Richard Diamond's Christmas Songs

So, as I mentioned, the title character as portrayed by Dick Powell on the old-time radio series "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" would always croon a song to his girlfriend at the close of each episode.

Those two "Contemporary Christmas Carol" episodes are no different and he sings a different Christmas song on each.

What is absolutely fascinating to me is the choice of songs!

On the broadcast of December 24, 1949, he sings this song:

That's "Mele Kalikimaka," still well-known these days (in my circles anyway) from Bing Crosby's recording with the Andrews Sisters:

I find it interesting that Powell pronounces Hawaii in the old-school manner of "Ha-VIE-ee" rather than "Ha-WHY-ee" as Bing and the Sisters do, which has evolved into the preferred way.

Anway, "Rick" says it's a new song and one would think that maybe Bing's record had just come out and the song is making the rounds.

But, this rendition of the song has the same melody, but largely different lyrics. Hmmm...

And closer inspection indicates that Bing Crosby did not record his version until September 7, 1950, about a year after this broadcast!

So, how did the song make it to Dick Powell at that point in time?

Will things make more chronological sense with this song from the broadcast of December 21, 1951? Let's see:

Nope, this one is also not a likely candidate based on the broadcast date!

The song is "Wonderful Christmas Night," which I think was only recorded a couple of times.

First was former Jimmie Lunceford band vocalist Dan Grissom in 1948:

Then King of the Cowboys Roy Rogers with his queen Dale Evans in 1949:

I think it's a terrific, if obscure, song and I love both of those versions. But it by no means became a standard, so why was Dick Powell singing it two years later?

After 70-ish years, we'll never know how those two particular songs were chosen for the "Richard Diamond" Christmas shows, but it is fascinating to think about!

Richard Diamond's "Contemporary Christmas Carol"

Hopefully you got to listen to one or the other or both versions of the "Contemporary Christmas Carol" from the "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" radio show!

I think it's a lot of fun having the characters from the show playing the characters in the story, with the setting updated to (then) present-day NYC.

The idea of the characters knowing they're performing the story for us is a bit meta and different from the usual TV/radio take-off in which a character is imaging him/herself into the story or else the characters run into a Scroogey character and try to reform him/her.

Lionel Barrymore's show "The Mayor of the Town" would break with its usual format at Christmas to present "A Christmas Carol," but it was Lionel Barrymore playing Scrooge, not Mr. Barrymore playing the mayor playing Scrooge.

In any event, I really like this take a lot, and as Diamond's girlfriend Helen points out, it still has a lot of heart. I can see why they decided to reuse the script for that second broadcast.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of old-time radio and I think "Richard Diamond" is a great show. To me, radio really hit its peak in the late 1940s/early 1950s, ironically when television was really making inroads. Production values, sound effects, music, scripts and acting hitting on all cylinders for a lot of shows.

A huge benefit to the "Diamond" series is its star, Dick Powell, who I think could toss off the hard-boiled wisecracks as well as anybody.

He had been a big star throughout the 1930s as a crooner in a countless succession of musicals from Warner Brothers, including a bunch of those big Busby Berkeley spectacles such as "42nd Street" and "Footlight Parade" and "Gold Diggers of 1933," all from 1933.

He was a terrific singer, but he displayed sneaky acting chops at times and understandably wanted to tackle other kinds of roles and break the type-casting mold.

He didn't just break the mold, though, he shattered it with his performance as Philip Marlowe in 1944's "Murder, My Sweet" from the RKO studio. I think he's great and is my favorite screen Marlowe, even besting Humphrey Bogart in "The Big Sleep" (1946).

"Murder, My Sweet," incidentally, is based on Raymond Chandler's "Farewell, My Lovely," but the story goes that the title was changed because "Dick Powell in 'Farewell, My Lovely'" would sound like a musical to movie-goers!

A fun thing with the "Richard Diamond" show was that Diamond/Powell would always sing a song at the end of the episode, neatly combing Dick Powell's two personae.

Powell's production company later brought the Diamond character to TV for a 1957-1960 series. Perhaps it was best for all that star David Janssen did not sing!

But what about those songs that Diamond/Powell sings on those two "Christmas Carol" episodes?

"Richard Diamond, Private Detective" (December 21, 1951)

"Richard Diamond, Private Detective" (December 21, 1951)
Director: Blake Edwards
Scrooge: Lt. Walt Levinson

If you got a chance to listen to that 1949 episode of "Richard Diamond, Private Detective," I'm sure you'll agree that it's a lot of fun.

The show also broadcast the same story two years later. Some of the cast members had changed and there are some other subtle changes.

So, here's the broadcast from December 21, 1951:

Next, let's discuss!

"Richard Diamond, Private Detective" (December 24, 1949)

"Richard Diamond, Private Detective" (December 24, 1949)
Director: Blake Edwards
Scrooge: Lt. Walt Levinson

We go back a couple of years from early TV to late-ish old-time radio with "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" starring Dick Powell.

Twice dying the run of the show (which ran from 1949-1953), the cast of the show enacted "A Christmas Carol" as their characters from the show.

That may sound confusing but you'll get the idea!

Give a listen to the broadcast of December 24, 1949:

Next up: 1951!