"The Birthday Party of the King" - Johnny Desmond (1956)

"The Birthday Party of the King" (1956)

Johnny Desmond

Coral Records

While we were reviewing songs from the 1970 movie musical "Scrooge," I started thinking about other musical versions, which always brings me back to the 1956 TV special "The Stingiest Man in Town," which was basically the first Broadway-style adaptation (the 1954 "Shower of Stars" adaptation being more operatic).

A while back in this post, we heard Jonny Desmond (Fred in "Stingiest") with his studio recording of "An Old Fashioned Christmas," but I never did post the flipside, "The Birthday Party of the King," which was Johnny's other number from the show.

So, here's the studio version of the song on Coral Records:

Sounds good!

What did "Billboard" have to say? From November 24, 1956:

I always like a bit of context, so for a bonus, here's Johnny Desmond with one of his biggest singles, "Play Me Hearts and Flowers (I Wanna Cry)" from 1955:

Always interesting to hear how singers that started with big bands adapted to the ever-changing tastes of the music biz!

"A Christmas Carol" All-Star Team - Day 5

Our "A Christmas Carol" All-Star Team gets bigger as we continue though Christmas Past. After Fezziwig and Dick Wilkins, the next character is young Ebenezer Scrooge himself!

Young Scrooge at this age is always an important part of any adaptation as he remembers what it was like to work for a kind employer, then lose his fiancée as he grew greedier.

My favorite Young Scrooge is Vic Damone in the 1956 TV production of "The Stingiest Man in Town."

It's a musical and Vic was a wonderful singer and works well with opera star Patrice Munsel as Belle.

I said before that I think this is the only time that young Scrooge was a bigger name at the time than old Scrooge (played by Basil Rathbone).

It may seem like odd casting, but it's just crazy enough to work!

The Stingiest Man in Town (1956) Bonus Bonus!

While we're still on the subject of "The Stingiest Man in Town," one thing I had been wondering about was Johnny Desmond's 45 rpm single of "Old Fashioned Christmas" and "The Birthday Party of the King," the two songs he had sung in the 1956 live production.

The original cast album was on Columbia Records, the then-current home of Johnny's castmates Vic Damone and the Four Lads. But Johnny was under contract to Coral Records (a subsidiary of Decca) at that time. Obviously some deal was worked out between the companies for Johnny to appear on the album, but did they use the same recordings that were on the Columbia album for the Coral single?

Well, a bit of sleuthing shows the running times are not the same. Hmmm...

The label of the single shows "Music by Camarata" (rather than, say, Dick Jacobs, the house arranger for Coral) as does the album. So, are they edited versions of the same recording?

How does one find this out if the single doesn't seem to be posted anywhere online? Track down a copy of the 45 and buy it!

So, I now do have my mitts on that 45 shown above!

And while the arrangements are similar, these are clearly different recordings from the ones on the album. Now we know! I can rest!

So, check out the single version of "Old Fashioned Christmas" right here:

And the album version:

While we're talking about Johnny Desmond, I had mentioned when discussing the cast of the 1956 production of "The Stingiest Man in Town" that Johnny had really come into prominence when singing with Glenn Miller's AAF band during WWII. That was a terrific band and Johnny, the G.I. Sinatra, was terrific with them. So for a bonus bonus, here he is singing a topical song:

Good stuff!

The Stingiest Man in Town (1978) - Part 5

A few more thoughts on the 1978 animated version  of "The Stingiest Man in Town" from the Rankin/Bass studio.

As must be obvious from earlier posts, I think this is a misfire on the whole. So, let's drive a few more nails in the coffin!

The first comp would be to the live performance of "Stingiest" from 1956. To me, that has a fun period charm, that this one doesn't have. And Basil Rathbone is well-suited to playing Scrooge, whereas Walter Matthau is not.

In my circles at least, Basil Rathbone is iconic, whereas Walter Matthau is "Oh, yeah, I remember him."

In the world of Rankin/Bass specials, this also does not rate highly. I think it has too many of the faults (generic character design, inconsistent animation) and few of the strengths (Animagic, well-cast vocal talent). And the narrator here gets in the way.

