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The Alcoa Hour
S2.E7
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IMDbPro

The Stingiest Man in Town

  • Episode aired Dec 23, 1956
  • 1h
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
66
YOUR RATING
Basil Rathbone in The Alcoa Hour (1955)
Drama

This is a musical version of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Ebenezer Scrooge is given a chance to reform and save his soul. He is visited by 4 ghosts and is shown visions of his past ... Read allThis is a musical version of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Ebenezer Scrooge is given a chance to reform and save his soul. He is visited by 4 ghosts and is shown visions of his past life and the consequences of his life on others.This is a musical version of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Ebenezer Scrooge is given a chance to reform and save his soul. He is visited by 4 ghosts and is shown visions of his past life and the consequences of his life on others.

  • Director
    • Daniel Petrie
  • Writers
    • Charles Dickens
    • Janice Torre
  • Stars
    • The Four Lads
    • Johnny Desmond
    • Basil Rathbone
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.9/10
    66
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Daniel Petrie
    • Writers
      • Charles Dickens
      • Janice Torre
    • Stars
      • The Four Lads
      • Johnny Desmond
      • Basil Rathbone
    • 11User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos1

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    Top cast24

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    The Four Lads
    • Narrator-Carolers…
    Johnny Desmond
    Johnny Desmond
    • Fred
    Basil Rathbone
    Basil Rathbone
    • Ebenezer Scrooge
    Robert Weede
    • Marley's Ghost
    Martyn Green
    • Bob Cratchit
    John McGiver
    John McGiver
    • Two Gentlemen
    Philippa Bevans
    • Mrs. Dilber
    Vic Damone
    Vic Damone
    • Young Scrooge
    Olive Dunbar
    Olive Dunbar
    • Betty
    Alice Frost
    Alice Frost
    • Mrs. Cratchit
    John Heawood
    • Hawkins
    Bryan Herbert
    • Mr. Fezziwig
    Keith Herrington
    • Ghost of Christmas-Yet-to-Come
    Dennis Kohler
    • Tiny Tim
    Betty Madigan
    • Martha Cratchitt
    Ian Martin
    Ian Martin
    • Ghost of Christmas Past
    John McGovern
    John McGovern
    • Two Gentlemen
    Stephen Meininger
    • An Urchin
    • Director
      • Daniel Petrie
    • Writers
      • Charles Dickens
      • Janice Torre
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews11

    7.966
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    Featured reviews

    meemster32

    Excellent music and acting-need to find movie.

    This is my first time commenting, so here goes! The music of "the Stingiest Man in Town" was just superb and still gets played at our house every Christmas. My father brought home the movie in the 50's because he worked for Alcoa at the time. The setting of the movie was crude but the actors and their voices were just outstanding. I'd love to hear from anyone who's seen this movie and their comments. (just imagine Basil Rathbone as a singing Scrooge!) I would also ask if anyone can find this movie for me. I have checked everywhere to no avail. I checked both Basil Rathbone's and Vic Damone's website. Vic Damone's voice was so good even as a very young man and anyone who doesn't shed a tear over Johnny Desmond's "Birthday Party of the King" has no heart. I will be grateful for any extra help I can get in having this movie for my family at this year's Christmas. Thanks, meemster32
    8aylennon

    Excellent presentation of a classic in a stage setting

    This production, and the wonderful music from it, was an important part of our family's Christmas tradition for many years-until the Long Play records were finally broken by one of the grandchildren. Although the story line was obviously very familiar, the stage craft and music gave new life to Dickens beloved Christmas tale. The casting was truly inspired -with Basil Rathbone the best of the lot. The original musical score was extremely clever and well done by some of the best artists (both from popular and classical venues)of that time. It's a shame that a video reproduction of performance is not readily available in tape or compact disc form. It would be wonderful if I could purchase a copy of the record of the musical score or if someone could burn a compact disc from a copy and allow me to purchase the same. Thanks very much.
    8flatrich

    A great trip into the ghosts of TV past

    My daughter found the DVD of this wonderful original version of The Stingiest Man in Town and I watched it Christmas Eve. I was 10 when it was first telecast and, if I saw it then, I was probably nowhere near as impressed as I was to see it revived for the 21st century. The only drawback is the lack of color, and that because it was a rare color telecast back in 1956. It was also done live (videotape was a few years away), so all we have now is a restored black and white kinescope (that means it was shot on film off a TV tube during the live broadcast.) Unlike a lot of kines, this one comes off very well. You can see some scratches and other signs of filmic age, but the production shines through it all, and it is a great version of The Christmas Carol! Mr. Rathbone, who never claimed to be a singer, holds his own against Johnny Desmond, Vic Damone and the (now somewhat forgotten) Patrice Munsel - they were all pop music stars at that time.

    Now that I'm an old codger myself, I miss the extravaganza network productions of 50s TV. Junk like American Idle (whoops! did I spell that wrong on purpose?) and Dancing with the Hasbeen Wannabes just don't hold a candle to the true variety and "special" productions that used to grace the tube in its early days.

    If you're looking for the real thing, see if you can find this one! (And thanks to my kid for a nice Christmas Eve :o)>
    9chrisbrown2

    Musical adaptation of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"

    While this is an adaptation of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", it is unlike any other version of the story you may have seen.

    An excellent cast and wonderful songs. I do not remember seeing the original broadcast, but I grew up listening to the LP recording, and searched for years for a video -- the DVD I found was released in 2011.

    Because it is a Kinescope, the video quality may disappoint some, but it is still very watchable.

    The opening and closing credits show how vast the changes in TV production have been since 1956. This was part of "The Alcoa Hour", but the DVD run time is 81 minutes.
    9TheLittleSongbird

    One of the best musical versions of A Christmas Carol

    Only one other musical version of A Christmas Carol comes close and that's Muppet Christmas Carol. With the exceptions of Vic Damone's very wooden(but well-sung) Young Scrooge and the intrusive and overlong(if cleverly danced) Devil's Ballet, for such a very early live TV broadcast 1956's The Stingiest Man in Town is truly impressive. Even if there are technical and musical faults here and there they can be forgiven considering that it was one of the first, and those faults don't make the production look too cheap and don't hurt the production very much(or at least to me they didn't). The production isn't lavish visually but there was clear effort made and for very early live broadcast TV musicals it does look pretty good, the use of kinescope effective. The sound engineering is remarkably good and clear, suiting the acoustics well and with good attention to orchestral balance.

    The staging is always entertaining, though the stage does look cramped on occasions, and with several heartfelt moments(Mankind Should Be My Business is especially good in this regard). The story is very easy to follow and captures the spirit of A Christmas Carol and Christmas beautifully, the ending was very moving. For a musical to work you have to have good songs, and you certainly have those in A Stingiest Man in Town as well as a musical score that has whimsy and energy. Sure, Golden Dreams does go on forever(still a lovely song though), but faring best were One Little Boy and Mankind Should Be My Business. Not only because they were the ones that stuck out as the most memorable but also they were the ones that sounded like they came straight from the heart the most. The orchestra play wonderfully, just loved the warm-sounded, soaring violins in An Old Fashioned Christmas and Tutti Camarata shows signs of a sympathetic conductor with a great ear for acoustics and textures.

    The always-present Carollers played by the Four Lads move the story forward rather than distracting thankfully, the group's harmonies are tight and they blend very well. Apart from Damone, the performances are solid though only one's outstanding. Fred has more screen-time than most other Freds in Christmas Carol adaptations, and Johnny Desmond plays him with warm humour and joviality that he is a likable character, he has a good amount to sing and he does the songs justice. Martyn Green is suitably humble as Bob Cratchit, you really feel sympathy(you do wish considering his calibre as a singer that he had more to do) and Robert Weede is a chillingly effective Marley despite him looking ridiculous(Marley looking like he'd dressed up as a nun for a party was definitely not something that Dickens had in mind). Dennis Kohler's Tiny Tim is most sweet and moving and the three spirits are imposingly played(particularly Robert Wright as Ghost of Christmas Present, maybe there is a little bias as Present was always my favourite of the three spirits).

    Outstanding though is Basil Rathbone in the title role, he relishes the miserable miser side of Scrooge's character- his experience in villainous roles being an advantage- but the reformed/changed side of the character is very touchingly portrayed as well. Also surprising was his singing, not only does his voice have a nice sound, speaking as a singer here, but he also sings with feeling, which is every bit as important and perhaps even more so. All in all, very, very impressive indeed, one of the best musical versions of A Christmas Carol and compares well with live musical broadcasts. 8.5/10 Bethany Cox

    Related interests

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    Drama

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      For a long time, this version of the musical was thought to be a lost film, a victim of the lack of preservation of many early television broadcasts. By chance, a copy of the master reel was found in the home of a retired executive for Alcoa, and restored for a DVD release, distributed on November 29, 2011.
    • Connections
      Featured in Colin LooksBack Retrospectives: So Many Christmas Carols: Rankin/Bass' Stingiest Man in Town 1956/1978 (2022)
    • Soundtracks
      A Christmas Carol
      sung by the The Four Lads

      Music: Fred Spielman - Lyrics: Janice Torre

      Orchestra conducted by Camarata

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • December 23, 1956 (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • New York City, New York, USA
    • Production company
      • Theatrical Enterprises
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 1h(60 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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