"Duffy's Tavern" (December 21, 1945)

"Duffy's Tavern" (December 21, 1945)

NBC
Scrooge: "Archie" (Ed Gardner)

It seems like a while since we've listened to an old radio show, so let's pay a visit to "Duffy's Tavern" for this 1945 broadcast, which features a takeoff of "A Christmas Carol" as part of the gang's holiday entertainment:

I'd say that the gang's version of "A Christmas Carol" most reminds me of the one from 1977's "The Honeymooners Christmas Carol" special in the way that both "Archie" and "Ralph" extensively reworked the story, each in his unique way.

As for oddball Tiny Tim interpretations, "Finnegan" might even be wackier than "Norton!"

I like the "Duffy's Tavern" series a lot and this episode gives the cast a real chance to shine!

I also enjoyed the harp playing of the great Robert Maxwell, who was only 24 years old at that time.

As a bonus, here's a video of Mr. Maxwell from a dozen years later, once more playing "White Christmas," this time on the Ed Sullivan show:

Good fun all around!

A Short Subject!

Here's a fun sketch from the most recent (December 10, 2022) episode of NBC's long-running "Saturday Night Live":

OK, so when is someone going to produce a full-length adaptation starring Martin Short?

"The Six Shooter" (December 20, 1953) - Part 3

A few words about the cast of "The Six Shooter" episode "Britt Ponset's Christmas Carol" and some other things...

The series ran on NBC for one season of 39 episodes from 1953-1954 and it came along at kind of an interesting time.

Television had been making serious inroads by this point and the biggest effect was that if people were watching TV, they were no longer listening to the radio.

So, one thing that radio tried was having stars such as James Stewart headline shows. He was a big movie star at the time, so it's not like he needed the work.

Another trend was for shows to be transcribed, i.e. recorded in advance, which allowed the stars to work on the shows on their own schedule, as opposed to needing to block out a set time for a live broadcast.

Also, by 1953 Jimmy Stewart had become comfortable in the western movie genre. He was a non-traditional hero in his first western, "Destry Rides Again" (1939), but established a rugged new persona with his next western, "Winchester '73" (1950).

So, add it all up and we have Jimmy Stewart in a transcribed western radio show!

As expected, he does a great job on the show with his unmistakable voice and deceptively folksy demeanor.

The announcer on "The Six Shooter" was Hal Gibney, and if his name wasn't familiar, a lot of people knew his voice as the announcer for the radio and TV versions of "Dragnet." You know, "...Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent..."

For this particular episode, announcer Gibney tells us that Scrooge was played by Howard McNear. He was a busy radio actor, appearing as Doc on "Gunsmoke" at this time, but was later best-known for his role as Floyd, the nosy Mayberry barber on "The Andy Griffith Show" TV series.

No one else is credited, but the voice of the Johnny character is easily recognizable as that of Dick Beals, who was 26 years old at the time, but did a great kid voice for a really long time, not unlike Walter Tetley. 

When I hear that voice, I immediately think of Davey from "Davey and Goliath," whose voice Dick provided up through 1965's "Christmas Lost and Found." He also had a long run voicing "Speedy Alka Seltzer" for TV commercials.

Dick Beals also popped up in 1953 as the window boy in Lionel Barrymore's 1953 broadcast of "A Christmas Carol" on the "Hallmark Hall of Fame." Have we listened to that yet?

We're fortunate that every episode of "The Six Shooter" survives and it's still great entertainment!

"The Six Shooter" (December 20, 1953) - Part 2

If you got the chance to listen to the "Britt Ponset's Christmas Carol" episode of "The Six Shooter" radio series, I'm sure you'll agree that it's actually fairly straightforward adaptation!

If you haven't heard it yet but would like to, you should go back and listen, as there are some SPOILERS regarding the framing story. 

The set-up of Jimmy Stewart's Britt Ponset character telling the story to a young boy named Johnny allows the story to follow the typical plot points with a western twist rather than having a "real" Scrooge-like character within the show's universe undergo a similar conversion. I think that approach works really well.

Johnny's aunt is actually a bit Scroogey until she has a change of heart, even though she's not the one that hears the story!

In any event, Britt's version of the story is pretty faithful to the book, just transplanting it to the western United States.

The Scrooge character is generally just referred to as "Eben," but we do learn that his full name is "Ebenezer Scrooge" when he sees it on his tombstone. He's a wealthy rancher here.

The Bob Cratchit stand-in is named "Bob" with a son named "Tim" and the Jacob Marley character is "Jake," but we don't hear their last names. And Belle is still Belle, but she's the schoolmarm!

I don't think any of the other characters are named.

The biggest change plot-wise is that Bob, Eben's ranch foreman, lives with his family in a shack on one of the ranches and Eben demands that he tear it down, on Christmas Day, which would leave the family homeless. 

This establishes the Scrooge character as really mean and heartless as opposed to just a miserly businessman.

This does allow for a nice moment at the end when Eben goes out to the shack on the morning after Christmas, feigning anger at Bob for not having torn down the shack, but surprising him by telling him the reason the shack needs to go is so Eben can build a house for Bob and his family!

There's one other change that might be unique to this version, which occurs in the future sequence. Among the people reflecting on Eben's death are Belle and her husband! 

I don't recall otherwise ever hearing (or seeing) their scene in the future.

A fun bit concerns the Christmas party at the house of Eben's nephew. The game the guests play is pin the tail on the donkey, with said donkey having Eben's face. The best part is that when Eben goes to the party on Christmas in "real" time, he insists that they use that they still use that donkey for their game!

The whole thing's a lot of fun and it hits the right emotional notes as well!

"The Six Shooter" (December 20, 1953) - Part 1

"The Six Shooter" (December 20, 1953)

Director: Jack Johnstone

Scrooge: Howard McNear

It seems like a good time for an old-time radio adaptation of "A Christmas" (although it's always a good time)!

Here's one with a western twist from the NBC show "The Six Shooter," as broadcast on December 20, 1953.

The episode is called "Britt Ponset's Christmas Carol."

Give it a listen:

Pretty cool!

"The Voice of Firestone" (December 20, 1943)

Since we're hanging around 1943 and just ran into Metropolitan Opera star Richard Crooks, and since we're always in the Christmas spirit around here, why don't we stay and listen to Mr. Crooks on a "The Voice of Firestone" episode, as broadcast on NBC on December 20, 1943? (Rhetorical question!)

Give it a listen:

What a nice show! Beautiful music!

Firestone really got into the Christmas spirit! At the top of the page is an awesome comic book giveaway featuring stars from Walt Disney!

Included is Little Hiawatha, star of a 1937 "Silly Symphony" and then appearing in comic books:

And then look at all these cool gifts you could purchase at your Firestone dealer in 1943:

Firestone was still at it when I was a kid with a series of Christmas LPs such as this one, which everyone seemed to have back in the day:

Young Scrooge sighting!

Harvey Firestone, Jr.: Not a Scrooge!