I really do think I would like this a lot better if it had been done with the stop-motion Animagic process. That's what makes Rankin/Bass specials, you know, special.

I might be going out on a limb to admit that I don't like "Frosty the Snowman" as much as some other R/B specials as it's done in traditional animation. But at least it has Jimmy Durante to save it! Here we get Mr. C.

As an animated musical adaptation of "A Christmas Carol," dare we compare it to "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol?" Well, if we do, clearly "Magoo" is better. Neither "Stingiest" or "Magoo" seems remotely British, but "Magoo" gets away with it because it's presented as a Broadway show. And it's just better anyway!

There's something interesting in every version of "A Christmas Carol," and I always try to look at each version in context, but I also want to be entertained.

This one was more of a history lesson.

Am I being too harsh? Does this one have any defenders?

"The Stingiest Man in Town" Bonus!

Before we say goodbye (for now) to "The Stingiest Man in Town" from 1956, here's the studio recording of the Four Lads singing the title song.

It's a fun novelty number in which they give comic examples of how stingy Scrooge actually.

In the interest of overanalyzing everything, I think one of the verses is very interesting:

"He has a house that's very tall, with flowered paper in the hall. And for his mother's funeral, he cut the flowers off the wall"

Clever, yes, and I realize it's for purposes of this bit, but doesn't that imply that he was an adult already living in his current house when his mother died? The implication in the book is that his mother had died at some point when he was young (but not in childbirth), as his sister Fan only mentions their father.

The Ghost of Christmas Present in the special only says, "Your little sister came to take you home and your father had grown kinder."

But, who am I to get in the way of a good bit? Carry on!

As I had mentioned, this is more in the usual style of the Four Lads than the version actually performed in the show. That might just be because the audio is better on the record.

I notice that the label says it's with Camarata and his Orchestra, but the arrangement is by Ray Ellis, who was the Lads' usual arranger/conductor.

Give it a listen:

The Alcoa Hour - "The Stingiest Man in Town" (1956) - Part 4

Some additional thoughts on "The Alcoa Hour" musical version of "A Christmas Carol" entitled "The Stingiest Man in Town."

First off, props for coming up with a fun title that doesn't include "Christmas Carol" or "Scrooge" in it at all. Bold move!

Since this was unavailable for so many years, this had been built up a bit. The original cast recording had stayed more or less available, so it wasn't forgotten.

Then when a kinescope of the show was discovered, it was exciting, but you hoped that the actual thing would live up to the anticipation.

But, when the DVD became available I snapped it up and was pleased that this is a really fun production.

I think it certainly helps if you're predisposed to liking mid-50s TV type variety shows. I realize that my tastes are not those of the typical viewer in 2020, but I like what I like.

The natural comparison here is with the "Shower of Stars" musical version of "A Christmas Carol" from 1954.

Besides the obvious similarities of being musical versions of the same story, both were presented live and in color, but survive today only in black and white kinescopes.

Both also have Basil Rathbone in the cast. He's great in both and plays the roles differently.

I rllike how his Scrooge really gets into the action. He's always in the middle of things. He's got the mean part from the beginning down cold, but convincingly softens as the story goes on and is  a very humble person at the end.

"Stingiest" plays more like a Broadway musical to me, as the songs seem more like, you know, songs. Janice Torre and Fred Spielman did a great job. I wonder how much this project led to the later "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol."

The DVD doesn't contain the Alcoa commercials, but you can tell where they would have been placed in between the acts. It does include one at the end, however, and it's a blast!

It has a typical 50s sit-com type family (complete with bumbling father and Lassiesque dog) showing how you can use aluminum foil to decorate for Christmas. And it has this crazy hyper baby jumping up and down in his playpen! It looks like they must've put coffee in his bottle instead of formula!

Anyway, the whole thing is a lot of fun, and we're very fortunate that this show did not stay lost!

The Alcoa Hour - "The Stingiest Man in Town" (1956) - Part 3

The 1956 production of "The Stingiest Man in Town" from "The Alcoa Hour" TV series is a pretty straightforward and faithful adaptation of "A Christmas Carol," despite it being a musical and having a somewhat wacky title.

