The Stingiest Man in Town

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

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.

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)>

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!

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.