"Charles Dickens Christmas Stories" - World Publishing (1946)

Here's an interesting edition from the "Rainbow Classic" imprint of World Publishing in 1946:

The art by Howard Simon seems like such a1940s Americanized interpretation of Victorian England!

And Bob Cratchit especially seems very off-model here:

I get kind of a caveman vibe!

But always interesting to see different takes on these familiar subjects! 

"Duffy's Tavern" (December 21, 1945)

"Duffy's Tavern" (December 21, 1945)

NBC
Scrooge: "Archie" (Ed Gardner)

It seems like a while since we've listened to an old radio show, so let's pay a visit to "Duffy's Tavern" for this 1945 broadcast, which features a takeoff of "A Christmas Carol" as part of the gang's holiday entertainment:

I'd say that the gang's version of "A Christmas Carol" most reminds me of the one from 1977's "The Honeymooners Christmas Carol" special in the way that both "Archie" and "Ralph" extensively reworked the story, each in his unique way.

As for oddball Tiny Tim interpretations, "Finnegan" might even be wackier than "Norton!"

I like the "Duffy's Tavern" series a lot and this episode gives the cast a real chance to shine!

I also enjoyed the harp playing of the great Robert Maxwell, who was only 24 years old at that time.

As a bonus, here's a video of Mr. Maxwell from a dozen years later, once more playing "White Christmas," this time on the Ed Sullivan show:

Good fun all around!

Pre-Kris Kringle!

What do we make of this press photo?

The photo is dated December 19, 1941.

Here's the caption (bad editing and all):

Edmund shows Gwenn (center) shakes hands with a member of the cast of a play that the blind children also gave at the party. Ted Donaldson, stage starlet, who plays "Tiny Tim" in the Dicken's play, is seated to left of Gwenn, who plays "Scrooge". 

Yup, that's definitely Edmund Gwenn and Ted Donaldson, but in what presentation were they playing Scrooge? Was it at the same party? Did it happen on December 19?

I need to know when and where to set my time machine!

Bonus Bill Johnstone!

I had mentioned that Bill Johnstone, the narrator of Lionel Barrymore's 1949 broadcast of "A Christmas Carol," had portrayed The Shadow on the Mutual Broadcasting System radio series of the same name.

He took on the part of as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow after Orson Welles had left the series. What happened to him anyway?

So, as we had done with Bret Morrison, let's hear a Christmas episode of "The Shadow" starring Bill Johnstone!

Here's "Joey's Christmas Story" from December 22, 1940:

Of note is that the cast also includes Agnes Moorehead as Margo Lane and Keenan Wynn as Shrevie!

As the announcer said, it's a heartwarming Yuletide adventure!

"A Christmas Carol" - Mutual Broadcasting System (December 25, 1949) - Part 3

A few odds and ends concerning Lionel Barrymore's 1949 broadcast of "A Christmas Carol" sponsored by Capehart...

The sponsor and network information got a blurb in "Billboard":

This was Lionel Barrymore's first time playing Scrooge on the Mutual network, after having appeared on CBS, NBC and ABC in the past.

Announcer Gene Baker indicates that it's Mr. Barrymore's fifteenth year playing Scrooge, but I think it's his fourteenth time, if my math is right. He started in 1934, didn't do it in 1936 or 1938, so 1949 would be his fourteenth time, right?

And you have to chuckle that Gene basically says Capehart is to television sets as Barrymore is to acting and Dickens was to literature!

Announcer Baker was probably most famous for his announcing duties on the radio and TV versions of "Queen for a Day," which was popular at the time, but can be cringe-worthy today. The show, not Gene himself, as he was excellent at his job.

The casts of radio shows don't always get mentioned on the air, but Gene Baker does us a solid by rattling off a bunch of names, most of them recognizable as busy radio actors, although he doesn't indicate who played which part.

A couple of names jump out because we've run into them before.

First is Eric Snowden, who had played Bob Cratchit opposite Ronald Colman on his 1941 album and his 1949 "Favorite Story" syndicated broadcast. It sounds to me like he's paying Bob here as well!

And Joe Kearns was also on the "Favorite Story" show, so the two of them worked on at least two radio versions of "A Christmas Carol" in 1949 alone! 

I wonder if they thought anything of it or were just so busy going from show to show that it was another day's work!

Another notable name in the cast is the narrator, Bill Johnstone. He's most famous for his work on another Mutual show: "The Shadow!"

So, radio Shadows Orson Welles, Bret Morrison and Bill Johnstone all got a crack at narrating "A Christmas Carol" at some point!

