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

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!

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 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, too, have been searching for years for a video (now DVD) release of the original Alcoa Hour production of The Stingiest Man in Town, which I wish I had been able to see when it aired in the 1950's. In the late 1990s, I contacted NBC since the production was aired on that network. They told me they had a policy not to release certain productions, including this one. Hopefully they will change their mind about that policy. My parents had the record album, which I listened to as a child. But good news: A few years ago, the soundtrack/vocals (the original album) was released on CD, so I bought it to replace the scratched album (which I still keep, though). Also, here is a tidbit: One of the original Four Lads lives and was recently performing in the Cleveland (OH) area where I live. In the early 2000s, I went to a Four Lads performance with the album and asked him (Bernie Toorish) to autograph it. I also asked him about the Alcoa Hour production of Stingiest Man, and he gave me a few anecdotes about it. He mentioned that it was done live and that was somewhat stressful but fun, and he talked about how they (the Four Lads were the carolers/narrators) stood on the side of the stage, and it was a bit cramped in order to get it all on television at that time (given the cameras they used, etc.). When we talked, he said he wasn't sure whether a tape had been made of the original production. Mr. Toorish still resides in the Greater Cleveland area, as far as I know. He was really great to discuss the Stingiest Man in Town with me.