"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!

"Stars Over Hollywood" (December 22, 1951) - Part 3

A few words about the cast and crew of the "Stars Over Hollywood" broadcast of "A Christmas Carol" from December 22, 1951 starring Edmund Gwenn as both Charles Dickens and Ebenezer Scrooge.

I think he's really good in both roles. His Dickens as narrator sounds so friendly and his Scrooge is suitably Scroogey until the end.

Edmund Gwenn will always be best remembered for his Oscar winning role as Kris Kringle in the 1947 movie "Miracle on 34the Street." That's a movie that's still revived more than most movies from the 1940s.

D.A. Jerome Cowan grills Edmund Gwenn while judge Gene Lockhart looks on.

A fun note is that the judge at Kris Kringle's hearing is played by Gene Lockhart, who had played Bob Cratchit in the 1938 movie version of "A Christmas Carol" from MGM!

Eric Snowden on "Leave it to Beaver" in 1957.

The Bob Cratchit we have on this "Stars Over Hollywood" show is, I think Eric Snowden. He's credited by the announcer at the end and it sounds like him as Bob.

The interesting thing is that he had played that same role on Ronald Colman's 1941 recording of "A Christmas Carol" Decca Records! He also played Bob on Colman's 1949 "Favorite Story" radio broadcast.

Things get a bit more intriguing when we learn that the director of this 1951 "Stars Over Hollywood" episode is Hans Conreid, better known as an actor. Hans had played the Ghost of Christmas Past on the Ronald Colman record, so both he and Eric Snowden were on that project. Did Hans remember Eric from that and recommend him for this job? Hmmm...

Things get further entangled as Jay Novello is also credited on this show. He had played Bob Cratchit on Basil Rathbone's recording of "A Christmas Carol" for Columbia Records in 1942!

Edmund Gwenn collects his Oscar along with Loretta Young, Ronald Colman and Celeste Holm.

While we're throwing around connections, when Edmund Gwenn won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for 1947, the Best Actor winner was Ronald Colman!

OK, my head's officially spinning now!