One more tie-in with 1949 is courtesy of Lyn Murray, the music director. He conducted his singers on the carols that were included on the B-side of the LP of Basil Rathbone's recording of "A Christmas Carol" which was first reissued in that form in 1949!

Throw in Ronald Colman's version being issued on LP in 1949, as well as Edmund Gwenn starting his run as Scrooge on "Stars Over Hollywood" and it was a big year!

"A Christmas Carol" - Mutual Broadcasting System (December 25, 1949) - Part 2

If you got the chance to listen to Lionel Barrymore's annual portrayal of Scrooge for 1949's "Capehart Christmas Hour," I'm sure you'll agree it's another solid job!

This is his first time on Mutual, after having appeared on CBS, NBC and ABC in the past.

Announcer Gene Baker indicates that it's Mr. Barrymore's fifteenth year playing Scrooge, but I think it's his fourteenth time, if my math is right. He started in 1934, didn't do it in 1936 or 1938, so 1949 would be his fourteenth time, right?

Anyway, one thing I like about the shows is that it's not the same script every year and it's always fun to see what might be different.

These half hour versions don't leave room for a lot of material, and this one cuts out a lot, so we'll just do a quick review of what was included.

The introductory scenes in the office and with Marley's Ghost are as expected. They take up about half the show, so the other spirits don't get much time.

An interesting bit is the narrator indicating that Scrooge went to bed without undressing. OK, thanks for letting us know!

The Christmas past sequence only includes the scene of Scrooge and Belle's breakup. He does call her Belle. The spirit does mention that it's but one shadow, but Scrooge doesn't want to see anything else.

This may be the only version to have this as the one and only scene from the past.

Christmas present has to include the Cratchit family's Christmas dinner with Tiny Tim and all, and indeed this one does so, and it's the only scene in the segment.

We get a little bit of Martha here as she talks about Tiny Tim with Mrs. Cratchit rather than Bob and the Mrs. doing so.

One of the younger Cratchit kid flubs a line by saying, "Here they come, Mother - Father and Tiny and Tim" then quickly says "and Tiny Tim." It's cute!

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come doesn't get any lines, but does get to show Scrooge two scenes: the Cratchit house after Tiny Tim's death and Scrooge's lonely grave.

We're running short on time, so on Christmas morning when Scrooge engages the boy to by the prize turkey, he also tells him that he's going to look after Tiny Tim and raise Bob Cratchit's salary. 

Not that the kid really cares, but, hey, for half a crown he'll go along with it!

So, a quick run-through with Lionel Barrymore in good form.

I think at this point in time, the idea was that everyone already knows the story, so you just relax and enjoy whatever scenes are presented.

And Lionel's little speech about world peace at the end still rings true, doesn't it?

"A Christmas Carol" - Mutual Broadcasting System (December 25, 1949) - Part 1

"A Christmas Carol" (December 25, 1949)

"Capehart Christmas Hour"

Mutual Broadcasting System

Director: Dick Mack

Scrooge: Lionel Barrymore

Here's another Lionel Barrymore performance as Scrooge (his 14th), this one from the "Capehart Christmas Hour" as broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting System on December 24, 1949:

He's always good!

Bransby Williams Returns!

Way back when (here) I had been wondering if the recording on this Bransby Williams LP from Decca Records were new recordings or reissues of his old 78s:

I think I have the solution, which is based on this 1949 LP on London Records:

I'm presuming the London album is a U.S. issue of the British Decca album, which presumably had originally been released in 1949 or earlier.

In any event, the Scrooge cuts are extremely similar to the 78s with some slight differences:

Of course, the LP I have access to is so scratchy that it might as well be from 78s, but I think those are new recordings using the same basic script from his old "My Sketches from Dickens" book.

Whatever the case, I always enjoy hearing Mr. Williams!

More Spirited!

This ad from 1940 shows us why Fezziwig was so jolly:

Aha!

More A & C!

Here's a fun little clip from Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's radio show of December 24, 1947, as broadcast on the ABC network:

Lou never gets very far with his stories!

I appreciate all the refences to other radio comedy teams. How can you not love Fibber McGee and Marley?

Here's the whole show if you're interested:

I recognize some of the bits from other shows (including Costello singing about a "slight Christmas"), as the boys were never shy about recycling material, but I don't recall the routine about Lou trying to tell the story of "A Christmas Carol" from anywhere else.

Good fun!

Universal Monsters - Part 5

A somewhat tangential entry in the "Universal Monsters" series of films is 1942's "Invisible Agent," which sneaks in as part of "The Invisible Man" series.

It's a pretty fun blending of the invisible theme with topical WWII action.

The star of the film Jon Hall, was never a big star, but he has at least one important distinction: he was born on February 23, the same as Kelsey Grammer's Scrooge, Kathleen Harrison and yours truly!

