"The Trail to Christmas" (December 15, 1957)
"General Electric Theater"
Director: James Stewart
Scrooge: John McIntire
We keep going with Jimmy Stewart for just a bit longer as we come across an episode of the ""General Electric Theater" TV series from 1957 titled "The Trail to Christmas."
Apparently the episode is a reworking of "Britt Ponset's Christmas Carol" episode from "The Six Shooter" radio series!
The show still exists, but it's not available for viewing right now, but we'll see what happens.
James Stewart directed the episode and relates the western version of A" Christmas Carol" as a character named "Bart" (he was Britt now he's Bart, so not exactly like the Maverick brothers!).
The Scrooge role is enacted by John McIntire, the veteran character actor (he had appeared in "Winchester '73") who gained his greatest fame when he replaced the late Ward Bond as wagonmaster on the long-running TV series "Wagon Train" starting in 1961.
The "Jake Marley" character is played by Will Wright, another character actor with a lot of credits, including appearing on "The Six Shooter" radio series. His best-known Christmas-related role is as Ben Weaver, the Scrooge-like store owner in the 1960 Christmas episode of "The Andy Griffith Show."
We last saw him here, drinking punch with Ozzie Nelson while Ricky sang "Jingle Bells!"
The most intriguing casting, however, would be Sally Fraser as Belle. If that seems familiar, it's because she played Belle opposite Fredric March in the 1954 "Shower of Stars" adaptation. That can't be a coincidence!
Hopefully this show becomes available at some point. The rights may have something to do with the host of "General Electric Theater" shown at the top of the page.
Isn't he the guy who portrayed Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1952's "The Winning Team" with Doris Day? Did we ever find out what happened to him?
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