Something Else to Learn!

 Is this where Charles Dickens got the idea for Marley's ghost to be fettered?

Read more about it here:

Tales of Times Forgotten

Interesting!

Nuts!

Many's the time I think it would be cool to have a Scrooge nutcracker, such as this one from the Steinbach company:

Pretty neat with the little Marley's  ghost and all!

Then I'm always reminded that they go for large dollar amounts!

I may have to settle for a little guy like this:

But when one pops up for sale at a reasonable price, it goes fast!

Someday...

So Not Sure!

From the "I Don't Know Much About This One" department, here's an interesting illustration with an emphasis on the "Ghost Story":

Also not sure* if it's an actual book cover or just a print!

*not sure bring a euphemism for no clue !

Is That Really a Ghost?

Here's Letter G from an "illustrated literary book alphabet for children with favorite fairy tale characters":

Fairy tale or no, it's Scrooge and Marley's Ghost. "G" for Ghost, I get it!

Crazy depiction of Marley's Ghost, though! I'm thinking more zombie, maybe? Letter Z?

The Caltex Theater - "Scrooge the Miser" (195?) - Part 3

So, how does "The Caltex Theater" presentation of "Scrooge the Miser" compare to "A Christmas Carol" itself?

(We'll have to presume that John Crane's adaptation for radio is close to Eric Jones-Evans's play.)

Actually, despite it having a different title, "Scrooge the Miser" is quite faithful to the book, using chunks of the text as dialogue, but there is one huge difference...

That huge difference being that Scrooge is only visited by one spirit: Marley's Ghost!

Marley's Ghost shows Scrooge the past, present and future just like those respective spirits would, so I really wonder why Eric Jones-Evans made that choice unless it was to make a stage production of the play easier to manage.

The script really doesn't take a lot of liberties otherwise, but let's take a closer look at the proceedings.

There's no narrator, so it's left to the characters to have some expository dialogue which works just fine.

The opening scene in the office is pretty typical with one difference being that Scrooge tells Bob to come in on Christmas morning to finish up an invoice. That's similar to the 1958 Vanguard Records recording with Siobhan McKenna, but who knows which came first?

Also reminiscent of that album is that it seems Scrooge's office and living quarters are in the same building, as soon as Bob leaves, Scrooge settles down with his bankbooks and falls asleep. So no door knocker!

Marley's Ghost wakes him up and gives him the usual warning, then explains that he will conduct him to the past, present and future.

Marley's Ghost just has a couple of scenes from the past to show Scrooge. They see young Scrooge at school and they talk about Fan coming in, but we don't hear her. Marley's Ghost says that Fan died shortly after the birth of Scrooge's nephew "Frederick." That echoes the 1951 Alastair Sim movie "Scrooge" but the book itself doesn't specify how or when Fan died, just that she was a woman and had one child.

They also witness Scrooge's breakup with Belle.

That's all for the past, but Scrooge is already regretful and seems well on his way to repentance. I always miss Fezziwig if he's not included, though!

Since they don't have to switch spirits, Scrooge and Marley's Ghost get to Christmas Present and Bob's house pretty quickly. Before they go in, Marley's Ghost needles Scrooge about Bob's low salary and Scrooge is too humbled to disagree.

The Cratchit family Christmas dinner is the only scene from the present, but what's kind of odd is that they fade in and out from it. Scrooge has to ask Marley's Ghost to show him more a couple of times.

No Ignorance and Want, so Scrooge and Marley's Ghost go straight to Christmas Yet to Come, which gets the most scenes.

Since Marley's Ghost is still handling things, he talks about what they're seeing, dropping hints that would be spoilers if Scrooge were quicker on the uptake!

They see a couple of businessmen talking about Scrooge's death, interestingly saying "The Devil got his own" in case we don't know who Old Scratch is!

The scene at Old Joe's place is also similar to the one from that 1958 Vanguard record in that it's only Mrs. Dilber as the charwoman who has all of the items.

Curiously, Old Joe is wary of buying the items as he knows they were stolen. This version of Old Joe has scruples?

They next return to the Cratchit house after Tiny Tim's death. It's always a bit clunky in versions such as this where Bob mentions running into Fred and how it seems as if Fred knew Tiny Tim when the opening scenes show Bob and Fred as being well-acquainted with Fred asking about Tiny Tim's health. 

