"Joy to the World" - AFRTS (195?) - Part 3

Before we leave the US Navy's "Joy to the World" program as recorded by the AFRTS, we need a few thoughts about the star, Otto Kruger, and the host, Robert Paige.

I'm very familiar with Otto Kruger (1885-1974) from his appearances in many movies from the golden age of Hollywood.

He had an urbane manner that I thought was best suited for him to play villains hiding under a veneer of respectability. We know he's evil, the hero knows he's evil, but nobody else believes it!

My favorite such role of his was in "Saboteur" (1942), my vote for most-underrated Alfred Hitchcock movie:

Another good role like that was in "Tarzan's Desert Mystery" (1943) - a good flick:

And "Murder, My Sweet" (1944):

Just a few from a fine resumé!

As for Robert Paige, I'm also familiar with his work, mainly from the time that he was under contract to Universal Pictures in the 1940s.

As a contract player player at Universal, he was bound to pop up in an Abbott & Costello movie and a horror movie.

He did appear with A & C in "Pardon My Sarong" (1942):

And with Lon Chaney, Jr. in "Son of Dracula" (1943):

These were among his many movies for Universal. I think he's very good although the roles don't usually give him much to work with, "Son of Dracula" being a notable exception.

He's very pleasant as a light leading man, but Hollywood was full of those guys in the 1940s.

It must have been interesting for him to meet up with that certain comedy team once again in "Abbott & Costello Go to Mars" (1953):

This movie (which is very underrated!) was maybe just a short time before the AFRTS show in question?

Bob Paige's role here as host for the US Navy program reminds me of Bill Lundigan on "Shower of Stars" in that you have someone whom the audience knows from having seen them in movies, even if they weren't big stars. Not the worst gig in the world!

I like both Otto Kruger and Robert Paige as performers and was glad to hear them pop up on this intriguing artifact from the AFRTS!

"Joy to the World" - AFRTS (195?) - Part 2

If you got the chance to listen to the 1950s-era AFRTS recording of the US Navy's "Joy to the World" featuring Otto Kruger as Ebenezer Scrooge in an adaptation of "A Christmas Carol," you may be thinking it's déjà vu all over again.

This experience is a bit different from the AFRS show with Basil Rathbone which incorporated the 78 rpm recording of "A Christmas Carol" into the show, but there was something very familiar... 

It didn't take me long to realize that Otto Kruger was speaking the same words that Ronald Colman had spoken on his recording of "A Christmas Carol" from 1941!

As it goes along, yes, definitely it's the same script. Hey, why not? 

But I do wonder how many service personnel had heard Mr. Colman's recording over the years and were wise to this!

As for this recording itself, it doesn't sport the high production values of the Colman version and does not have anywhere near the cast.

I have no reason at all to doubt host Robert Paige when he says the supporting cast are members of the Navy from Pensacola and their families. They do seem amateurish, but I'm sure they had fun and the show is pleasant.

Ronald Colman's album had a supporting cast of top radio actors, so it's not a fair comparison, but there you go.

As for Otto Kruger, he does a good job and has a good voice, but if you compare him to Ronald Colman, well, no one can beat Ronald Colman in the voice department!

One thing I will say is that Otto Kruger's voice sounds like it was recorded separately from the supporting cast. The quality is different. I'm guessing he recorded his lines and the Pensacola folks recorded their lines and someone mixed them together.

That's just one mystery about this recording.

The main one is that I can't determine when it's from. Neither the AFRTS announcer nor Robert Paige mention the year.

The biggest clue is that it was presented by the AFRTS rather then the AFRS. The extra T for television was officially added in April of 1954, so this program is no earlier than the Christmas season of 1954. I wouldn't imagine it's a lot later than that, but who knows? Otto Kruger was around until 1974 (and Robert Paige until 1987), so there's not much of a clue there.

And why is the show called "Joy to the World" and not "A Christmas Carol?" 

I can't find any references to this show anywhere, yet here it is! It's all a mystery!

Paging Nick Carter!

"Joy to the World" - AFRTS (195?) - Part 1

We jump ahead an indeterminate number of years and find that the AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Service) is now the AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio and Television Service)!

But, they were still spreading holiday spirit, as with this recording of the US Navy's "Joy to the World" show, which features an adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" starring Otto Kruger as Ebenezer Scrooge.

Give it a listen:

Next: "Now, wait a minute, isn't that...?"

"A Christmas Carol" - AFRS (1943) - Part 2

If you got a chance to listen to Basil Rathbone as Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1943 AFRS recording of "A Christmas Carol," you might have experienced a bit of déjà vu.

After the AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Service) announcer introduces the show, we hear the very familiar (to me anyway) tones of Harlow Wilcox setting the scene.

My first thought is that sounds a lot like the 1942 Columbia Records recording. As Harlow talks some more and we hear a music sting then Basil Rathbone and Elliot Lewis (as Fred), I know this is that recording!

