AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL (TV)
Summary
This stage production, adapted and recorded for television, is an interpretation of the classic 1843 Christmas-themed novella by Charles Dickens. The program begins as "covetous old sinner" Ebenezer Scrooge works late into the night on Christmas Eve at his counting-house, annoyed by a young caroler outside. Two gentlemen arrive and request a charitable donation for the poor from Scrooge, but he rudely turns them away, stating that the poor are a drain on society. Scrooge's nephew Fred stops by to invite him to Christmas dinner, but Scrooge calls the holiday a "humbug" and refuses, also denying his underpaid clerk, Bob Cratchit, a rare day off. He ignores carolers and hungry children in the street on his way home, though he then sees the face of his long-dead business partner, Jacob Marley, in his door knocker. He tries to dismiss the apparition, but Marley's ghost then appears to him, wearing the chains he "forged in life" with his misdeeds, and informs him that he will have three spirit visitors who will attempt to save him from a similar fate.
Scrooge reawakens and finds that it is midnight, but the clock then speeds ahead to one o'clock and the first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, arrives and whisks him back in time to his childhood, where he spots his boyhood friends and sees his young self alone at the schoolhouse. His kindly sister comes to fetch him, and Scrooge sadly reflects that she later died giving birth to Fred. He jumps ahead in time and sees his young adult self ice-skating with his paramour, Belle, and he tells her of his dreams of making his fortune in London, though she assures him that he has nothing to prove to her. He fumes that he can never sufficiently impress his cruel, violent father, but she urges him to let go of his bitterness and start a happy life with her. Scrooge then sees himself and his fellow apprentice Dick Wilkins enjoying a jolly Christmas party thrown by their boss, Mr. Fezziwig, whom Scrooge calls "the kindest man he ever knew." At a later date, Belle sadly observes that Scrooge has become greedy and now loves money more than he does her, and she "releases" him from his long-ago promise to marry her. Upset, Scrooge begs not to see any more, but the Ghost tells him that the events of the past "are what they are."
The friendly Ghost of Christmas Present then arrives and takes Scrooge to the Cratchit home, where Bob's wife Martha and their many children eagerly await his arrival. Sickly Tim muses that he hopes to inspire others at church to remember their faith, and the family sits down to dinner together. The Ghost hints that Tim will soon die of his illness if the future arrives unaltered, which alarms Scrooge. At Fred's home, the guests play a guessing game that pokes fun at Scrooge, though Fred notes that he feels sorry for his unloved and unloving uncle. Back at the Cratchits', Bob politely toasts to his employer as "the founder of the feast," though Martha objects. The Ghost then warns Scrooge about "two forgotten shadows," two impoverished children who represent Ignorance and Want, sternly telling him that they are born of "man's indifference." Shaken by what he has seen, Scrooge is prepared for the final spirit, the silent, shrouded Ghost of Christmas Future, and he soon comes across several men gossiping about the recent death of another, callously wondering who will bother to attend the funeral as a number of the city's poor pick through the man's belongings.
Elsewhere, Tiny Tim is revealed to have died, and the family struggles to manage their grief as Bob returns from a visit to the gravesite and draws his remaining children close, vowing that they will grow even more loving as a family because of the loss. Scrooge desperately asks the spirit if the future can still be changed, but the Ghost merely points him to the churchyard, where he finds his own grave and realizes that he is indeed the unmourned dead man. He frantically promises to mend his ways and honor the spirit of the holiday, and he soon awakens to find that it is Christmas morning. Overjoyed, he gives the caroler boy a hefty tip to purchase a large turkey for the Cratchits, and when he encounters the charitable gentlemen, he shocks them by promising them a large donation. He spots Fred and promises to come to dinner, and when Bob arrives at the office late, Scrooge declares that he deserves a considerable raise. Everyone is delighted at Scrooge's sudden change of heart, and he soon becomes a "second father" to young Tim, who does not die after all. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ARTS Cable
- DATE: December 21, 1981
- RUNNING TIME: 1:50:04
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 109104
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Classics; Christmas
- SERIES RUN: ARTS Cable - TV, 1981
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David M. Sacks … Executive Producer
- James B. McKenzie … Executive Producer
- Benjamin Moore … Producer
- Judith Patterson … Associate Producer
- Laird Williamson … Director, Adapted by
- Charles Dickens … Based on the novella by
- Dennis Powers … Adapted by
- Joshua White … Adapted by
- Lee Hoiby … Music by
- Casey Peterson … Cast, The Caroler / The Boy Scrooge
- Lawrence Hecht … Cast, Narrator / Ghost of Christmas Present
- William Paterson … Cast, Ebenezer Scrooge
- Mark Murphey … Cast, Bob Cratchit
- Bruce Williams … Cast, 1st Charitable Gentleman / Party Guest
- Isiah Whitlock … Cast, 2nd Charitable Gentleman / Party Guest
- Nicholas Kaledin … Cast, Fred / Ghost of Christmas Future
- Raye Birk … Cast, Marley's Ghost
- Thomas Oglesby … Cast, Ghost of Christmas Past
- Jennifer Rogers … Cast, Little Fan / Toy Clown
- Peter Belden … Cast, School Boy
- Toby Brenner … Cast, School Boy
- Jared Brown … Cast, School Boy
- Patrick O'Brien … Cast, School Boy / Ned Cratchit
- Joral Schmale … Cast, School Boy / Peter Cratchit
- Janice Hutchins … Cast, Belle
- Thomas Harrison … Cast, Young Scrooge
- Randall Richard … Cast, Dick Wilkins / Party Guest / The Undertaker's Boy
- Sydney Walker … Cast, Fezziwig
- Marrian Walters … Cast, Mrs. Fezziwig / Mrs. Filcher
- Rebecca Garrett … Cast, Toy Ballerina
- Delores Mitchell … Cast, Mrs. Cratchit
- Toshi Harrison … Cast, Belinda Cratchit / Party Guest
- Corina Benjet … Cast, Sally Cratchit
- Rebecca Patterson … Cast, Martha Cratchit
- Julia Fletcher … Cast, Mary, Fred's Wife / Party Guest
- Mimi Carr … Cast, Party Guest / Mrs. Dilber
- Lydia Hannibal … Cast, Party Guest
- Frank Ottiwell … Cast, Party Guest / Old Joe