In the book it's clear that Fred had only met Bob the one time in Scrooge's office on Christmas Eve, so Bob's words about Fred in the future make more sense.

Anyway, Scrooge sees his own grave and begs for another chance.

He then awakes in his own room, saying it was a dream. That always bugs me because although in this version they don't see a lot of visions, there are still details about the Cratchit family he wouldn't know and thus wouldn't be able to dream about.

I can understand to an extent as Scrooge was asleep when Marley's Ghost appeared, but still!

Everything is set up for the ending, which is handled much better than on that 1958 record I keep referring to!

Scrooge confirms with a passing boy that it's Christmas and dispatches him to buy the turkey. He also spots the charity guy across the street and has the boy send him over, allowing Scrooge to make a donation.

Since Scrooge is already in the office building, he's waiting with the turkey when Bob shows up late for work. He pretend to be  angry but gives Bob the turkey, raises his salary and offers to help Tiny Tim.

Bob invites Scrooge to Christmas dinner, but Scrooge respectfully declines, explaining that he'll join him next year but this year he's going to Fred's house. Scrooge quotes Tiny Tim and we're done!

This ending reminds me quite a bit of the final scene of Basil Rathbone's 1942 recording (which was on Christmas afternoon) and it's equally touching.

All in all, except for just the one ghost, the whole thing is a faithful and entertaining adaptation!

More Holiday Spirits!

Lots of spirits were no doubt consumed on St. Patrick's Day, but maybe not from this bottle:

Scrooge looks like he might have been dipping into the contents!

What's interesting is that the actual spirits are shown on another side:

But that's clearly Marley's Ghost and not the Ghost of Christmas Past!

So, who was sampling the product?

"...And Marley?"

OK, Lou Costello got me to thinking, so I had to do it!

Here's the radio team of Fibber McGee and Marley:

Looks like Marley's about to say, "Tain't funny, McGee!"

Not As Timely!

Here's a more traditional meeting:

It's apparently from 1899, but I'm not sure of the source or artist (Cooke?).

Timely!

OK, this is funny and still timely:

Makeup!

Here's a still from MGM's 1938 production of "A Christmas Carol":

The effect of Leo G. Carroll as Marley's Ghost looks good, but you can really see that Reginald Owen is wearing a ton of makeup! It kind of ends at his chin, leaving his neck un-made-up!

"Dickens' Dream" - R.W. Buss (1875)

I had mentioned that the two 1980s books we were just looking at each (seemingly coincidentally) included the same picture of Charles Dickens with their biographies of the author.

That picture is a well-known painting by British artist R.W. (Robert William) Buss entitled "Dickens' Dream":

It was an ambitious undertaking and was not finished when Mr. Buss passed away in 1875.

There are lots of characters from the works of Dickens included so naturally we look carefully to see if there are any represented from "A Christmas Carol."

And, indeed, in the top row, the last sketch on the right is Marley's Ghost visiting Scrooge:

This image seems familiar to me, but I can't think of the artist it swipes from off the top of my head. Something lese for me to think about!

A striking work, it's easy to see why this would pop up frequently when Charles Dickens is being discussed.

"If I Were King..." - Stave One

Well, maybe I wouldn't need to be king, but just in charge!

In charge of a short-form audio adaptation of "A Christmas Carol," that is.

My recent posts on the Bernard Miles and Frank Pettingell recordings and what I considered to be lapses in the storytelling got me to thinking which elements from the book need to be worked into the adaptation so that listeners get the best experience.

First thing is that I don't think we need any of the social commentary from the book. Whether things are better or worse these days, they're different from how they were in 1843.

But we want the thing to make sense plot-wise and stand a s a cohesive whole. So, if this was your first exposure to the story, you could follow it. So many short adaptations, I think, rely on our prior familiarity with the story to fill in the gaps.

So, let's go through the book a stave at a time and pick out the elements we must have, along with some optional ones if you have, say, 40-odd minutes vs. 20-odd, and what can be ditched.

For Stave One, I want the narrator to tell us that Marley was dead (to begin with) as a door-nail and maybe a bit more, such as Scrooge not having painted out Marley's name.

Then I want the introduction of Scrooge as a "tight-fisted hand at the grindstone" and all.

Ideally, I'd like the exchange between Scrooge and Bob Cratchit about the coal, because I like Scrooge's line at the end for Bob to "buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i..." I don't want anything left hanging!