Why are we talking about this movie? It was directed by Edwin L. Marin, known in these circles as the director of 1938's "A Christmas Carol" from 1938!

The picture was not sold by using his name, as it's in extremely fine print on the (very cool , if misleading) poster above and the (misleadingly Frankenstein-esque) one below!

But we needed reliable guys like him to keep the product coming back in the golden age of Hollywood!

Note: My editor, Slugger Jr., was particularly interested in what I had to say in this post:

He watches all the movies with me and must have liked this one! Maybe it was the walk-on by Walter Tetley as a newsboy!

On the subject of the 1938 version of "A Christmas Carol," you may recall that June Lockhart, daughter of Gene and Kathleen (who portrayed Bob and Mrs. Cratchit) made her movie debut as Belinda Cratchit in that film.

June's first lead role in a movie was in Universal's 1946 "She-Wolf of London," which also sneaks into the whole Universal Monsters thing, as it is sort-of part of the Wolf Man series. SPOILER: It really shouldn't be!

June is cute as a button, but doesn't get a chance to act much and she and co-star Don Porter are so not British!

But fun for 1960s TV fans to see Gidget's father and Will Robinson's mother 20 years prior!

Stories!

This comic book published by K. K. Publications, Inc. in 1942 is of interest:

I hear tell that it contains an adaptation of "A Christmas Carol," but I don't know anything about it.

The cover is one of those "infinity" types, as Santa is holding a copy of the comic book, which shows him holding a copy of the comic book and that shows him holding a copy of the comic book, ad infinitum!

Early McDuck!

Speaking of Scrooge McDuck, I thought it would be fun to take a peek at his first appearance!

It was in the Donald Duck story "Christmas on Bear Mountain," as presented in Dell's Four Color Comics #178 dated October 1947:

He was very Scroogey at first!

Uncle Scrooge was created by Carl Barks just for this story, but he proved so popular that he was given his own comic book!

More Barrymore!

 Gotta love these pictures of Santa Claus visiting Lionel Barrymore at the CBS radio studio in 1942:

Does Santa actually think he can convince "Scrooge" himself to be good?

Happy Fourth of July

Scrooge's nephew (Donald, not Fred) says Happy Fourth of July and Buy more bonds!

"The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories" (1945)

"The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories" (1945)

Bobbs-Merrill Company

Editor: Edward Wagenknecht

Illustrator: Wallace Morgan

We now land in 1945 for a look at "The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories," which lives up to its name by including a lot of Christmas stories.

One of the stories is "A Christmas Carol," and like each of the other stories, it gets one illustration on its title page:

I like this illustration by Wallace Morgan and wish there were more for this story!

This book is about 700 pages long, so there's room for plenty of material. You'd think that the inclusion of "A Christmas Carol" would be a non-brainer, but that's not exactly the case!

Here's an excerpt from the introduction by editor Edward Wagenknecht:

Mr. Wagenknecht being a noted critic, his introduction reads like something of a critical essay. It kinda sounds like he's bowing to popular pressure by including "A Christmas Carol" in this book!

But critics gonna criticize!

Of Pocket Books and Whatnot...

While thinking about the edition of "A Christmas Carol" published in 1939, I was reminded that one of those stray trivia things it seems like I've always known is that the first Pocket Book to be released was "Lost Horizon" by James Hilton. Haven't had much practical use for that fact until now, I guess!

And, of course, the star of the classic 1937 movie version of "Lost Horizon" was Ronald Colman. It's been a couple of days since I last mentioned Ronald Colman, so there we go!

Here's a nice-looking trailer for a theatrical reissue:

And for even more fun, here's Ronald Colman starring in an adaptation of "Lost Horizon" recorded for Decca Records in 1944:

Interesting to note that this is an adaptation of the book, not the movie per se.

This 78 rpm album was a follow-up Decca's earlier recording of "A Christmas Carol" from 1941. I may have mentioned that one once or twice!

A bit more trivia: the kangaroo's name is Gertrude!

Bonus Robert A. Graef

In addition to his work on the 1940 edition of "A Christmas Carol" from McLoughlin Bros., Robert A. Graef (1879-1951) produced tons of art for books and magazines.

He painted a bunch of covers for "Argosy" magazine. Here are just a couple:

He illustrated lots of stories for "Boys' Life" magazine, including many sports stories:

Many of these were adapted into books:

In addition to "A Christmas Carol," he illustrated other classics for children:

Here's a couple more illustrations:

He definitely had an affinity for sports stories:

A versatile artist, his work on "A Christmas Carol" barley scratches the surface!