle then Belle and her husband. No Fan and even more surprisng, no Fezziwig!

The Ghost of Christmas Present only gets one side and not surprisingly takes Scrooge to Bob Cratchit's house for their Christmas dinner, where Scrooge learns about Tiny Tim.The ghost namedrops Martha, Belinda and Peter in addition to Tiny Tim.

The Cratchits have a lot of expository dialogue in this scene, saying things that the narrator usually would. I think it works well and shows that Ernest Chappell wasn't hogging the mike!

In common with the earlier "Campbell Payhouse" broadcasts, the spirt doesn't get the chance to take Scrooge to Fred's Christmas party.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come also gets one side here. He does not talk, which I always think is a good move. He shows Scrooge the other businessmen, the Cratchit house after Tiny Tim's death, then Scrooge's grave. Scrooge pleads for a second chance as the side ends.

Now on the last side of the album, Scrooge finds himself back in his room. He enlists the kid out the window to get the turkey, which Scrooge says he'll send to Bob Cratchit as a joke.

Scrooge meets the portly gentleman and offers a donation, then the narrator then tells us that Scrooge went to church and went to Fred's house. Those two earlier broadcast made no mention of Fred after he left Scrooge's office at the beginning of he story, so it's good that this version tells us that they did reconcile.

We have the scene at the office the next day, then Ernest Chappell wraps up the story with some faithful narration!

So, a good job done by all with a pretty faithful adaptation. E.C. kept his promise about not taking too many liberties!

"A Christmas Carol" (1941) - Victor Records - Part 2

If you got a chance to listen to Ernest Chappell's 1941 adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" for Victor Records, I'm sure you'll agree that it's a first class recording.

I think it's largely underrated for this type of project, especially compared to the recordings of Ronald Colman (also from 1941) and Basil Rathbone (1942), as this one doesn't have that star power.

Note: I do realize that I'm in an imaginary world where 78 rpm recordings of "A Christmas Carol" are rated at all and Ronald Colman is still a huge star!

Ernest Chappell is best known among "A Christmas Carol" radio buffs for his role as announcer with Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre gang, as he filled that role on the 1938 and 1939 broadcasts of "A Christmas Carol."

He was also the announcer for a number of other shows, but relatively late in the golden age of radio, he was also the lead actor of the show "Quiet Please"(1947-49) in which he showed a broader range of talent than one might have thought.

An early indicator of this talent was this recording of "A Christmas Carol," as he gets to stretch out as narrator, rather than Orson Welles or whoever doing all the work. He's clearly up to the task!

Among Ernest Chappell's connections from the Welles shows was Eustace Wyatt, a veteran British character actor, who had played the Ghost of Christmas Present on the 1938 Mercury Theatre broadcast of "A Christmas Carol" (the one where Orson Welles plays Scrooge). Wyatt plays Scrooge on this recording and does a great job. He's kind of like a budget Scrooge in that you get the quality if not the name brand.

Notable among the supporting cast is Bud Collyer (misspelled as "Collier" here) as Nephew Fred. His long radio and TV career included his voicing of Superman/Clark Kent on the radio show and animated cartoons for movies and TV as well as hosting the long-running TV game shows "Beat the Clock" (1950-56) and "To Tell the Truth" (1956-68).

Bud sounds like he's using his Clark Kent voice as Fred. Fans will recall how he used to deepen that voice as Clark Kent would say, "This looks like a job for... Superman!"

The wackiest casting from our latter-day viewpoint is "Master Dickie VanPatten" as "Master Peter Cratchit." Later known as Dick Van Patten, he had a long career and was known for his roles on the early TV show "Mama" (1949-57) and the later "Eight is Enough" (1977-81). The less said about the latter, the better!

You can put him in the June Lockhart/Jill St. John/Bonnie Franklin line of later well-known performers who played an assorted Cratchit as an early credit!

The other roles are solidly performed by a professional cast of not-as-well-remembered radio actors.

Next up: how does this production stack up as a faithful adaptation?

"A Christmas Carol" (1941) - Victor Records - Part 1

"A Christmas Carol" (1941)
Victor Records
Producer: Ernest Chappell
Scrooge: Eustace Wyatt

We stay in the audio world and jump ahead a couple of years to 1941 for Ernest Chappell's adaptation of  "A Christmas Carol" on four 12-inch 78 rpm platters  from Victor Records.

I think this is a real gem!

Give a listen to those eight sides:

Part 1: "To Begin With-"

Part 2: "The Solicitor"

Part 3: "Marley's Ghost"

Part 4: Marley's Ghost" (concluded) and "Ghost of Christmas Past"

Part 5: "Ghost of Christmas Past" (concluded)

Part 6: "Ghost of Christmas Present"

Part 7: "Ghost of Christmas Future"

Part 8: "The End of It"

Next: A look at the cast...

