The Stingiest Man in Town

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.

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

I bought the recording in 1956 and have been playing it every Christmas since. I still get goose bumps when I hear the wonderful duet "It Might Have Been" and the song with the lyric "every man shall be my brother" Unfortunately my copy is getting a bit worn and I would like to secure another copy. If only they could show it again or provide a video of this program, but Alcoa has refused to do so. The music is so festive and cheerful that it makes me feel happy over the holiday season. I would like to correspond with others who appreciate this program. Basil Rathborn was magnificent as well as Patrice Muncel. The Four Lads were also outstanding.

I remember this TV production well. Even in black and white, it was a magical show. The cast was perfect. The songs are all outstanding. The duet with Patrice Munsell and Vic Damone of "It Might Have Been" is really terrific. The whole cast was just right. There have been other musical versions of "Christmas Carol" but this is definitely the best. The story was narrated by the Four Lads as a group of carolers with the excellent song, "Stingest Man In Town".I am lucky to have the cast recording on an LP and also the stage script with the music. Both are real treasures for me. Many of the old TV shows are making their way to DVD now and this is one that definitely should be released on disc. While the cartoon is nice, it just does not hold the magic of the original live broadcast. This is one of my fondest memories of Christmases long ago.

I have hoped all my adult life that this music would be released as this was a part of every Christmas while growing up. I remember watching this on the Alcoa Hour and then being with my mother as she bought the record. It was always the first Christmas music we would play each year - and played many times at that! I still have that record but it is now so scratched and worn that listening to it is difficult at best. I even taped it onto audiotapes in order to preserve the memories but continue to look for a release of the music and even the play itself. What a great thing that would be!! I have all the words memorized to all the songs, but there's something stirring about hearing the music in the voices that were originally part of this cast. It's always amazed me that when a retrospective of Basil Rathbone's work is done this show is not ever mentioned!