Most of the characters and incidents from the book are included, but as always, there are some changes and I'm forever fascinated by those changes!

The show is about 75 minutes of content, as it was broadcast in a 90-minute slot, so it's more than an hour for Alcoa, but it gives plenty of time for story and a lot of singing and dancing (plus commercials!).

Since this is a musical, the Four Lads as carolers have some expository singing to set the scene, then the crowd sings and dances.

Fred comes into the scene to lead the song "An Old Fashioned Christmas" before entering Scrooge's office, where he gets the usual cold greeting. They go back and forth with some clever rhyming dialogue.

Amusingly, Fred gives his uncle a present, which is a tie that Scrooge doesn't like!

The charity collectors come in and they have also have the usual back and forth with Scrooge, but non-rhyming.

Now it's Bob Cratchit's turn. Interestingly, when he's trying to get the next day off, he mentions Tiny Tim and how sick he is. Scrooge is not impressed and tells him to come in two hours earlier the next day, which is specific.

At some point, the charwoman (Mrs. Dilber) has come in and given Scrooge some gruel. She asks Scrooge for an advance on her salary for the next month. But Scrooge won't give it to her because she might die before next month rolls along!

Basil Rathbone is an awesome Scrooge! He's given good material and knows how to sell it.

An original character, Hawkins the ragpicker, makes an appearance and interacts with Mrs. Dilber and the Four Lads dressed as beggars for "The Stingiest Man in Town" title song. The Lads are sort of adopting Cockney accents for this song. Their studio recording of this number is more in their usual style.

They also give a little more exposition indicating that Marley's Ghost is coming to visit Scrooge while Scrooge is in bed.

And, indeed, the next scene has Scrooge snoozing away when Marley's Ghost comes in. The ghost has a kind of netting somewhat obscuring his face, so for once, Scrooge might not have recognized his deceased partner right away. He removes the netting to make Scrooge believe in him.

Marley sings while superimposed phantoms swirl around in a pretty good special effect for live TV.

The Ghost of Christmas Past shows up on a music cue right after Marley's Ghost leaves. This spirit is bearded and wears a robe. Looks like Friar Tuck or something. That must've brought Basil Rathbone back to his swashbuckling villain days!

Scrooge and the spirit go back to Scrooge's school, but we don't see Scrooge as a boy. They talk about Fan, but we don't see her either.

Next, they go to Fezziwg's. The spirit specifically says that was 40 years ago. There are lots of apprentices at desks. I think old Fezziwig calls one of them "Dick," presumably that's Dick Wilkins.

Old Scrooge sees his younger self and remarks, "Was I that good looking?"

As is usually the case, Belle is at Fezziwig's party and she dances with young Scrooge.

They wind up singing a duet about the future, but young Scrooge keeps saying, "Love flies out the window when poverty comes through the door." The scene is very impressionistic and we literally see a wall of gold building up between Scrooge and Belle.

The visuals and great singing by Vic Damone and Patrice Munsel make this a memorable scene indeed.

Now we come to Act 2 and the Four Lads reappear as carolers to recap the past and introduce the Christmas Present sequence.

Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Present who says he's better known as the Ghost of Christmas Spirit. Scrooge is catching on to what Christmas spirit means.

The spirit kind of looks like a big elf to me, as he has that sort of beard. The kind leprechauns always have, bushier at the chin and no moustache.

He has a bunch of toy soldiers and clowns and dolls and such dance around Scrooge, who joins in for a bit. There's a lot of dancing in this production, as ballet sequences in musicals were somewhat in vogue at the time, since "An American in Paris" had won the Oscar for best picture a few years before.

The ghost puts Scrooge's coat and hat on him and tells him some of the things they'll see, but we don't get a chance to see.

Things get wacky once they get inside the Cratchit house and Mrs. Cratchit leaves the pot of potatoes for a moment. Scrooge takes the cover off the pot to peek inside, leaving Mrs. Cratchit to wonder why the lid is off. Then Scrooge actually tastes the applesauce!

