Caedmon Records - "A Christmas Carol" (1960) - Part 3

The 1960 adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" from Caedmon Records boasts a couple of British heavyweights to carry the project.

I understand that they were most noted for their stage work in England, but they both made their marks in movies that helped their recognition with American audiences.

Sir Ralph Richardson (he had been knighted way back in 1947) was in a lot of British movies in the 1930s. A couple of them, "Things to Come" (1936) and "The Four Feathers" (1939), both Alexander Korda productions, are still fairly well-known in America.

I presume his acclaimed work in the British film "The Fallen Idol" (1948) was what led to his high profile role in "The Heiress" (1949) for which he snagged a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

He played Scrooge on a 1951 television adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" on the TV series "Fireside Theater," but I don't know if that's available for viewing.

He also did a fair amount of radio work over the years, so by the time this production rolled around in 1960, he was ready to go!

He was 58 years old at the time, which seems like a pretty good age for Scrooge, but he uses an old man voice to sell the role. I think he does a great job.

Paul Scofield as a name is kind of like a word association thing to me. You say "Paul Scofield" and I say "A Man for All Seasons." In the U.S. at least, he's known for winning the Best Actor Oscar for that 1966 movie, but not much else. Still, the name alone adds retro class to the project.

Paul Scofield compares BAFTA awards with Dame Edith Evans!

I like his narration quite a bit. He does sound like he's telling the story to us rather than just reading it.

I don't recognize any of the other actors credited on the album, but they do a uniformly good job.

So, a solid album all the way around!

Caedmon Records - "A Christmas Carol" (1960) - Part 2

If you got the chance to listed to the 1960 LP version of "A Christmas Carol" from Caedmon Records featuring Ralph Richardson as Scrooge, I'm sure you'll agree that it's a well-done and faithful adaptation.

I've had this album in my collection for quite some time and have always enjoyed it. The generous running time of almost an hour allows it to fit in most of the incidents you would expect, so back in the pre-home video days it was probably the most complete version you could enjoy at your leisure.

Since this recording has a star narrator in Paul Scofield, we have quite a bit of the original text, not unlike the 1939 "Campbell Playhouse" radio broadcast with Orson Welles and Lionel Barrymore.

We even get the "standing in the spirit at your elbow" line!

The liner notes of the album say that Paul Scofield is playing Charles Dickens as the narrator, but we'll have to take their word for it, as there's nothing on the recording to indicate that's the case.

One thing that seems a little different about this version is that there's a fair amount of background noise under the narration at times. Sometimes it's Scrooge muttering or sneezing or other things going on. I makes the narration a little less dry, I think.

In any event, the record does include a lot of material from the book and it doesn't add anything extraneous. So, I'll just mention a few things I found interesting.

The beginning scenes have everything in them. One detail from the book seldom addressed is the fancy nature of Scrooge's fireplace, but it's well described here. And Scrooge is quite sneezy, which befits the book's mentioning that he had a cold in his head. This Scrooge has no problem sneezing, unlike his 1969 animated counterpart!

We get a lot of description about the phantoms that Marley's Ghost joins outside of Scrooge's window and their moaning is pretty creepy!

There are some wacky music and sound effects when the Ghost of Christmas Past shows up. I presume they're going for supernatural, but I get a kind of outer space vibe.

This spirit brings Scrooge back to his old school, but he doesn't show him the Christmas that his sister Fan came to bring him home. We get Fezziwig and Belle and Belle's husband, though. Belle's oldest daughter is around, but none of the noisy littler kids.

The Christmas Present sequence has just about everything we'd expect. Fred laughs quite a bit and Ignorance and Want cry and moan in a very unsettling manner!

In the future, the other businessmen are very flip about Scrooge's death and the other two gentlemen (the "old Scratch" guys) also get in there. No scene at Old Joe's, though, but Scrooge sees his forlorn body, then the spirit brings him to the Cratchit house before showing Scrooge his own grave.

Christmas morning ahs all the usual stuff as well and includes a very nice sequence of Scrooge walking though the street and exchanging pleasantries with everyone he meets. The whole Christmas morning segment is really cheerful!

Cut to the office and Bob getting his raise and we're done!

I do have to admit, though, that the choral music that ends the record goes on a bit long for my taste, but whatever.

What we do have is very faithful, well-acted adaptation that still holds up as good entertainment today!

Caedmon Records - "A Christmas Carol" (1960) - Part 1

"A Christmas Carol" (1960)
Caedmon Records
Director: Howard Sackler
Scrooge: Ralph Richardson

We're still in the 1960s, and with so many wacky uses of the Ebenezer Scrooge character in records and cartoons and such, it makes you wonder if anyone besides Mister Magoo was taking the character seriously!

The answer is a definite "yes" if this 1960 album featuring Sir Ralph Richardson as Scrooge is any indication.

It's a classy production from Caedmon Records, who were early entrants in the audio book field, although this is a dramatization and not just a reading. It does, however, have a distinguished narrator in Paul Scofield.

Give it a listen: