Tuesday, December 18, 2018

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 18: A Christmas Carol with Ronald Colman on Favorite Story (1949)


201/365/3123 (December 29, 2016) - Carolina Wren at the New Feeder (Saline Michigan) - December 29, 2016

Not really anything to do with A Christmas Carol - but this is a CAROLina Wren on a feeder that I received for Christmas two years ago - hope that is close enough.
So if you have been reading these posts, you know that I am a sucker for a good ol anthology series.  That is a series that showcases a completely different story every episode.  There are a good number of them over the years that have been on radio, and I heard one today thanks to Greg Bell that I have not showcased.  So today, I thought I would fix that. If you have 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.

 Favorite Story is radio anthology series that was transcribed and syndicated by the Ziv Company between 1946 and 1949.  The show was recorded in Hollywood from the studios as KFI.  According to the Wikipedia entry: " Each episode of Favorite Story featured an adaptation of a story selected by a celebrity — purportedly his or her favorite story. The celebrities came from various fields: actors, directors, bandleaders, and athletes, to name but a few. Because they did not appear on the air, the Ziv Company saved any salary that their appearances would have incurred. Compensation came in the form of promoting whatever book, film, or other work the guest had coming up."  The show featured dramatic versions of many literary classics including Jane Eyre, Alice in Wonderland, Moby Dick, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Three Musketeers, among many others.  

 The daily host for these episodes was the great actor Ronald Colman.  He also starred in many of the programs as well.  Other big names from the Golden Age of radio that appeared on this program include William Conrad, Hans Conried, Lurne Tuttle, Howard Duff, and many more.

On Christmas Eve 1949, in what appears to be the last episode of this series that we still have, Ronald Colman assumed the double role of host and performer in a 30 minute version of Charles Dickens' immortal work, A Christmas Carol. This was shared not from the request of a single person, but a favorite story of "everyone of the English speaking world."  Joining Ronald Colman in his role as Ebeneezer Scrooge are John Beal, Joseph Kearns, Arthur Q. Bryan, and Lurene Tuttle (among others).  They put on a great show in this version of the classic Christmas story.  Here are some other Christmas Carols I have featured on the blog:

Even though I have Richard Diamond on the last one, I think I will showcase those great  adaptations before the end of the series.  I hope you enjoy this wonderful production from Favorite Story - I will revisit this again.

 A Christmas Carol from Favorite Story (December 24, 1949)

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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