That's actually not much of a surprise, as the AFRS did a great job of assembling programs from various sources for service personnel who were starved for entertainment from home and this record set is of the highest quality, as good as if not better than a radio broadcast.

The recording had been released by Columbia just a year before. I wonder if any of the soldiers had heard the records before going in the service and recognized them as the source of the AFRS show. In any event, I'm sure everyone enjoyed it.

To round out the program, we hear the great Metropolitan Opera star Richard Crooks sing Schubert's "Ave Maria." The announcer says, "Richard Crooks joins the orchestra to sing for you..." but I'm fairly certain that they used this record from 1939:

Whatever the source, it's a lovely recording.

Richard Crooks was well-known at the time among certain radio listeners for his singing on "The Voice of Firestone," the long-running radio series featuring classical music.

I think the general perception of WWII soldiers and sailors in a musical sense is that they were jitterbugging big band fans. And while the big bands were the top musical stars of the day, there were also a lot of classical music fans who were in the service.

I'm sure there were listeners who were thrilled to hear some "real" music as part of this special AFRS Christmas program!

So, a solid Christmas program assembled by the AFRS. Not entirely unlike how they repurposed an episode of Lionel Barrymore's "Mayor of the Town" radio series into the Christmas episode of "The Globe Theater" AFRS series.

Fun fact: "The Globe Theater" host Herbert Marshall was a member of the London Scottish Regiment of the British Army during World War I and at various times the regiment also included future Scrooges Basil Rathbone, Ronald Colman and Claude Rains!

"A Christmas Carol" - AFRS (1943) - Part 1

Because we never really stray from Basil Rathbone, here he is as Ebenezer Scrooge in this AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Service) recording from 1943.

Give it a listen:

Next: Hey, wait a minute, isn't that...?

Barrymore Bonus!

While hunting around for this and that, I came across this pic of Lionel Barrymore making a recording for the AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Service), which I thought was pretty cool!

That is all!

The Globe Theater Program #12 1944 - Part 2

Music director Bernard Katz goes over music cues with Lionel Barrymore.

So, that 1944 episode of "Globe Theatre" featuring an edited version of Lionel Barrymore's "A Christmas Carol" adaptation from is "The Mayor of the Town" series is an interesting thing.

The question, though, is what episode of "The Mayor of the Town" is this? As I undertand it the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) would record the Christmas episodes of various shows (Crosby, Hope, Benny, etc.) then use them the following December for their transcriptions.

This would seem to indicate that this is the 1943 episode of "Mayor" used by the AFRS in 1944, as they wouldn't have had time to edit the 1944 show into the "Globe Theatre" format.

But we were just listening to the 1943 recording, weren't we? This version is extremely similar, but it's not the same performance. Some of the actors are different. I don't think Marley's Ghost is played here by Hans Conreid. This actor doesn't roll his Rs in that theatrical manner.

The Cratchit kids sound a bit different, but I think Mrs. Cratchit sounds even more like Agnes Moorehead!

The biggest difference as far as the story itself goes is that this 1944 "Globe Theatre" show does not include the scene with Belle and her husband. I presume this scene was edited out for time constraints.

The AFRS guys had to do a lot of editing with the network shows they recorded, as they needed to get rid of the commericals. This was especially hard for a show like "Fibber McGee and Molly," where our friend Harlow Wilcox would sneak the Johnson's Wax commercials into the conversation!

In any event, I think they do a good job with the show here and Herbert Marshall as the host gives it an extra touch of class!

One thing I feel the need to mention is that I recognize the theme song of "Globe Theatre" as "A Handful of Stars," which was a hit for Glenn Miller and his Orchestra in 1940. This song actually has a couple of connections that are somewhat interesting.

It was introduced in the MGM movie "Hullabaloo" in 1940. I've seen that movie on TCM and it's a very forgettable B-picture starring Frank Morgan, but it was directed by Edward L. Marin, who had directed the 1938 movie version of "A Christmas Carol" and features Reginald Owen in a small role!

Also in another small part was Cy Kendall, who played the Ghost of Christmas Present on Ronald Colman's 1941 recording!

Here's Glenn Miller's record of "A Handful of Stars" as a bonus:

The Globe Theater Program #12 1944 - Part 1

The Globe Theatre Program #12
Host: Herbert Marshall
Scrooge" Lionel Barrymore

So, we go from the AFRS recording of "The Mayor of the Town" that featured Lionel Barrymore's 1943 performance as Scrooge in his annual adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" to another AFRS recording using that same series, this one from the "Globe Theatre" show, as hosted by Herbert Marshall in 1944.

This particlaur series took recordings from "regular" radio shows and edited them a bit for presentation under the "Globe Theatre" name for service personnel. Herbert Marshall mentions at the end of the show that this was selected from "Mayor of the Town" (leaving off the "the" - what would Harlow Wilcox say?) and mentions that Frank Martin is the narrator (good to confirm) and Bernard Katz is the music director.

Give it a listen below and we'll discuss next time:

Part 1:

Part 2: