| Basil Rathbone as Scrooge |
Rathbone was identified with the Dickens tale, and not just as Scrooge. He appeared in a televised version in 1954 as Marley's ghost, then returned to the central role for the 1956 TV musical, The Stingiest Man in Town. (I offered that album two years ago here.)
For its 1942 adaptation, Columbia advertised a "Hollywood cast," but it was mainly radio actors. Among the troupe were Arthur Q. Bryan (the voice of Elmer Fudd), Elliott Lewis (who has popped up on this blog a number of times, most notably in Manhattan Tower), Lurene Tuttle (a ubiquitous presence on radio and television), and silent film star Francis X. Bushman. The connecting music is by Leith Stevens, another semi-regular at this location.
The potted performance is an effective one, and the sound is alright. My pressing is a little worn. At one point it's hard to tell if it the ghost's chains or the groove's walls that are making the clunking noises in the background.
For its 1942 adaptation, Columbia advertised a "Hollywood cast," but it was mainly radio actors. Among the troupe were Arthur Q. Bryan (the voice of Elmer Fudd), Elliott Lewis (who has popped up on this blog a number of times, most notably in Manhattan Tower), Lurene Tuttle (a ubiquitous presence on radio and television), and silent film star Francis X. Bushman. The connecting music is by Leith Stevens, another semi-regular at this location.
The potted performance is an effective one, and the sound is alright. My pressing is a little worn. At one point it's hard to tell if it the ghost's chains or the groove's walls that are making the clunking noises in the background.
| Lyn Murray |
Don't neglect the other side of the record. It may look like a generic collection of carols, but it is very well done by the Lyn Murray Singers, a radio group of the time. Murray went on to become a Hollywood composer.
Columbia's ads for the set of carols (see below) quote composer-critic Deems Taylor as claiming that Murray's group rates with the "great English Singers". Most people these days wouldn't understand the comparison, and I doubt that most people then did either.
Columbia's ads for the set of carols (see below) quote composer-critic Deems Taylor as claiming that Murray's group rates with the "great English Singers". Most people these days wouldn't understand the comparison, and I doubt that most people then did either.
The image below is the cover of the Christmas Carol's 78 set by Alex Steinweiss. You can see how the artwork was adapted for the LP cover above. The download also includes the inside of the 78 set and a different LP cover (these are not my scans), along with the 78 album cover for the Lyn Murray set.
LINK (2025 remastered set)