Friday, December 21, 2018

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 21: Lionel Barrymore's Christmas Carol from the Hallmark Hall of Fame (1953)

Just a few days ago, I featured the Christmas Carol from Favorite Story that starred Ronald Colman in the main role of Ebeneezer Scrooge (A Christmas Carol with Ronald Colman on Favorite Story - 1949).  So today, I thought I would return to this amazing story in a production staring one of the great actors of his day, Lionel Barrymore.  You might here this on Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148).  He does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get close to Christmas.

192/365/3844 (December 20, 2018) - Wanda the Christmas Cat
Wanda the cat in a Christmas box
for no particular reason except she is super cute and very helpful. 

Long before the Hallmark Channel or the Hallmark Hall of Fame (a mainstay on TV since its early days), the Hallmark company hosted a radio series that showcased great stories, both fiction and nonfiction alike.  The radio series was called the Hallmark Playhouse and it was hosted by author James Hilton, who is most famous for Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips.  I previously featured the Hallmark Playhouse with their wonderful story of the song Silent Night (The Story of Silent Night (Hallmark Playhouse)) In February 1953, Hallmark changed the name of their program.  The show became the Hallmark Hall of Fame starting on February 8th, 1953.  The host changed as well.  Replacing James Hilton was one of the greatest voices on radio and one of the biggest names in entertainment, Lionel Barrymore.  He would host the program every week through November 14th, 1954.  That was the day he died.  The broadcast for that date was called "Rebecca Lee Dorsey" and still has him as host because it was transcribed (or recorded in advance). The following week featured a tribute to Barrymore hosted by Edward Arnold.

On December 20th, 1953, the Hallmark Hall of Fame featured an all-star cast in their performance of "A Christmas Carol".  According to the RadioGOLDINdex, it was the 19th performance of Barrymore as Scrooge on radio.  He was joined by some of the great stars working at CBS at the time, including: Virginia Gregg, Anne Whitfield, Byron Kane, Lamont Johnson, Herb Butterfield, Parley Baer, Joseph Kearns, Ted de Corsia, Lawrence Dobkin, John Stevenson, Dick Beals, Stuffy Singer.  The production was directed by William Froug and adapted by Leonard St. Clair.  The would rebroadcast this performance on December 19th, 1954 to honor the career and work of this radio, stage, and movie legend.  I hope you enjoy this classic performance of Lionel Barrymore as Ebeneezer Scrooge.

A Christmas Carol from Hallmark Hall of Fame December 20th, 1953



Here are some links to programs relating to Hallmark Hall of Fame:
25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2018) & Other Links
Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2017) 
25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) 

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)
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