Peter comes out in an ill-fitting suit and Belinda comes in to have Mrs. Cratchit fasten the back of her dress, which embarrasses Scrooge. It's all a lot of fun.

The two younger Cratchits run in, leaving Scrooge to wonder how Bob Cratchit gets along on his meager salary.

Martha then comes in, and I'm pretty sure that Betty Madigan says, "Here's Mother, Marth-" realizing that she was supposed to say, "Here's Martha, Mother." That is a bit of a tongue-twister and the only goof I noticed.

Martha mentions that she had to work late and Mrs. Cratchit says she'd love to see Martha wearing one of the hats she makes.

Peter mentions that he's getting a job, but thankfully not with Mr. Scrooge! Mrs. Cratchit interestingly says she's never seen the ogre!"

Bob comes home with Tiny Tim and Martha hides as usual.

But Martha gets a lot of screentime here, interacting with Tiny Tim and singing the song "Yes, There Is a Santa Claus" to him. The Santa Claus-ness makes me realize that this whole show doesn't have too much of a British feel, but it's for American TV, so whatever!

Somehow Tiny Tim got a music box as a Christmas present. Not sure how or why.

When Scrooge asks about Tiny Tim, the spirit sings a song then tells Scrooge if he wants the future to change, he'll have to change it.

They next head to Fred's house where he reprises "An Old Fashioned Christmas" with his guests and sings "The Birthday Party of the King" with a Nativity scene in prominent closeups. This adds a somewhat rare religious tone.

Act 3 is next and the Four Lads come back for the recap and introduction of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Scrooge is still with the Ghost of Christmas Present when this scene opens, but he leaves and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come arrives. He's the usual dark-robed phantom.

They see Mr. Dilber and Hawkins talking about someone who died and how they stole his clothes. This combines a couple of the usual future scenes into one and works fine.

Scrooge asks who the deceased man in question was and the phantom shows him his own grave. Then there's another balletic sequence where a bunch of phantoms swarm around Scrooge and the grave.

Scrooge then understands what Marley had tried to tell him and talk-sings how mankind should be his business. He winds up back in his room with his bedpost.

Mrs. Dilber tells him it's Christmas morning and she comes in with Hawkins.

Next we're at the Cratchits' house and Tiny Tim is asking Martha about Santa Claus. Just then, the turkey arrives, interrupting the moment. I guess Martha won't get to sing her song!

Scrooge then comes in with presents for the family, including a new suit for Peter and a hat for Martha. Pretty cool! He also refers to the younger Cratchits as Ann and William.

He pretends not to know where the turkey came from, but he does raise Bob's salary. He says he can't stay for dinner because he's going to Fred's for dinner.

Scrooge has a very nice moment with Tiny Tim as he says he needs Tim's help to help him change the shadows. Bob sings about Tim's future and Scrooge joins in, with a reprise of the "One Little Boy" song that the Ghost of Christmas Present had sung.

Then everyone reprises the Santa Claus song.

The Four Lads come back with just a couple of lines to end things.

After a sort-of commercial, we get a curtain call from the whole cast singing "An Old Fashioned Christmas."

So, a lot of content from the book with a lot of songs. A really fun show!

The Alcoa Hour - "The Stingiest Man in Town" (1956) - Part 2

The cast of the 1956 TV production of "The Stingiest Man in Town" is quite musical and they represent a range of styles, as customary for variety shows of the era. They liked to have something for everybody.

There are a lot of songs, so we need a lot of singers!

The production features the Four Lads as carolers who set the scene for each act, commenting a bit like a Greek chorus.

They also get to sing the title song, the studio recording of which was released as a single.

The Four Lads were my mother's favorite singing group, so I'm very familiar with them. I like them. They have a good blend and don't rely on just one lead singer. They were at the peak of their popularity around this time with their recent huge hit records of "No, Not Much" and "Moments to Remember."

The star of the show is, of course, whoever portrays Ebenezer Scrooge, and they have a great one here in Basil Rathbone. 

He's not a singer, but acquits himself OK and he's not expected to do any heavy lifting vocally. 

But he brings his considerable acting chops and holds the production together. If you recall, he had played Marley's Ghost opposite Fredric March's Scrooge a couple of years earlier in the "Shower of Stars" musical version of "A Christmas Carol."

To me  he's as well-suited to play Scrooge as just about any actor ever.

The wackiest bit of casting always seemed to be Vic Damone as Young Scrooge. But, you know, it's just crazy enough to work!

Vic Damone was a terrific singer and very popular, so you can't go wrong there, and he sort of does look like he could be a younger version of Scrooge. Scrooge himself remarks how handsome he once was, which is fun.

I presume this is the only time that young Scrooge was a bigger, or at least hotter, name at the time than old Scrooge.

Since you have a vocally accomplished young Scrooge, you need a Belle who could hold her own in a duet, and Patrice Munsel is more than up to the task. She was an operatic soprano, famous for being the youngest singer ever to star at the Metropolitan Opera. She was also a popular TV personality, back when an opera singer could be a popular TV personality!

Young Scrooge and Belle's duet of "Golden Dreams/It Might Have Been" is a highlight of the show.

We get another opera-ish singer in Robert Weede, who plays Marley 's Ghost. He was riding high at this point as the star of the Broadway hit "The Most Happy Fella."

The big song from Frank Loesser's score for that musical was "Standing on the Corner," which was another big hit record for... the Four Lads! Everything comes back around, doesn't it?

The talent parade continues with another popular singer, Johnny Desmond, as Fred. Big band buffs know that Johnny came into his own with Glenn Miller's AAF band during WWII. They called him the "G.I. Sinatra!"

He gets a couple of numbers, "An Old Fashioned Christmas" and "The Birthday Party of the King," which he handles well.

Johnny Desmond's's real name was Giovanni Alfredo DeSimone, whereas Vic Damone's was Vito Rocco Farinola. I give the edge to Johnny for best repurposing of birth name into stage name!

The actor who plays Bob Cratchit, Martyn Green, doesn't get to sing much  but he was well-known for performing Gilbert and Sullivan material.

Bob's daughter Martha, however, gets a big solo. This must be the biggest part that Martha has ever had in a relatively straightforward adaptation!

Betty Madigan plays Martha. She was kind of an up-and-coming singer at the time, with the hit recording "Joey," although she never became a huge name.

The one actor with a singing part that I don't know anything about, nor can I find much info on, is Robert Wright, who portrays the Ghost of Christmas Present. His name is pretty common and it seems his info gets mixed up with others with the same or similar name, He does a good job, though.

So, we have a lot of taleneted singers here, representing a variety of styles.

Keeping everything together is music director Tutti Camarata (who was usually billed as Camarata). He was a big band veteran as well, coming to prominence as arranger for Jimmy Dorsey's band back in the day. He later did tons of work for Disney.

Now that we have the cast in place, we move along to the adaptation itself!

The Alcoa Hour - "The Stingiest Man in Town" (1956) - Part 1

The Alcoa Hour - "The Stingiest Man in Town" (1956)
Director: Daniel Petrie
Scrooge: Basil Rathbone


Now let's take a look at an episode of the TV series "The Alcoa Hour" - the 1956 musical adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" titled "The Stingiest Man in Town ."

This was broadcast live on December 23, 1956 in "compatible color" and then went unseen for quite a long time.

It seems to have been a big deal at the time, as it had some star power in the cast and was promoted with an original cast album and all.

But TV "spectaculars" (as they used to call them) weren't meant to be rebroadcast. These were one-time events and if you weren't in front of the TV at the time, you missed your chance. Live productions such as this were even less likely to be seen later.

Over the years, however, people still listened to the album and had fond memories of the special. There was even a cartoon version produced by Rankin-Bass in 1978 (we'll look at that one later), but the original seemed to be only a memory.

It always sounded very intriguing to me, as Basil Rathbone played old Scrooge with Vic Damone as young Scrooge. That's just fascinating right there!

Fortunately a kinescope was discovered a few years ago. It's black and white, and not sharp. but it's the whole show. It was released on DVD and now everyone can see it.

Here's a clip from VAI Music, the company that released the DVD, which gives a bit of the flavor:

Next, we look at the very musical cast!