Then you need Fred to come into Scrooge's office and get rebuffed. Their conversation can be edited down quite a bit, as long as you get some of the key dialogue. 

Then you need the portly gentlemen to come in collecting for charity. That conversation can be edited too, but you need the "surplus population" line from Scrooge because we need the Ghost of Christmas Present to throw it back at him later.

Left out of many adaptations is Scrooge chasing away the caroler who attempted to sing at the keyhole. We want this in here because the first lesson that Scrooge learns when he goes to the past is that he should have been nicer to the kid, as Scrooge himself would have liked more kindness shown to him when he was boy.

Before we leave the office, we need Scrooge to give a hard time about wanting the next day off (with the "poor excuse for picking a man's pocket..." line) and telling him to be early the next day. We want the echo at the end when Scrooge gets to the office before Bob, who was actually late.

We should then follow Scrooge through his melancholy dinner and have him see Marley's face in the knocker. Don't need a lot of the description that goes with that, but just the fact that he saw Marley's face.

We can then cut to Scrooge in his sitting room with his gruel and have Marley's ghost make its entrance. Maybe have the bells ring, maybe not. Such details are incidental, but add to the flavor.

Marley's ghost should talk a bit about its current predicament and warn Scrooge to change his ways and tell him to expect the three spirits. Again, plenty of editing can be done and the point can still be made.

Within the first stave there's a lot of colorful descriptions of various things such as the Lord Mayor's Christmas preparations and how dark it is when Scrooge is going home. I love to read the book and get emerged in the whole thing, but I don't need too much expository narration and would rather keep the story moving along.

These story points I mentioned should get in there, however. And I want the narration and dialogue to be as close as it can to the source material, using the most memorable lines, realizing, of course, that some minor changes need to be made.

Oh, and, yes, the title of this series is just an excuse to plug a good flick starring future audio Scrooges Ronald Colman and Basil Rathbone!

More Kyd!

We're not quite done with Kyd yet!

Here are a couple more illustrations by Joseph Clayton Clarke, signed with his familiar "Kyd" soubriquet:

I don't know the source of these, but they're totally different takes on the characters from the ones that we had just seen.

And these are billed as from "Christmas Tales," not "The Christmas Books" like the last set!

Maybe from about 1920 and maybe from Tuck & Sons?

And there's this one that I know even less about:

For those keeping track (OK, maybe just me!), the subtitle at the bottom of this one reads "A Christmas Carol" rather than just "Christmas Carol" like on the earlier set!

Good stuff, to be sure, and the characters from "(A) Christmas Carol" are only the tip of the Dickens iceberg for Kyd.

You can find out more from the awesome The Victorian Web!

And dig that wacky sketch at the top of Charles Dickens conjuring up the Spirit of Christmas!

"The Christmas Books" (1900?) - Kyd

The Christmas Books (1900?)

Illustrator: J. C. "Kyd" Clarke

A while back (in this post) I had shared a cigarette card from a  series of "Characters from Dickens" as illustrated by Joseph Clayton Clarke, known professionally as "Kyd."

The only card from that series that featured a character from "A Christmas Carol" was number 35, which was Scrooge.

But... it turns out that image was taken from a larger set of Dickens characters from "The Christmas Books" which I think are from about 1900 and may have been published by Raphael Tuck & Sons.

Whatever the case, we have these six to enjoy:

The selection of characters is interesting. They seem to be the major male characters from the book (Marley having been male while alive) with Peter Cratchit having made the cut over Fred.

Peter looks a little crazy, perhaps overwhelmed by the honor?

And I do need to say that I think Tiny Tim looks like a short adult more than sickly child!

And is Bob's last name Cratchett?

But they're a lot of fun!

Disney Emoji Blitz!

One pleasant way to relax between blog posts is to play games on one's phone!

Perhaps my favorite is "Disney Emoji Blitz," one of those insanely addictive matching games. I like this game because it features a ton of characters from the Disney conglomerate, with Pixar and "Star Wars" and Muppet characters joining in the fun!

They also feature seasonal emojis, such as this one of interest from last year:

And for this past holiday season, these two made their debut:

I think they did a great job with these!

Here's a little video of "Bob Cratchit Mickey" in action:

Play on! 

"A Christmas Carol" All-Star Team - Day 20

Our All-Star Team continues to grow with the addition of one more supernatural visitor - the ghost of Jacob Marley!

Marley's Ghost looms very large as he (it?) sets everything in motion with his visit to Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve.

Every adaptation has a Marley's Ghost in it and there are a lot of good ones, but which makes the cut?

It's Alec Guinness in the 1970 musical film "Scrooge" starring Albert Finney:

Befitting his stature, Alec Guinness gets a fair amount of screen time with a song ("See the Phantoms") plus a rare extra scene in the Christmas Yet to Come segment:

He makes the most of it and adds another memorable portrayal to his long list of credits!

"Scrooge and Marley's Ghost" - A.S. Hartrick

"Scrooge and Marley's Ghost"
Artist: A.S. Hartrick

OK, time for something more traditional!

Here's an illustration of a family scene from "A Christmas Carol" - Scrooge meeting Marley's Ghost, as depicted this time by A.S. (Archibald Stanley) Hartrick:

Funny thing is that I can't determine what this is from. As in, is it from some edition of "A Christmas Carol" and it's only one of a series? Is it a one-off for some other purpose? I can't track down any other "Christmas Carol" scenes  by him.

I'm not when it's frim either, but A.S. Hartrick was around from 1864-1950, so who knows?

What makes thing even more intriguing is that there's another version of this illustration by Hartrick, this billed as a "lithograph":

The two are quite similar, but not exactly the same.

Hmmm...

"A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel" (2008) - Classical Comics - Part 2

A couple more words about the 2008 graphic novel adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" from Classical Comics...

It has a pretty neat "Dramatis Personae" showing each of the characters who appear in the story:

Of particular note is that Fred's wife obtained the name Alice!

I find it a bit odd that the charity collectors aren't shown. I mean even the schoolmaster gets a nod!

And Belle gets two versions, young and older. Young Scrooge doesn't get his own mug shot!

And I definitely appreciate that Mrs. Dilber is identified as the laundress, not the charwoman!

I like the artwork, it's sort of modern yet classic(al) at the same time.

One thing I will say is that Marley's Ghost totally looks like a Jack Kirby character. The Thing, perhaps? I almost expected Marley's Ghost to yell, "It's clobberin' time!"

Victor Records: "Scrooge" - Parts 1 & 2 (1916) - William Sterling Battis - Part 2

If you got the chance to listen to William Sterling Battis with his 1916 recordings of "Marley's Ghost" and "The Ghost of Christmas Past," I'm sure you'll agree they're pretty fun.

With these 12-inch 78 rpm records, he gets some room to stretch out, so it's interesting what scenes get highlighted.

I have to wonder if Side One set a new record for most "humbugs" in less than five minutes!

These records are billed as "Character impersonation with effects," although I don't think Side 1 has nay effects, whereas Side 2 has a few, including the fiddler at Fezziwig's party. It's mostly Battis, though.

I think his monologue style is interesting, as he's sometimes he's talking to another character, but you only get his side of the conversation. It reminds me of those telephone routines that Bob Newhart used to do.

I can't really uncover a lot of information about William Sterling Battis, but he was based in America and seems to have been a Dickens specialist.

This little clipping from Dickinson College in December 1927 is very interesting:

Fascinating that they namedrop Bransby Williams!

I imagine that this sort of character impersonation would have been running out of steam in a few years once talking movies became established.

One other related piece of ephemera is also intersting. This ad for Victor Records touting them as educational tools:

Look who's on there!

I'll have to stay on the look out for the other record in the series.

Meanwhile, I think we have to wait 25 years for another recording of "A Christmas Carol" for the home market. Paging Ronald Colman!

Victor Records: "Scrooge" - Parts 1 & 2 (1916) - William Sterling Battis - Part 1

"Scrooge - Part 1 - 'Marley's Ghost'" (1916)
b/w "Scrooge - Part 2 - 'The Ghost of Christmas Past'
Victor Records
Scrooge: William Sterling Battis

Here's one more early monologue, this time by American William Sterling Battis, another noted impersonator of Dickens characters.

He cut four 12-inch 78 rpm records in his "Scrooge" series. I've only been able to track down the first record which pairs "Marley's Ghost" with "The Ghost of Christmas Past."

They're not the same sketches as presented by Bransby Williams on his Scrooge series but they're equally fun.

Give 'em a listen:

Part 1 - "Marley's Ghost"

Part 2 - "The Ghost of Christmas Past"