Bonus Bill Johnstone!

I had mentioned that Bill Johnstone, the narrator of Lionel Barrymore's 1949 broadcast of "A Christmas Carol," had portrayed The Shadow on the Mutual Broadcasting System radio series of the same name.

He took on the part of as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow after Orson Welles had left the series. What happened to him anyway?

So, as we had done with Bret Morrison, let's hear a Christmas episode of "The Shadow" starring Bill Johnstone!

Here's "Joey's Christmas Story" from December 22, 1940:

Of note is that the cast also includes Agnes Moorehead as Margo Lane and Keenan Wynn as Shrevie!

As the announcer said, it's a heartwarming Yuletide adventure!

"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!

"A Christmas Carol" - Mutual Broadcasting System (December 25, 1949) - Part 2

If you got the chance to listen to Lionel Barrymore's annual portrayal of Scrooge for 1949's "Capehart Christmas Hour," I'm sure you'll agree it's another solid job!

This is his first time on Mutual, 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?

Anyway, one thing I like about the shows is that it's not the same script every year and it's always fun to see what might be different.

These half hour versions don't leave room for a lot of material, and this one cuts out a lot, so we'll just do a quick review of what was included.

The introductory scenes in the office and with Marley's Ghost are as expected. They take up about half the show, so the other spirits don't get much time.

An interesting bit is the narrator indicating that Scrooge went to bed without undressing. OK, thanks for letting us know!

The Christmas past sequence only includes the scene of Scrooge and Belle's breakup. He does call her Belle. The spirit does mention that it's but one shadow, but Scrooge doesn't want to see anything else.

This may be the only version to have this as the one and only scene from the past.

Christmas present has to include the Cratchit family's Christmas dinner with Tiny Tim and all, and indeed this one does so, and it's the only scene in the segment.

We get a little bit of Martha here as she talks about Tiny Tim with Mrs. Cratchit rather than Bob and the Mrs. doing so.

One of the younger Cratchit kid flubs a line by saying, "Here they come, Mother - Father and Tiny and Tim" then quickly says "and Tiny Tim." It's cute!

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come doesn't get any lines, but does get to show Scrooge two scenes: the Cratchit house after Tiny Tim's death and Scrooge's lonely grave.

We're running short on time, so on Christmas morning when Scrooge engages the boy to by the prize turkey, he also tells him that he's going to look after Tiny Tim and raise Bob Cratchit's salary. 

Not that the kid really cares, but, hey, for half a crown he'll go along with it!

So, a quick run-through with Lionel Barrymore in good form.

I think at this point in time, the idea was that everyone already knows the story, so you just relax and enjoy whatever scenes are presented.

And Lionel's little speech about world peace at the end still rings true, doesn't it?

"A Christmas Carol" - Mutual Broadcasting System (December 25, 1949) - Part 1

"A Christmas Carol" (December 25, 1949)

"Capehart Christmas Hour"

Mutual Broadcasting System

Director: Dick Mack

Scrooge: Lionel Barrymore

Here's another Lionel Barrymore performance as Scrooge (his 14th), this one from the "Capehart Christmas Hour" as broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting System on December 24, 1949:

He's always good!

Nick Carter, Master Detective - "Nick Carter's Christmas Adventure" (December 25, 1943) - Part 3

Since we were just listening to the old-time radio show "Nick Carter, Master detective," a few words about the character and his origins seem to be in order.

One interesting point is that Nick Carter's debut actually predates that of Sherlock Holmes, by a little over a year (1886 vs. 1887)!

Nick was never as famous as Holmes, but was still pretty famous and spanned a lot of media.

First were his adventures in the newspapery "New York Weekly' followed by "Nick Carter Weekly" as published by Street & Smith through 1915.

By the 1930s, Street & Smith was publishing pulp magazines such as "Doc Savage" and "The Shadow," so Nick Carter was revived with his own title.

Then there was a series of three MGM films from 1939-1940 starring Walter Pidgeon as Nick in an early leading role for him prior to his big breakthroughs in the Oscar-wining Best Pictures "How Green Was My Valley" (1941) and "Mrs. Miniver" (1942).

Then of course was the radio series "Nick Carter, Master Detective" (aka "The Return of Nick Carter") starring Lon Clark as Nick and running on the Mutual Broadcasting System from 1943-1955.

Meanwhile, Nick also appeared in "Shadow Comics" headlined by his Street & Smith and MBS stablemate.

Skip ahead a bit to the James Bond inspired spy craze of the 1960s and we had the emergence of Nick Carter - Killmaster!

This series ran for 261 novels from 1964-1990. Proof you can't keep a good literary property down!

One word of caution: if you want to research this character, make sure you include the word "detective" in your search to avoid boy band drama!

Nick Carter, Master Detective - "Nick Carter's Christmas Adventure" (December 25, 1943) - Part 2

If you got the chance to listen to "Nick Carter's Christmas Adventure," a 1943 episode of the Mutual Broadcasting System radio series, I'm sure you'll spot the similarities to "A Christmas Carol."

The show features a Scroogesque character who hates Christmas. He particularly seems Scroogey when Nick and his assistant Scubby visit him to ask for a charitable donation. They get as warm a welcome as the portly gentlemen in the book!

We need a mystery for Nick to solve, so he determines to find out why Mr. Rasper hates Christmas so much. Then he arranges something of a "Christmas Past" intervention to change his mind. 

Due to this being a holiday episode, the murder and mayhem is toned down from the usual episodes in the series and the "mystery" is mild, but it's still entertaining.

I do find it interesting that nobody on the episode makes any reference to "A Christmas Carol" at all, like, "Wow, that guy's a real Scrooge!" although I'm presuming the book exists within that show's universe.

Speaking of said universe, the show presents Nick Carter as something of a real person, being "impersonated" for radio purposes by star Lon Clark, who interacts with the announcer.

This is similar to "The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" radio series (which we heard here), where Dr. Watson interacts with the announcer and introduces the stories as if they actually happened.

The Nick Carter show is entertaining, as the usual episode will have a clue or two that Nick will pick up on to solve the case, which gives the sharp-eared listener a chance as well.

It was popular enough to last from 1943-1955.

As a bonus, here's another, more typical episode, also from 1943:

Good fun!

Next: A look into Nick's origins.

Nick Carter, Master Detective - "Nick Carter's Christmas Adventure" (December 25, 1943) - Part 1

We stay in the old-time radio world to visit another long-standing detective, Nick Carter, and get a bit closer to the story of "A Christmas Carol."

This episode of the "Nick Carter, Master Detective" series from the Mutual Broadcasting System entitled "Nick Carter's Christmas Adventure or the Mystery of the Reluctant Contributor" is not an adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" per se, but you'll soon get the idea of how it fits in.

Give it a listen:

Next: Let's discuss!