"Blondie" (December 25, 1939) - Part 2

If, like me, you're a fan of old-time radio and got the chance to listen to the "Blondie" episode of December 25, 1939, I'm sure you'll agree that it's a lot of fun.

I like hearing Blondie reading the original text to Baby Dumpling, as many parents would have done back in the day.

Since this starts Dagwood's dream where he finds himself in the story, it's absolutely no surprise at all that his boss, Mr. Dithers, would be in the Scrooge role. The idea of a mean boss has been around for a long time and remains a comedy staple.

The Blondie franchise is one of those long-lasting all-media encompassing phenomena that can't really be explained, except that it struck a chord with audiences.

Blondie's most enduring form is, of course, as a comic strip, still being published 90(!) years after its creation by Chic Young in 1930.

It also spawned a long-running series of movies from the Columbia studio - 28 features from 1938 through 1950!

The movies had the extreme good  fortune to have Penny Singleton as Blondie and Arthur Lake as Dagwood, as they brought the characters to life in a very appealing manner.

Since the movies were so popular, it was not too much of a stretch to have them reprise those roles on a weekly radio series starting in 1939. This show also lasted through 1950. By that time television was supplanting radio and B-movies and a couple of attempts at a TV version were short-lived, but what a run the Bumsteads had!

If Penny Singleton's voice sounds familiar to those who don't know her as Blondie, it's because she voiced Jane Jetson in "The Jetsons" TV series. It's not hard at all to make the connection between the Bumstead family and the Jetsons, but you have to swap the birth order for Alexander (Baby Dumpling) and Cookie to get Judy and Elroy. And the Bumsteads' dog Daisy didn't talk!

The part of Mr. Dithers in the Blondie movies was played by Jonathan Hale, but on the radio show it was Hanley Stafford in the role. Both performed their parts quite well in their respective media.

Hanley Stafford was best-known as "Daddy" to Fanny Brice's Baby Snooks character. He was a terrific radio actor.

I'm not sure who played Baby Dumpling on this radio episode, but it's not Larry Simms, who played that part in the movies. He's my favorite child actor ever and I love how he's credited as "Baby Dumpling" on the cast list of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), another Columbia picture!

The announcer on the radio show was Bill Goodwin, whose voice is very recognizable to OTR fans, especially for his later work on the Burns & Allen and Bob Hope shows. He also appeared in a number of movies, including a couple of the "Blondie" entries!

And it's always interesting to hear cigarettes being advertised like they were no big thing. To modern listeners, it's astonishing how ubiquitous they were as sponsors!

So, good fun!

"Blondie" (December 25, 1939) - Part 1

"Blondie" (December 25, 1939)
Scrooge: J.C. Dithers

Staying with our somewhat loose adaptations of "A Christmas Carol," we come across this episode of the "Blondie" radio show, as broadcast on Christmas Day in 1939.

It's a lot of fun, so give it a listen:

Next: a few thoughts...

"Holi-day Surprise" #55 (March 1967) - Part 3

Since Charlton Comics' "Holi-day Surprise" is dated March 1967, we know it was on the old spinner racks for the 1966 holiday season.

And what's one of the best thing about comic books from the 1960s? The ads!

Here are a few things I'm sending away for when that time machine is ready to go:

I know they're not going to live up to the promises made in the ads, but I'm still doing it!

"Holi-day Surprise" #55 (Mach 1967) - Part 2

If you got the chance to read the adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" from Charlton Comics' "Holi-day Surprise" dated March 1967, you're probably also scratching your head!

This is definitely "A Christmas Carol," but it is so oddly done!  Where to begin?

First of all, I do like it. I think it's fun that it gets a different take, but it may have been puzzling to kids who learned the story here, then saw another version later.

The most interesting thing of all here is that the Cratchit (spelled "Cratchet" here) really seems to like Scrooge. They don't see through him at all, even though Scrooge admits he's been mean and nasty to Bob. They are really sad when he dies.

It's also different that Jacob Marley was apparently not that bad when he was alive. Scrooge took the usness form him, then treated him badly. This makes you wonder why Marely's Ghost wears chains, but I guess that's just his look!

From a story structure, it's also very odd that Marley's is the only ghost that appears. He takes Scrooge on all the little trips, despite each section having a title card introducing each ghost. No idea why they went that route.

Scrooge's family life is also a bit different, as there's no sign of Fred or Fan. But we do see Scrooge's mother and father, the latter of whom was a real barrel of laughs!

I'm not exactly sure what the setting of the story is. There's nothing to make it seem like London. It kind of seems more like rural America.

Throw in the crazy sequence of Scrooge running around "dead" and it's wacky as only something from the 1960s could be!