The Christmas Carol (1949)

Country of Origin: USA
Date of Original Broadcast: 25 December 1949
Number of Seasons: n/a
Total Number of Episodes: 1
Episode Running Time: 25m
Format:
Colour Format: black and white
Ratio:
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Produced at Jerry Fairbanks, Inc. for Teletec Company
Produced by: Mike Stokey and Bernard Ebert (opening credits) Stokey and Ebert (closing credits)
Supervisor For J.F., Inc.: Arnold Wester
Production Manager: Glenn Miller

SCRIPT
Adapted by: Arthur Pierson
Novel: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

DIRECTION
Directed by: Arthur Pierson

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Film Editor: Art Seid

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Meredith Nicholson

MUSIC
Carols by the Mitchell Choirboys
Musical Direction: Edward Paul

SOUND
Sound: Lawrence Aicholtz

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Oscar Yerg

CAST
Vincent Price (as told by...)

featuring
Taylor Holmes (Ebeneezer Scrooge)
Pat White (Bob Cratchit)
Robert Clarke (Fred)
Earl Lee (Marley's ghost)
Nelson Leigh (Ghost of Christmas Past)
Joe Battista (boy Scrooge)
George James (Ghost of Christmas Present)
Queenie Leonard (Mrs Cratchit)
Mike Miller (Peter Cratchit)
Karen Kester (Belinda Cratchit)
Jill Oppenheim (Missie Cratchit)
Bobby Hyatt (Tiny Tim)
Connie Cavendish (Martha)
Jack Nestle (Ghost of Christmas to Come)
Paul Maxey (fat gentleman)
Leonard Carey (thin gentleman)
Anne Howard (Caroline)

and
The Mitchell Choirboys

PLOT SUMMARY

Miserly London businessman Ebenezer Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his dead business partner Marley, who warns him that three more ghosts will appear during the night trying to show Scrooge the error of his ways. As the night wears on, he's visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. But will even they be enough to soften old Scrooge's heart?

CAPSULE REVIEW

As adaptations of A Christmas Carol go, this is certainly an odd one. Made on a ridiculously restricted budget and burdened with mostly undistinguished performances, it's watchable now only for the presence of Vincent Price as the on-screen narrator. Fans of Price won't want to be without it though if it's an adaptation of Dickens you're after there are many others to choose from and most of them are a lot better than this. (Full Review)

A Christmas Carol – working title

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas (1997)

REFERENCES

BOOKS

A Christmas Carol and Its Adaptations: A Critical Examination of Dickens's Story and Its Productions on Screen and Television by Fred Guida (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc (2000)) p.179

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

book into film, christmas, ghosts, misers

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008