Ian Martin's script for the CBS Radio Mystery Theater broadcast of "A Christmas Carol" starring E.G. Marshall is an interesting adaptation, as it is fairly faithful, but adds a few off-the-wall touches.
Changing things around was certainly nothing new in 1974, as we saw that the earliest stage adaptations took their liberties. These changes are ever-fascinating to me, even if they make you scratch your head at times!
Within the hour-ish timeslot, there's about 40 minutes of story, which is pretty generous for this sort of audio adaptation.
Scriptwriter Martin keeps the dialogue pretty faithful to the book, as is usually the case, with a few things changed here and there. Some minor changes might even be small flubs by the actors, such as when Fred says that Scrooge doesn't keep Christmas. Scrooge is supposed to reply, "Let me leave it alone, then," but here he says, "Leave me alone, then," which doesn't seem to be a change made for aesthetic reasons!
But some of the dialogue is changed a bit here and there, modernized or Americanized, I guess.
The main plot points ae all pretty much here too, but some of the details are wacky indeed!
The biggest one is hard to get one's head around. In the opening scenes when Fred comes to see Scrooge, he refers to Scrooge as his Uncle and Scrooge refers to Fred as his nephew. OK, fine, nothing unusual here.
But... but... in the Christmas Past sequence, Fred says to the spirit that he was an orphan raised by his aunt, who had a son, who is Fred.
Wait a minute, it's odd enough that Scrooge is an orphan and not at school and there's no Fan and all that, but wouldn't that make Scrooge and Fred cousins? Your aunt's son is your cousin, not your nephew! What is going on here?
Whatever the case, Fred also figures into another odd change. This version retains the scene from the future where a poor couple is relieved/happy that Scrooge died, as they will have more time to pay off their debt.
That should be Caroline and her husband, right? No, it's Fred and his wife! What's that all about? Scrooge is squeezing his nephew or cousin or whatever? Did he hate his aunt?
And Fred's wife sounds kind of old, by the way, but we don't know how old Fred is compared to Scrooge.
Getting back to the Ghost of Christmas Past, she is apparently Belle or at least the image of her, although Scrooge does not pick up on the resemblance right away, unlike Fredric March back in 1954, who was quicker on the uptake. It's an interesting touch.
The final wacky change starts in the Christmas Yet to Come segment where Scrooge overhears two businessmen talking about his death. They're identified as Grimes and Goodfellow. They don't usually have names, but OK.
The Mr. Grimes character reappears in the "present" on Christmas morning, as it is he to whom Scrooge calls out the window, not a passing boy.
And Mr. Grimes happens to be the poulterer, so Scrooge cuts out the middle man and buys the prize turkey directly from him! In retrospect, it would seem strange that the poulterer was hanging around the Exchange making small talk!
Another thing that struck me as odd was not a change to a plot point, but the way the Cratchit family Christmas dinner was presented.
We don't hear any of the kids at all, only Bob and Mrs. Cratchit. This includes Tiny Tim. So, Bob says "God bless us, everyone," but Scrooge says Tiny Tim said it. Not sure why they didn't just have someone to play Tiny Tim, but there you go!
So, some very wacky changes, but I like a few curveballs to keep things interesting!
One other thing I will say about this broadcast is that I don't get a British feel at all, but this is an American broadcast with American sounding actors for American listeners.
Fun back in 1975 and worth a listen today!
